For families: Join a five month social support program for elderly

Description:
After an unprecedented past year, the mental health of Hong Kong’s elderly community is hugely at risk. More than 152,000 people over 65 years are living alone in the city and were not getting enough social contact even before COVID-19. They faced more than a year of crisis in isolation, with over 50% of the elderly reporting feeling lonely.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the emotional well-being of our own children and families has been in crisis due to the pressures of school closures, social distancing, and self-isolating during the COVID-19 outbreak.


With the support of the Hong Kong Club Foundation, the HandsOn Hong Kong team has developed a service program that supports the emotional well-being of both the city's elderly and Hong Kong families. GENERATION CONNECT empowers and connects these groups through a one-year program that brings social connection, joy, and friendship to everyone involved.


The HandsOn team has developed a support program composed of virtual and in-person activities that connect each family (with child from P1-P6) with an elderly Hong Kong person for a 5 months period—with touch-points occurring on a weekly basis, mainly through phone and video calls. In-person touch-points will take place once per month through doorstep deliveries of Care Packages and families are given the virtual options if the time doesn't fit. The HandsOn team will also host three-holiday outings (shopping day with the elderly, outing to a museum, etc)/online workshops (Artcraft making sessions) to celebrate.

What does being a GENERATION CONNECT family involve?

• Our team will assign your family with an elderly person in need of support and friendship.
• You will take part in a training session run by HandsOn and our elderly center partner. This will equip you with the skills and strategies to communicate with and support the elderly and empower your child to do so with you.
• Your family will connect virtually with your assigned elderly individual each week, by making a phone or video call to touch base and check in on how they are doing. If there are any weeks you know you are unable to call, we just ask that you inform us ahead of time.
• Once each month your simple virtual calls will be replaced by an in-person connection or gift guidelines. In coordination with our team, this could be the delivery of a Care Package, accompanying them to a shop or market, making caring cards, or joining an online artcraft-making session.
• You will submit a brief online form after each interaction to let us know that the person you are supporting is well and whether you believe their social worker should follow up with them on anything.

 

If you would like to know more about this meaningful program, please join us at the information session hosted on July 7th, 2022. Please click here to sign up!

All the in-person outings and events will be implemented in-line with  HandsOn Hong Kong COVID-19 safety precautions and Centre for Health Protection guidelines. 

* For the purpose of this program we view a family as being at least one parent/guardian and a child aged 5 to 12 years. The conversational level of Cantonese is required for at least one family member.