Authors (including presenting author) :
Yu T(1)(2), Cheng W(2), Tam S(2), Chan TY(2), Miu D(2), Mak YF(2), Man SP(2), Kwok TK(2), Chan A(2), Chan D(2), Ma WL(2), Chan N(2), Ting KH(2), Chow M(2)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Rehabilitation, Kowloon Hospital (2) Rehabilitation Service Coordination Committee of Kowloon Central Cluster
Introduction :
Ageing population and increase chronic illnesses have posed great challenges to our health care system, especially the sustainability of the public healthcare service. In Hong Kong, elderly population aged ≥ 65 will increase from 1.32 million in 2019 (17.5%) to 2.52 million in 2039 (31.2%). The need of Rehabilitation service will escalate with increasing chronic illnesses and ageing of the population. The development of Medical-Social Collaboration could be a solution to alleviate the pressure of our public healthcare system.
Objectives :
To develop a platform to enhance communication and skill transfer with local community Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) through regular meetings and visits.
Methodology :
Kowloon Central Cluster Rehabilitation Service Coordination Committee (KCCRCC) has been established since 2015 and one of the aims is to set up a cluster communication platform for consensus building on rehabilitation services development among different disciplines including medical, nursing, allied health and community health care. The membership includes rehabilitation stakeholders of all hospitals in KCC and Community Rehabilitation Service Support Centre. It serves as a good platform for the establishment of medical-social collaboration initiatives.
Result & Outcome :
The KCCRCC held a pre-meeting with our local NGOs on 14 May 2018 and the first formal meeting with NGOs was held on 2 Nov 2018 with five NGOs joined the meeting. A contact list for two-way communication was compiled. Also, an integrated KCC NGOs’ rehabilitation service information file, especially on stroke, hip fracture and dementia services, was established for easy reference. We had meetings every 6-months and more NGOs participated in our meeting. The number of NGO increased from five in 2018 to eight NGO units in 2022. The number of attendees also increased and in our Nov 2022 meeting, a total of 42 attendees participated and 20 of them were from NGOs. With the recent establishment of one District Health Centre (DHC) and two District Health Centre Expresses (DHCEs) in our cluster, the collaboration was further enhanced. Visits to the DHC/DHCEs were arranged and DHC colleagues also visited Rehabilitation Centres in the cluster. Formal referral channels to DHC for stroke, hip fracture and post-acute myocardial infarction rehabilitation were created. Medical-social collaboration platform for Rehabilitation service was established in KCC and cooperation with DHC/DHCEs/NGOs was enhanced.
