Funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, JCECC End-of-Life Care in Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (RCHEs) programme aims to provide quality hospice care service for end stage / terminally ill residents, enabling to fulfil their aspirations in the last journey of their lives. 

Through this programme, a professional end-of-life care team (EOLT) is established to provide support and assistance to the participating subvented RCHEs, working with the centres to promote the palliative care and EoL care services, and developing a service model that allows the participating residents access to appropriate holistic care services in their last journeys.

Residents of subvented RCHEs in Kowloon East District

1. Meticulous communication, encouragement and respect for the autonomy of residents: The programme focuses on promoting good communication between residents, family caregivers, RCHEs and EOLT. We encourage joint participation in the formulation and implementation of the preparatory “Advance Care Planning” which enables residents to participate in relevant medical decisions and die with dignity.

2. Close tripartite cooperation among them to continuously assess and relieve residents’ discomfort: EOLT cooperates and communicates closely with RCHEs and the Community Geriatric Assessment Team (CGAT) of Hospital Authority to ensure the smooth implementation of medical and nursing care plans including ongoing physical assessment and symptom control. We strive to improve the quality of life by providing quality holistic care in order to relieve their discomforts, addressing their psychosocial and spiritual needs, facilitating wish fulfilment and relationship settlement. 

3. Supporting family members and caregivers: To increase their understanding and awareness of palliative care and end-of-life care needs through a variety of activities and sharing in order to prepare for the foreseeable death of their loved ones and cherish their time together.  We also will provide bereavement care and funeral support in a timely manner.

4. End-of-Life Care during the final days: When residents approach the final days of their lives, an EoL room service will be provided to allow residents to be taken care in RCHEs as long as possible with sufficient medical and nursing support from the EOLT, community doctors and agency nurses funded by the programme. The EoL room service encourages their relatives and friends to accompany with residents to walk through the last journey without regrets.

5. Capacity building for RCHEs staff and promotion of life-and-death education: The team provides the EoL care training, on-the-job guidance and the professional coaching services for the professional frontline staff of RCHEs, facilitating the centre to apply relevant knowledges and skills in order to achieve high-quality EoL care services in RCHEs.

To be referred by the participating RCHEs

About JCECC

Hong Kong is facing a rapidly ageing population, and the number of elderly suffering from terminal illnesses has also escalated correspondingly. In view of the growing demand for end-of-life care services in the community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust approved around HK$520 million to initiate the “Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project” (JCECC). Launched in 2016, the ten-year project aims at improving the quality of end-of-life care, enhancing the capacity of service providers, as well as raising public awareness.

JCECC is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and cross-sectoral collaboration to help enhance end-of-life care in Hong Kong with special emphasis on the interface between social and medical systems. Service models are being developed and shaped to provide holistic support to terminally-ill elders in the community and elderly homes. The goal is to enable the city’s older people to have informed choices of care and have an improved quality of life.

The Trust’s partners in JCECC are The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Social Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Ageing, Hong Kong Association of Gerontology, Haven of Hope Christian Service, The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, St James’ Settlement, and S.K.H. Holy Carpenter Church District Elderly Community Centre and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. Please visit http://www.JCECC.hk/