"age at home" eNewsletter

2023 / Issue 3

Service Close-Up

With all kinds of professional services, elder and carers can achieve "Smart Ageing in Place"

Serving Hong Kong through assistive equipment cleaning and disinfection

Readers of “age at home” probably know the importance of gerontech equipment in the elderly’s daily lives, but not every family or organisation is equipped equally. Without professional equipment and sufficient space and time for equipment sterilisation and maintenance, bacteria not only thrive but may affect the health of users and their carers. To solve this potential health hazard, the Gerontech Cleaning and Maintenance Service Centre under the Jockey Club “age at home” Gerontech Education and Rental Service (Jockey Club “age at home”), is a centralised hardware care centre providing cleaning, disinfection and maintenance services. Our centre has imported the latest, most professional equipment from Japan to ensure the riddance of 99.8% of bacteria so that our equipment stays clean, hygienic and in its prime.

Wheelchair washing machine

(Left) Before cleaning, (Right) After cleaning

Case study: solving cleaning issues for elderly homes daily

The Christian Nationals’ Evangelism Commision Grace Light Neighbourhood Elderly Centre is an avid user of gerontech equipment and provides elevated senior care services. Due to its heavy workload and lack of professional cleaning equipment, the elderly centre cannot arrange manpower to carry out thorough cleaning of their equipment frequently, and often substituted with disinfectant spraying and a simple wipe down.

After a while, the elderly centre learned about the one-stop equipment cleaning and maintenance service of Jockey Club “age at home” at the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit, and became our user in 2022. Ms. Shum, the centre supervisor, and her colleagues were delighted with our Assistive Equipment Cleaning and Disinfection Service and found their equipment as good as new after each cleaning. We have also personalised our services to include transportation and logistical arrangements to cater to the opening hours of the elderly centre. The staff had even mistaken our packaged, disinfected equipment for brand-new wheelchairs! The elderly centre has decided to make our disinfection service part of their quarterly routine, and our Gerontech Cleaning and Maintenance Service Centre has cleaned more than 32 wheelchairs for them to date.

Limited delivery offers for Assistive Equipment Cleaning and Disinfection Service

From now until 29 February 2024, enjoy free pickup and delivery services for group and individual cleaning and disinfected equipment with no minimum charge. Assistive equipment cleaning and disinfection ensure not only the hygiene and longevity of the gerontech equipment but also the safety of the users and their carers. Our service takes care of all the nitty gritty work so you can devote your time to caring for the elderly and more essential things. We accept orders as little as a single piece and welcome orders from residential care homes, service centres, groups, the elderly, people with disabilities, and carers. The offer is for a limited time only, get in touch now.

Free delivery offer: Now until 29 February 2024
Enquiries/Whatsapp: 6125 6559
Email: cmsc@ageathome.hk

Home Stories

Personal sharing from each participant

Carer
Ms. Law

Hello everyone, I am Ms. Law. I want to share with all “age at home” readers about my experience with my mother at the “Assistive Equipment Trial Campaign”.

My mother is 92 and was infected with Covid-19 in January this year. After her discharge from the hospital, we saw a massive drop in her mobility. She can only go to the toilet now with the help of our helper and I, and we are starting to feel the pressure of taking care of my mother day in and day out. Another issue my mother has is bedsores because she is bedridden, and her health is a huge concern for us.

My mother is a Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly (CCSV) holder, and we’ve been referred to the “Assistive Equipment Trial Campaign” at Jockey Club “age at home” by the Pentecostal Church of Hong Kong Fung Tak Care & Health Elderly Centre. The scheme allows all CCSV holders to experience gerontech equipment for eight weeks, so we joined the scheme to find suitable equipment for my mother to alleviate her daily challenges and our burden. I’m so pleased to learn that Jockey Club “age at home” not only provides equipment rental services but also a comprehensive assessment. Before the rental process, they arranged for an occupational therapist and social worker to assess my mother’s health and cognitive ability, our needs and living environment. They recommended the smart hospital bed with an extra low position and shower commode chair. The therapist was also very patient with us, giving us tips and safer transfer techniques, and considered our needs by installing the bed in the living room. This enables my mother to watch TV comfortably and freely interact with us. The shower commode chair makes it much easier for my helper and I to transfer my mother to the toilet, significantly improving bathroom and shower safety and convenience.

