Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

The term Aging in Place (AIP) has gained its reputation in a majority of welfare realms to avoid the expensive cost of residential care and age-related loss. Senior residents in Hong Kong present a robust preference for aging in place, but the environmental barriers and individual ability hinder those endeavoring; the long-term caring plan for caregivers, simultaneously, were also constrained by care-giving pressure and empirical concern. This study explores factors related to AIP preference in Hong Kong, focusing especially on care-giver roles and their environmental concerns in a metropolitan city. We collected 248 survey data from an on-line self-assessment which was a long-term care decision making tool (“the Tool”) developed by a social enterprise named PaterMater, with academic support by Sau Po Centre on Ageing, The University of Hong Kong. Web users were required to complete a 5-minute self-assessment to understand family’s caring needs and restrictions, along with elderly’s health status. Half of the caregivers (45.6%) preferred their care-recipient to age in place whilst 40.7% of the participants were still hesitating. Cluster analysis suggests a positive correlation of elderly’s health status and caregiving concern, additionally, logistic regression suggested that a) primary caregiver (OR=1.67); b) finance and space sufficiency (OR= 0.32 and OR=0.59 separately); and c) lower education (OR=2.54) were more likely to support the elderly to age in place. Conclusion: Financial burden and space sufficiency were caregivers’ main concerns when it comes to supporting the elderly to age in place.