獨居展覽後續：獨居友善城市的公眾投票結果 在2025年，一、二人住戶已經佔全港住戶數目過半，其中，每5戶有1戶獨居，涉及人口近60萬。香港社會服務聯會（社聯）聯同多家社會服務機構，早前於「618上海街」舉辦了「解鎖：我的獨居連結故事」展覽，邀請公眾認識這趨勢。 社聯留意到越來越多一人住戶申請入住過渡性房屋，多數是中年基層男士。另外，一些住在公屋的女士與丈夫離婚後自己搬出來住。「如果他們持續下去，很大機會成為未來的獨居長者。我們可以早點了解他們的處境嗎？」社聯業務總監黃健偉解釋探討獨居議題的念頭。 獨居可能源於家人移居、離世、非自願離婚，但亦可能是為了逃離糾結的家庭關係；獨居有時是人生出路。黃補充，對於社交網絡、社會支援薄弱的人，獨居或會導致孤獨和社會孤立。 由於獨居者的生命歷程與有小朋友的家庭成員有不同，獨居者需要在不同年齡階段運用想像力、適應力、社會參與力、生活掌控力、情緒管理力、表達藝術家力，或規劃及風險管理力，化解房屋、安全、情緒和照顧等生活難題。 韓國與新加坡的啟示 獨居人口上升不是香港獨有，韓國和新加坡也正經歷這項社會轉變。韓國的獨居率佔36%，比香港更普遍。社聯邀請了Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs（KIHASA）的研究員Kim Seonga博士來港交流。她指出首爾市政府洞察到社會孤立出現於所有住戶類型，但中壯年獨居男性特別受關注：「他們往往因為離婚或失業而獨居，卻不具備完善的自理能力與社交網絡。」 她提及，現時政府提供更多公共支援，連繫更多實踐社會理念的組織，營造更多社交空間。 新加坡獅子樂齡之友協會（Lions Befrienders）助理行政總監翁英玲（Emily Ong）來港分享支援獨居長者的經驗。她認為新加坡逐漸關注社會孤立的風險。該會研發了專為獨居長者而設計的「IM-OK」科技項目，長者可以在App按下「安全簽到」鍵，告知家人和義工自己安好，還可監測健康趨勢和進行遙距醫療諮詢。 「這讓長者養成習慣，透過科技掌握自己健康，增強能力感……我們的目標是社會對任何人也友善，不再預設獨居者一定有問題。」 本屆特區政府亦強化獨居人士的支援工作，例如透過整合政府部門數據，識別較年長、較缺乏社區支援的獨老和雙老住戶，以提供支援。 勞工及福利局副局長何啟明早前在社聯一個探討獨居人口高齡化的會議致辭，寄語社福機構留意更多隱蔽但有健康和照顧需要的長者及照顧者，尤其是在福利網以外的中產人士。 培養獨居生活素養 構想有連繫的城市 當婚姻和共住不再是理所當然，市民需要培養出獨居生活素養，例如懂得自我管理、與自己及他人連繫，善用科技應付生活。 那邊廂，社會也要思考如何應對小家庭、獨居化帶來的需要。社聯在展覽列出12個獨居連結社區的元素，邀請參加者按其年齡組別或代入某個年齡組別，投選哪幾項比較重要。在1,168票數中，最多人投的3項依次為「社區設有晚上回家的安全路徑」、「真人緊急聯絡系統」和發展「陪伴經濟」（例如陪診、陪同參與興趣班或聊天等）。在有穩定及可負擔居所的前提下，只要有實際安全和社會連結，一個人住也不會孤立無援。 關於獨居友善城市的公眾調查，詳見《研訊：獨居友善城市公眾調查》。 本文早前刊於4月30日的《am730》及社聯Facebook專頁。 ...

Against the background of aging population and an increasing expectation about the long term and end of life care, care planning and related dying choice has lately become an important topic of concern in Hong Kong recently. In view of the concern over respect to patient self-determination and improvement of their quality of life at the terminal stage, the government will implement advance directives in this year and continuously promote dying in place to increase the end of life care and dying choice. To equip the sector with knowledge of the related topics, the Council publishes “Newsletter on Palliative and End-of-Life Care Service”. This issue of the newsletter is “Understanding Death Literacy” (only Chinese version). In 2025, HKCSS conducted research on death literacy among carers and the general public. Through this issue, we share an overview of the situation of death literacy at different levels in Hong Kong, as observed in the research, as well as how death literacy can be applied in communities and among social work professionals in practice. If you have any enquiries or comments on this publication, please contact Ms. Kelly Chong, Officer (Tel: 28762445; email: [email protected]) or Mr. Norman Kwan, Officer (Tel: 28762435; email: [email protected]). Attachment: Newsletter on ...

After the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures, the public concern over the mental health issues of the youth or the elderly in Hong Kong has been heightened. Yet, as for mental health needs of working adults, its public concern is less acute. They more rely on the provision from the private sector. To gain a deeper understanding of the working adult mental health issue and their implications for future service development in the sector, The HKCSS publishes “Mental Health: Adult Physical and Mental Wellbeing Series”. This publication synthesizes research conducted by various social stakeholders, integrating their perspectives on the mental health status of Hong Kong's working population. Issue four of “Mental Health: Adult Physical and Mental Wellbeing Series” would be focusing on “Review for Research on the Mental Health of Working Adult from the Perspective of Academic Institution (Two)” (see appendix). In continuation of the issue three, this issue will introduce the key findings from the studies, including the mental health profiles of different occupational groups, primary sources of psychological stress, and patterns of help-seeking behavior would be discussed. It is aimed to offer an overview on the current state of mental health of working adults in Hong Kong from the perspective of academic institution. At last, we ...

After the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures, the public concern over the mental health issues of the youth or the elderly in Hong Kong has been heightened. As for mental health needs of working adults, its public concern is less acute. They more rely on the provision from the private sector. To gain a deeper understanding of the working adult mental health issue and their implications for future service development in the sector, The HKCSS publishes “Mental Health: Adult Physical and Mental Wellbeing Series”. This publication synthesizes research conducted by various social stakeholders, integrating their perspectives on the mental health status of Hong Kong's working population. Issue three of “Mental Health: Adult Physical and Mental Wellbeing Series” would be focusing on “Review for Research on the Mental Health of Working Adult from the Perspective of Academic Institution (One)” (see appendix). This issue will focus on research conducted by the academy over the past decade, examining the scope and perspectives of academia on this topic, alongside the methodologies and measurement scale employed. Key findings from these studies will be discussed in the next issue. Should you have any enquiries or comments on this information, please contact Mr. Lo, Officer (Policy Research and Advocacy) (Tel: 2876 2488 or ...

After the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures, the public concern over the mental health issues of the youth or the elderly in Hong Kong has been heightened. As for mental health needs of working adults, its public concern is less acute. They more rely on the provision from the private sector. To gain a deeper understanding of the working adult mental health issue and their implications for future service development in the sector, The HKCSS publishes “Mental Health: Adult Physical and Mental Wellbeing Series”. This publication synthesizes research conducted by various social stakeholders, integrating their perspectives on the mental health status of Hong Kong's working population. Issue two of “Mental Health: Adult Physical and Mental Wellbeing Series” would be focusing on “Review for Research on the Mental Health of Working Adult from the Perspective of Insurance Company and EAP Service Provider” (see appendix). Since, insurance companies and EAP service providers are currently the primary suppliers of workplace mental health support services in Hong Kong, this issue will focus on presenting research conducted by several insurance companies in recent years, summarizing the scope and perspectives of their investigations into this topic. The key findings include the mental health landscape among Hong Kong's working population, sources of ...