Cross-sector and Cross-profession Collaboration to Promote Quality of Care @Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (RCHE) in Kowloon West Cluster (KWC)

Abstract Description

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Authors (including presenting author) :

YIP TH (2)(5), LAW CB (1)(5), TONG BC (1)(5), YEUNG KM(1)(5), CHAN WM (2)(5), WONG YF (2)(5), HEUNG LW (2)(5), LEE WY(2)(5), WONG WM (1)(6), CHENG PP(1)(6), KWAN WS (2)(6), LEUNG CS (1)(7), Fiona HUI(3)(7), TAM KY (1)(7), Pauline LEE (1)(7),KO CF(1)(8), MAN HY(3)(8), LEE LP(2)(8), CHAN H(4)(9)

Affiliation :

(1) Department of Medicine & Geriatrics, (2) Community Nursing Service, (3) Central Nursing Division, (4) Community Psychogeriatric Team, (5) Princess Margaret Hospital, (6) Yan Chai Hospital, (7) Caritas Medical Centre, (8) North Lantau Hospital, (9) Kwai Chung Hospital

Introduction :

Rapidly ageing population, there has a great demand for Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (RCHE) services in Hong Kong (HK). In Kowloon West Cluster (KWC), there are 162 no. of RCHEs providing 18,500 (25% of Hong Kong overall) residential places in Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po and Tung Chung Districts. Most of the homes are privately owned and the standards vary greatly. Since 2000, Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) had joined hands with RCHEs and other service providers: Social Welfare Department (SWD), Department of Health (DH) to develop structured programs and activities to improve the safety and health of the residents in RCHEs. In 2016, the model had been rolled out to other RCHEs at KWC in order to promote cross-sector cross-profession collaboration for quality care for residents in RCHEs.

Objectives :

1. To coordinate public services provided to RCHE within the districts of Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po and Tung Chung 2. To improve the coordination and quality of care provided to RCHE residents 3. To align healthcare services with the needs of RCHE residents/ staff for better discharge planning & community care

Methodology :

The actions included (1) Set up a cluster-based platform to facilitate cross-specialties cross-sectoral communication i.e. KWC RCHE Services Coordinating Committee in December 2016. Members included Community Geriatric Assessment Teams (CGATs) of PMH, Yan Chai Hospital, Caritas Medical Centre and North Lantau Hospital; Psychogeriatric Team of Kwai Chung Hospital; Licensing Office of RCHE (LORCHE) at Social Welfare Department (SWD); Elderly Health Service and Centre for Health Protection (CHP) at Department of Health (DH). (2) Organized KWC RCHE Forum yearly to share up-to-date knowledge and skills on elderly care to RCHEs. RCHE representatives were also invited to share practical tips and good practices. There were「港式安老院舍晚晴照顧服務」 and 「醫社協作:無拘無束共安老」in 2017 and 2018, respectively. (3) “Friendly Visit Scheme” was conducted i.e. a group of the abovementioned committee members jointly visited RCHEs to share experiences, align expectations and give onsite advice for the betterment of elderly care in community. (4) Formulation of scenario-based quality improvement actions e.g. algorithm to optimize the coverage of anti-viral chemoprophylaxis at RCHEs during influenza outbreak.

Result & Outcome :

Up till December 2018, there were two KWC RCHE Forums held in October 2017 and 2018. There were over 200 participants and about 80% of total KWC RCHEs joined the event. Concerning “Friendly Visit Scheme”, 55 nos. of RCHEs were visited. On evaluation, RCHE operators and stakeholders had very positive feedback and highly commended the activities. Concerns and needs on elderly care at RCHEs were well addressed by a team of professionals. Cross-sectoral partnership with shared values and objectives was highly demonstrated. Conclusions: Enhancing community partnership for elderly service is a key successful strategy to improve quality care in RCHEs.