With Hong Kong facing a rapidly ageing population, there is growing concern over the provision and choice of end-of-life care in the community. In view of this, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has made further donations to launch Phase 2 of the Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project (JCECC), bringing the total funding to the project to over HK$255 million. The latest three-year phase of this project provides integrated community end-of-life care services that are tailored to individual needs, as well as strengthening the capabilities of service providers. It is expected that over 2,180 elderly people suffering from terminal illnesses will benefit, along with some 3,760 of their family members.

The launch ceremony for Phase 2 of JCECC was held today (7 May). Attending guests included Club Steward Dr Eric Li Ka Cheung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong, Dean of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong Professor William Hayward and Club’s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung.

Dr Li said the Trust had launched this first-of-its-kind initiative in collaboration with its project partners in 2016 to pilot innovative end-of-life care service models for elderly people with terminal illnesses and raise public awareness of the issue. “Over the past three years, the project has benefited more than 5,000 patients and their family members with palliative care and psychosocial and spiritual support, enabling them to make informed choices of care options,” he noted. “The project has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from its various stakeholders, who have noted competency improvements and positive impacts.”

The aim of JCECCis to improve the quality of end-of-life care, enhance the capacity of service providers, and raise public awareness of this issue. Bringing together two universities, five NGOs and the public and private healthcare sectors in a multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral collaboration, the project helps enhance end-of-life care in Hong Kong with special emphasis on the interface between social and medical systems. Through end-of-life care services in elderly homes, home-based end-of-life care services, volunteer-focused psychosocial support services and capacity building, it is hoped that senior citizens can make informed choices of care options and enjoy an improved quality of life at their final stage.

Building on experience gained from the first phase, Phase 2 of JCECC will establish an integrated community end-of-life care service model. Through a standardised service workflow and framework, the NGOs will assess the needs of each case and tailor-make physical, psychological and practical support that suit individual needs. The coverage of end-of-life services in Phase 2 of JCECC will also be extended to more elderly homes, while more competence development programmes will be offered to service providers.  

Under the first phase of the project, JCECC has already served 36 elderly homes, benefited 777 cases in patients’ own homes, trained over 10,000 healthcare and frontline professionals and engaged 586 volunteers. According to a survey on the first phase of JCECC conducted by Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong, amongst the home-based patients, their conditions of physical discomfort were reduced by 18% after receiving JCECC services, while the practical and psychosocial support offered by the project’s NGO partners were able to relieve the anxiety of patients and their family members. About 13 days reduction in the number of hospitalisation days was recorded among elderly home-based patients in the space of three months before death. Meanwhile, an average of five days’ reduction was found in the period of hospitalisation required by home-based patients in the six months before they passed.

The survey also showed that public awareness and acceptance of end-of-life care services had increased, along with demand for them. The number of interviewees who were aware of end-of-life care services increased from 30% in 2016 to 39% in 2018, and 83% of interviewees indicated that they would opt for end-of-life care.

As one of the world’s top ten charity donors, the Club’s Charities Trust has always been proactive in addressing the challenges of the ageing population, and ‘Elderly’ is one of four strategic focus areas for its contributions. The Trust has been a keen advocate of positive ageing through various initiatives. Apart from JCECC, its initiatives include the “JC JoyAge: Jockey Club Holistic Support Project for Elderly Mental Wellness” to enhance senior citizens’ resiliency in facing the challenges of ageing and raise public awareness of their mental health; and the “Jockey Club Age-friendly City” project aimed at building Hong Kong into an age-friendly city, taking a bottom-up and district-based approach.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2017/18, the Club made a record return to the Government of HK$22.6 billion in duty and profits tax and contributed HK$1.2 billion to the Lotteries Fund. Approved charity donations were HK$4.2 billion. The Club is Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer and one of the city’s major employers. Its Charities Trust is also one of the world’s top ten charity donors. The Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.