Survey: Nearly 90% of ethnic minority elderly don't use mainstream elderly services with 30% citing language barriers

Nearly 90% of the surveyed ethnic minority elderly and their caregivers have never utilized mainstream elderly center services, among those who have used these services, almost 30% reported that language barriers hindered their access, according to the Hong Kong Christian Service (HKCS) today (July 24).

From November last year to April this year, HKCS conducted a questionnaire survey involving 200 South Asian and Southeast Asian elderly individuals aged 60 or above, along with 50 caregivers. On a confidence scale of 1 to 10, more than half of the surveyed ethnic minority caregivers rated their confidence in mainstream elderly center services between 1 and 5, indicating a lack of confidence.

HKCS stated that the government currently provides ethnic minority community ambassadors in some social welfare organizations to connect with service users.

They recommend that these measures be widely implemented and made permanent to help ethnic minority elderly integrate into society.

Additionally, they suggest that providers of mainstream social services should enhance their understanding of ethnic minority elderly and caregivers and offer multilingual social service information.