Community & Charities
Elderly Services
Jockey Club reaches out to community to raise public awareness of elderly medication safety
30/01/2016
With Hong Kong facing a rapidly ageing population, the number of elderly people suffering from chronic illnesses requiring regular medication has been steadily increasing in recent years, leading to growing concern over medication safety. In fact, when taking medicine, many people either commonly neglect information on medication labels, or have little understanding of it.
To equip elderly people and their carers with necessary drug knowledge and improve their awareness of proper use of medicine, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has made a donation to the Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Care Foundation (PCF) to implement a three-year Jockey Club Medication Safety Awareness Programme for the Elderly.
The Club puts strong emphasis on promoting a healthy lifestyle to the general public. Taking medicine without following the instructions can cause serious damage to health. The Club is glad to work with the Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Care Foundation to arouse awareness of medication safety through this programme.
The three-year pilot programme is supported by a donation from the Club’s Charities Trust of more than HK$5 million. It will benefit the community through a series of medication safety awareness outreach programmes for elderly patients, their carers and the general public; free pharmacist consultations on proper drug storage and drug use; and videos and leaflets that focus on common medication problems.
The Jockey Club Medication Safety Awareness Programme for the Elderly is expected to reach out to 20,000 people. PCF will work with the School of Pharmacy of The Chinese University of Hong Kong to evaluate the effectiveness of the project.
