Helping Dementia Sufferers with Banking

The banking institution has trained 45 "dementia ambassadors"

There is greater awareness of dementia in Hong Kong, and it's good to see HSBC trying to tackle the situation by deploying 45 "dementia ambassadors" to help sufferers with banking issues.

The banking institution conducted a survey which found those suffering from dementia had problems understanding account information and remembering passwords.

As a result HSBC will be rolling out such services as voice identification systems, and more modern ATM services.

ATM machines will be quipped with voice identification

This is good news for Maggie Lee Nga-yee, executive director of the Alzheimer's Disease Association.

"Some elderly people with dementia repeatedly withdraw cash from their account and forget they have done it," she says.

According to the survey, more than 80 per cent of those suffering from the disease need help with banking from family members or carers, and nearly half said they helped sufferers with banking by opening a joint account with them. That's because they worried their loved ones with dementia could be a target for scammers.

Lee said a common problem was for dementia sufferers to have difficulty in understanding passbook information and bank statements, trouble talking to staff, and remembering their PIN or signature.

It is projected the number of people over 65 in Hong Kong will more than double in the next 20 years. Data from the Census and Statistics Department estimates the elderly will make up more than 36 percent of the population in 2066.

HSBC says it will have 160 dementia ambassadors in force by the first quarter of next year.

Some with dementia forget they have withdrawn money

It'll be interesting to see how these ambassadors have been trained to deal with various situations, as there are different degrees of dementia severity, and sufferers have different reactions to different circumstances.

Not only banking staff, but also front-line workers from bus drivers and taxi drivers, restaurant and retail staff need to be able to identify dementia sufferers and have some tools or training to deal with them in a positive and sympathetic way.

This is the reality Hong Kong is facing and needs to be prepared to deal with dementia. We cannot hide from this serious issue that should not be swept under the carpet.

Hong Kong's Top 10 Killers

In future, Hong Kong will have more age-related diseases, particularly dementia

Hong Kong people are living longer and dying from more age-related diseases.

The Health Department released figures that show the number of Hong Kong people killed by the top 10 diseases rose by 18 percent to 36,552 last year from 31,001 in 2003.

This is in line with the city's population growth which is now at 7.25 million, and the number of people aged 65 and over rose 19 percent to 978,000 last year.

Because of medical advances, people are suffering less from diabetes (356 last year, 783 in 2003), but age-related diseases like dementia have increased significantly (1,000 in 2013, 256 in 2003).

Cancer is still the number one killer, claiming 40 percent of deaths, followed by pneumonia and heart disease.

On the upside, fewer people are dying from cancer because it is detected earlier from regular health checks and treatments are more targeted than before, according to Dr Daniel Chua Tsin-tien, associate director of the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital's radiotherapy department.

He added that bad habits, pollution and lack of exercise also contribute to rising cancer cases.

Alzheimer's disease expert Wilfred Leung Chi-hang says while the number of those who died from dementia might seem low, the elderly died from its complications.

"More cases of dementia are expected as the city sees a longer life expectancy and an aging population," he said.

Dementia damages the brain's cognitive abilities, affecting thinking and reasoning, and in severe stages, the brain damage can lead to organ failure.

Leung says there is a shortage of facilities for the age-related syndrome, with only about 10 percent of suffers receiving specialist care.

He added there were only 30 day-care centres in Hong Kong, mostly self-financed, that offer treatment, but it costs about HK$6,000 a month so not many can afford it.

"We hope that the government can increase resources and support towards dementia patients," said Leung. "We hope that at least patients will be able to enjoy a better quality of life with their family in the early stages of the condition before it turns severe and [they become] unable to communicate."

While it's frightening to see cancer is still in the top spot, it's heartening to know other diseases are about the same or less. Dementia is another scary disease to have since no cure has been found and there are many different kinds of dementia.

The Hong Kong government is concerned about its growing aging population, but what it's doing to manage and prevent age-related diseases has yet to be seen...

Top 10 causes of death in 2013

1. Cancer

2. Pneumonia

3. Diseases of heart

4. Cerebrovascular diseases

5. Chronic lower respiratory diseases

6. External causes of morbidity and mortality

7. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis

8. Dementia

9. Septicaemia

10. Diabetes mellitus