Asia Pacific Regional Conference on End of Life and Palliative Care in Long Term Care Settings

“Clinical, Legal and Administrative Challenges”

On behalf of Hong Kong Association of Gerontology and The Salvation Army Hong Kong & Macau Command, we would like to invite you to join the "Asia Pacific Regional Conference on End of Life and Palliative Care in Long Term Care Settings" to be held on 26-28 September 2013. The Theme of the conference isClinical, Legal and Administrative Challenges’.  It is jointly organized by Hong Kong Association of Gerontology and The Salvation Army Hong Kong & Macau Command and sponsored by ”la Caixa” Foundation & The Bank of East Asia Charitable Foundation.

There are currently over 70,000 older people living in various types of residential care homes for elders in Hong Kong. According to the study released by the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, 95% of residents suffered from chronic illnesses and over 30% of them suffered from 3 or more chronic illnesses. The review of literature showed that residents of residential care homes were more likely to have end stage illnesses including malignant diseases, heart, lung and renal diseases so they had more chances of death during their stay in care homes than their counterparts in the community. Survey results revealed that 5-10% of residents in various types of homes died each year, indicating the significance of the issues of death and dying in aged homes.

The Salvation Army Hong Kong & Macau Command and Hong Kong Association of Gerontology have jointly undertaken the ‘Palliative Care in Residential Care Homes for the Elderly’ Programme since 2010. We have identified various issues of end of life care in residential care homes for elders in Hong Kong. The present conference will bring together experts from various countries in the region and other countries in promoting the awareness of the needs, knowledge and advances towards end of life care in long term care settings across different disciplines and countries. We hope that the coming conference will be a starting point to prepare the community on the development of appropriate services for older people in need of long term care.

We look forward to seeing you in the Conference.

Co-chairperson of Organizing Committee
Asia Pacific Regional Conference on End of Life and Palliative Care in Long Term Care Settings

Dr. Leung Man Fuk Edward
President
Hong Kong Association of Gerontology

Leung Pui Yiu Irene (Ms.)
Social Services Director
The Salvation Army Hong Kong & Macau Command




Organizer:
Palliative Care in Residential Care Homes for the Elderly
Funding Organizations: