Can a concerted push to roll out home modifications, including wheelchair ramps, chair lifts, and handrails, help reduce stress on caregivers and allow more Hong Kong residents to age in place? New research led by Professor Tarani Chandola suggests the answer is yes – especially when modifications are instituted across a given community. 

“At the community level, more accessible housing can facilitate older adults’ social participation within high-rise estates and reduce isolation,” the team wrote. “At the societal level, investments in home modifications may help contain long-term care and health-care costs and promote more equitable ageing trajectories in dense urban settings.” 

The study points to the importance of initiatives like the government’s “Age-Friendly Home” programme, which offers assessments and financial assistance for modifying homes to add assistive devices.

集中力量推廣家居改裝（包括加裝輪椅坡道、樓梯升降椅和扶手），能否有助減輕照顧者的壓力，並讓更多香港居民實現「居家安老」？由香港大學社會學系教授 Tarani Chandola 帶領的最新研究指出，答案是肯定的——尤其是當這類改裝工程在整個社區廣泛推行時，效果更為顯著。

研究團隊寫道：「在社區層面上，建立更無障礙的居住環境，能促進長者在高樓屋邨內的社會參與度，並減少他們的孤立感。在社會層面上，投資家居改裝有助於控制長期護理和醫療保健成本，並在人口稠密的城市環境中，促進更為公平的安老歷程。」

該研究突顯了政府推行「長者友善家居」等計劃的重要性；這類計劃為市民提供專業評估及財政資助，協助他們改裝家居並加裝輔助設備。

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igag029