Smart hospital bed with extra low position

The “age at home” rental team also checks in closely to ensure my mother is well-adapted. My mother was already much more comfortable in her new bed three days after the rental, and the shower commode chair considerably eased her bathroom experience. After a month or so, my mother could not even imagine life without her equipment.

Wheeled shower commode chair makes transfer to the toilet easier

We’re so glad to be part of “Assistive Equipment Trial Campaign”, which gave us a taste of the convenience brought by gerontech equipment. The “age at home” team has also been accommodating in communicating with us and the community care service centres. I hope we can continue to use the CCSV to select suitable community care services and rent assistive equipment to take better care of my mother and enjoy the rest of our days together.

News Flash

Latest News and Activity Update

“Intelligent Inclusive, Enhanced Vision and Hearing” Mini-exhibition

Jockey Club “age at home” Greontech Education and Rental Service Centre is currently hosting the mini-exhibition “Intelligent Inclusive, Enhanced Vision and Hearing”, which explores the daily struggles the elderly face with deteriorating sight and hearing. Their challenges often include communication difficulties and reduced independence. This exhibition sets to introduce ways to improve the quality of life and communication skills for the elderly with gerontechnology.

Themes discussed in the exhibition include:

Signs and symptoms of hearing loss
Communication difficulties faced by the elderly
The impacts on the lives of the elderly with reduced independence
Application of gerontechnology and communication skills that improve the quality of living
Sharing of daily challenges faced by the elderly with vision loss
Ways gerontechnology and other life skills help the elderly cope with difficulties

Hearing aid

Object finder

Motion sensor light

Feeding aid

We also offer workshops exploring how gerontech can better equip the elderly with hearing and vision loss. The next workshop, "Smart ageing: Empowering Elderly with visual & hearing challenge with Gerontechnology & Friendly Environments", will be hosted on 12 January 2024. Professional occupational therapist from Jockey Club “age at home” will share the impacts on daily lives faced by the elderly with hearing and vision loss, including the decline in self-care ability, and how to use gerontology to design a smart and friendly environment. Guardman, an assistive technology equipment company, was also invited to introduce gerontech equipment suitable for the elderly, such as intelligent assistive devices, hearing aids and smart home technologies.

Exhibition details
Date: Now until the end of February 2024
Venue: Jockey Club “age at home” Gerontech Education and Rental Service Centre
Unit No. 2, Mezzanine Floor, Yu Chui Shopping Centre, 2 Ngau Pei Sha Street, Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, N.T.

Opening hours
Monday to Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Lunch break between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.)
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Sunday and public holidays closed

Build a safer, more comfortable living environment in your smart home

Dementia is a brain disorder that destroys memory, judgment and the ability to carry out tasks. It will also affect people’s emotions and behaviour. Jockey Club “age at home” Greontech Education and Rental Service is expanding its rental equipment offering to include smart home devices for the elderly with dementia and their carers. These equipment include the anti-wandering kit, fall prevention chair kit and fall prevention mattress kit.

The anti-wandering kit includes three wireless sensors: motion detector on the door mat, an indoor motion sensor, a door and window contact sensor, and a portable receiver. As soon as the senior enters a censored area like the front door or window, the receiver will vibrate and set off the alarm to alert carers or family members so they can stop the elders from leaving home alone, wandering off or getting into an accident. This kit creates a comprehensive safety net for the elderly and their carers, elevating their living quality and reducing the carers’ burden.

Are you interested in installing a kit at home? Call 3153 5252 to speak to us!

Anti-wandering kit

Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit 2023

The annual Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit just took place from 23 to 26 November at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai. Jockey Club “age at home” participated in the convention to showcase the latest gerontech equipment for the elderly as well as our one-stop education, rental, cleaning and maintenance services. Our assistive products were available to Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly (CCSV) holders with the latest information. To advocate public education, understanding and application, an interactive game session with prizes and a complimentary wheelchair tire cleaning service were conducted. Our teams were glad to reach visitors from various sectors in the four-day expo. We are deeply grateful for the visitors’ overwhelming response to Jockey Club “age at home” service. Thank you for visiting us at GIES!