Social Changes and Informal Support for Family Carers of Patients with Dementia in Hong Kong

Chak Kwan CHAN*, Mun Yu Vera TANG, Meng Soi Florence FONG, Sheung Wan WONG

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

Abstract

This study investigated the extent of family support for informal carers of patients with dementia while Hong Kong Chinese families have been facing various social and economic challenges. It also examined the assistance available to family carers from other informal support networks. In-depth interviews were used to gather the experiences of 18 female carers and collect the views of 20 workers of social service agencies. The study found that family support for informal carers is still relatively strong in Hong Kong, as demonstrated by various forms of assistance offered by family members, including siblings sharing caregiving duties and jointly paying for a domestic helper to provide social care for parents with dementia. Also, neighbors, property security guards, and religious organizations are addressing the daily and emergent needs of carers. Based on the findings, it is suggested that social service agencies need to give siblings advice on how to effectively share the caregiving tasks and provide dementia awareness training for neighbors, workers of religious and community organizations, and security guards of properties. Future research is advised to use a quantitative approach by having a large sample size and including carers who are taking care of family members with various health problems.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)262-271
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Social Service Research
Volume49
Issue number2
Early online date20 Jun 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Funding

Thanksgiving Research Fund for Ageing of Lingnan University.

Keywords

  • Modernization theory
  • dementia awareness training
  • family carers
  • filial piety
  • patients with dementia
  • support from siblings

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Social Changes and Informal Support for Family Carers of Patients with Dementia in Hong Kong'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this