Solace in strangers

Hong Kong's rapidly graying population has given rise to more elderly people living in solitude. As Wu Kunling reports, volunteers and social groups are playing a key role in helping senior residents to lead happier and more meaningful lives in their sunset years.

At 74, Tse (full name withheld on request) has nothing much to look forward to. Her most treasured moment is, perhaps, a monthly visit by people she's not acquainted with — social workers and volunteers — offering her solace and lifting her spirits in a life of loneliness.

The visitors would talk her up, play cognitive games with Tse in her cramped public rental flat and help her solve some basic problems associated with the advent of technology.

The septuagenarian is among a fast-growing crowd of empty nesters in Hong Kong — the elderly whose children have left them — and has been living alone for more than two decades. Tse has been physically inconvenienced since a road accident six years ago. One of the few daily physical exercises she's able to perform is walking with a cane along the confined corridor of her flat.

Her health condition has restricted her life radius to a nearby market, the hospital and her home. Apart from leg problems, she has chronic illnesses requiring constant medical care and checkups. Keeping up with such a routine and regularly taking drugs prescribed by doctors has been a challenging task for Tse. "This is all I have left in life," she laments.

Tse's plight mirrors an identical predicament for many senior residents in Hong Kong living out their sunset years.

According to Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department, the number of elderly people aged 65 or above in the city had reached 1.64 million last year, taking up nearly 23 percent of the total population, marking Hong Kong's transition to a super-aging society — one in which over 21 percent of the population is 65 and older — as defined by the World Health Organization.

Among Hong Kong's elderly residents, some 188,500 live alone, comprising about 13 percent of the 65 and above age group. In addition, nearly 400,000 elderly individuals cohabit solely with their partners, also known as doubleton elderly households. These figures are expected to climb as the population ages.

Helping hands

Hong Kong's empty nesters, including Tse, have been getting support from social workers and volunteer organizations to overcome the stresses and challenges in life. After undergoing surgery, Tse was referred to social workers who delivered her meals during her convalescence. They also got her involved in rehabilitation exercises and home visits for companionship and conversations after her recovery. Such support continues to this day.

Janet To Yun-lam — a 72-year-old volunteer and former hospital worker — says she has seen many elderly people traversing their final days in solitude. The sight persuaded her to dedicate her retirement years to helping them — a commitment she has continued to honor despite her age. After retiring, she has been volunteering to visit the elderly living alone since 2005, and has kept some of them company in their final hours.

However, volunteers are hindered in their work in cases where elderly people struggle to access relevant information, leaving them unsure about where to seek assistance or what sort of help is available. A significant number of seniors are also reluctant to seek or accept aid.

To recalls having made regular visits in 2006 to an elderly woman already in an advanced stage of cancer in hospital. The woman, once esteemed for her dignified career and exceptional work ethic, now faced a stark decline in health due to age and illness, and refused to accept help. "She would often tell me to throw her out of the window, saying she wasn't worth saving."

On several home visits, she has come across seniors who give volunteers the cold shoulder and reject help before eventually relenting. According to To, the elderly feel vulnerable and inferior due to their age and frailty, and would prefer to isolate themselves from society.

In fact, beyond emotional support and companionship, senior residents require help in various aspects of daily life.

Volunteers at the Association for Engineering and Medical Volunteer Services (EMV) for which To works say many elderly people, being unable to take care of themselves, often neglect their living environment, leaving their homes cluttered. The association mobilizes volunteers and teams up with businesses to provide home cleaning services for these seniors, along with healthcare, traditional Chinese medicine consultations, home repairs, haircuts, physical therapy and even training to prevent domestic accidents.

According to a social worker at the association, most of the volunteers are middle-aged or even elderly themselves, reflecting the acute shortage of staff, particularly young workers, in the eldercare sector who see such work as physically demanding and soiled. At the same time, not all volunteers are naturally fit for such roles, as effective communication with the elderly demands patience and specific skills.