In face of unexpected illnesses, the mental and physical pain suffered by the patient is immeasurable. To recover from the storm, patients need not only unconditional love and support from family, but also warm solicitude and care from their surroundings.
Hong Kong Red Cross“Patient Concern Service” set up in 1973 is the real answer to the spiritual needs of patients and their family members. Across the 22 public hospitals under supervision of Hospital Authority, Patient Concern Service has played a supportive role in the psychosocial recovery of inpatients, for example, providing inpatients with regular visits, companion and escort services, recreational activities, mobility equipment loan service and free magazine distribution. More importantly, through the organization of interest classes, festival celebrations, ward visits and rehabilitative activities, the programme aims to cure their loneliness during their hospital stay and to help inpatients receive the love and support they may need to survive the road of recovery.
It has been three years. But to Mrs. Lam, the hardships of her husband (Uncle Biao)’s early days in hospital still hits her like yesterday. That year, Uncle Biao had just retired from his job in the police force at the age of 72, and was about to embrace a new chapter in his life. As an energetic young man, Uncle Biao had always been a fond lover of martial arts especially Yong-chun. And as a retired old man, calligraphy and painting became the hobbies he turned to.
“Day and night, he just sat there and painted. Sometimes he was too focused that when he next stood up from his chair, it’s already 7-8 hours later. The fact that he had a relatively high level of blood glucose, and that he really hadn’t been exercising in a while, one day, he fell down. It just happened that way.” Recollecting the early days following her husband’s stroke, Mrs. Lam still has that lingering fear about the tense situation. Since the stroke had left Uncle Biao paralyzed on both feet and his partial brain function, the poor old man could neither walk nor eat. He had to stay in bed all time, which brought to him another problem of skin infection pressure sores, making care treatment extra difficult.
Fortunately, things began to fall into place as time passed. Now in his third year of stay in Tai Po Hospital, Uncle Biao’s stroke recovery progress is positively hopeful. Not only can he move his left hand, he has also quitted milk diet and started observing a liquid diet with rice porridge among other choices. In addition, the frequent participation in HKRC’s programmes and interaction with its volunteers has apparently made him more cheerful. “His will is strong and he means what he says. Now he can utter short single sentences, and when it comes to painting he becomes really excited.”
Seeing his recent progress, the hospital has offered Uncle Biao the opportunity to learn to operate a wheelchair once a week. “License! I’m getting a wheelchair driving license!” sniggered Uncle Biao in his amusement. “Now you see. This has become his favourite time of the week.” Mrs. Lam smiled contentedly as she continued. “Nothing touches me more than seeing him happy again. I’m really grateful. We haven’t been so happy in a while.”
To the long-stay inpatient Hui-ping, the one occasion to look forward to every week is the regular visit by the HKRC volunteers, because she can get to know what she wants to from the outside. “They update me with weekly news and interesting happenings every time. For that moment I feel a real connection with the world,” chuckled Hui-ping slowly but with a lucid mind. Indeed, it’s hard to associate this 28-year-old lady in front of us with what she has overcome through the years.
A few years ago, Hui-ping had her right leg amputated as the only solution to her delayed medical treatment on an accidental bacterial infection. The event not only left her in a coma for three months, but also deprived her of the ability to speak and made her a victim of Tetraplegia (loss of use of all four limbs) when she next woke up.
Already in her old age, Hui-ping’s aunt took up the sole responsibility to take care of her sister’s child. Luckily, with the joint effort of different parties, Hui-ping’s condition has seen a positive twist recently. Aside from speaking, she has gradually resumed the ability to move her left hand. The hospital is now planning to accelerate her recovery with prosthetics.
“That year was her year to enter university. A girl like her must have had anticipated a lot. And then there was the accident. Everything just came to a halt overnight. I wasn’t sure I could put up with all these even if that was me,” expressed Hui-ping’s aunt from beside. “I’m so pleased now seeing her cheerful face again. These days she’s always talking about getting back to school.” Hui-ping’s aunt is grateful for HKRC’s regular visits and other services of giving her niece and her an immeasurable amount of spiritual support along the way.
Devoting herself in the HKRC’s Patient Concern Service for more than 20 years, the HKRC staff Sara has lately been active in Tai Po Hospital, mainly to perform regular visits and organize activities for inpatients with other volunteers. “I now visit the hospital 2-3 times a week. Adding together inpatients from the men’s and women’s ward, I manage to interact with up to 70 of them everytime. Some show up quite often that we have become old friends.” Much to Sara’s concern, long stays in the hospital will inevitably arouse the feelings of loneliness and depair in the inpatients.
