Lack of veterans make elderly home worse, study shows
(07-12 19:59)
The living conditions of elderly homes have deteriorated rapidly due to the lack of experienced staffs. Dr. Cheung Chiu-Hung, lecturer of Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, claimed that in extreme cases, elders get assisted to shower only once a week. Senior homes in Hong Kong are seriously understaffed; over-night shifts with 2 staffs caring for over 100 seniors are not rare.
The poor treatment of staffs is the main cause of the declining working population in the industry. The Community Care and Nursing Home Workers General Union (CCNHWGU) has conducted a survey with 173 present staffs of senior homes; the survey includes interviews of their working hours, salaries, willingness to work in understaffed senior homes, and suggestions to standard working hours and minimum wages. 60 percent of private-owned senior homes staffs work for 10 hours or more every day, and 80 percent of the staffs are unsettled about their long working hours. |
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