Many of them indeed anticipate much on the regular visits from the volunteers. Yet, since these inpatients are battling against a diverse range of body conditions, some of them are having a relatively unstable state of mind. Especially for those who have difficulty in speaking, a small failure in expressing themselves can cause their sudden change in temper. “I know it isn’t easy. The only way to build love and trust is to put yourself in their shoes.”
Like all the others who succeeded in registering as a hospital volunteer, Sara was also given a series of induction training by the HKRC before she started service long time ago. Ranging from everyday communication to positive psychological training, many of these skills have assisted her greatly on patient service and event coordination through the years. The experiences in hospital visits have also led her to understand the true needs of inpatients, as well as the importance to be grateful and not taking things for granted. “Their happiness is my happiness. It is my motivation to continue my participation in the service.”
Activities and visits aside, Patient Concern Service also offers a range of services in different hospitals, such as companion and escort services, mobility equipment loan service and free magazine distribution, to cater the regular needs of inpatients.
“Our mobility equipment loan service, for example, has been continually increasing its service scope to cover the 5 public hospitals including Queen Mary Hospital, Tuen Mun Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital ever since its founding in 1975 to meet the vast growing demand.” Thomas Leung, Head of Community Care Service Department is confident about the programme’s effectiveness, for it has aligned with various hospitals throughout the past 45 years and played an important subsidiary role on the psychosocial recovery of inpatients, bringing the society together. “It’s a win-win situation all around. We offer patients the loan of wheelchairs, walking frames and crutches among other mobility equipment at affordable prices, in such a way, not only do we help relieve their financial burden, we actually accelerate their recovery and shorten their stay in the hospital, hence freeing up more hospital beds to cope with the ever-growing patient inflow.”
When it comes to the serious topic of the unstoppable ageing population in Hong Kong, Mr. Leung expresses his expectation on more future effort in support of the government’s Integrated Home Care Services scheme. “It takes a certain period of adaption from a long hospital stay to living back at home. Everyday details like the preparation of mobility equipment, or advanced bathroom safety designs with shower grab handles and rubber mats are not to be missed. All these thoughtful transitional measures matter a lot to the smooth and comprehensive recovery of elderly.” He hopes that the mobility equipment loan service among other measures in Patient Concern Service can extend to areas outside the hospital, together with regular health-check visits and more innovative homecare services, to truly assist back-at-home elderly patients through their post-recovery life in health and peace.
As far as Mr. Leung is concerned, ageing population is becoming more of a problem in Hong Kong. Over the years, the well-being of elderly has always been a main concern of the HKRC. Beginning in 2003, the HKRC has launched the “5 Stars Health, 5 Stars Home” Community Health Education Project to provide services in Tai Po, Tuen Mun, Kwai Ching and Wong Tai Sin. Through the organizing of workshops on topics such as first aid, disaster preparedness, infectious disease prevention and home safety, the programme works to promote healthy elements of lifestyles to families, also to encourage elderly in assisting themselves and others with the basic first aid knowledge they have learnt (like what we have featured in our previous letter about Elderly First Aid Workshop). Recently, HKRC also organized the free Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation & Automated External Defibrillation Introduction Workshop to further integrate elderly who had already attained certain level of basic first aid knowledge with advanced skills.
The 4-hour workshop was separated into two sessions with the constructive sharing of theory, demonstration, practical training and mock-up case study, mainly to deepen elderly’s understanding on heart disease and the emergency skill of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Together with the introduction to the use of Automated External Defibrillator, the workshop encouraged elderly’s sense of emergency preparedness in every way to increase their self-efficacy in the case of accidents.
The best part about operating an Automated External Defibrillator is no special skills or intelligence required. As long as elderly observe the instructions closely and familiarize themselves with more practice, each of them can be an expert. So goes an old saying – It’s never too late to learn.
Please donate online (one-of donation/regular monthly donation) or download donation form (one-off donation/regular monthly donation). Your donation of HK$500 or monthly donation of HK$200 will help Uncle Biao, Hui-ping and even more long-stay inpatients to receive sufficient care and assistance on their road of recovery, as well as subsidizing elderly in need to participate in Community Health Education Project, which could mean to them a significant recognition and heartening support in embracing a better life.
Bonnie So
Secretary General