Chan Alice Kit Ying, Tamrakar Manisha, Leung Katherine Chiu Man, Jiang Chloe Meng, Lo Edward Chin Man, Chu Chun-Hung
Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Geriatrics (Basel). 2021 Oct 8;6(4):97. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics6040097.
The older adult population is increasing both in number and in proportion worldwide. In Hong Kong, the number of people aged 65 or above is expected to reach 2.5 million in 2039, thus becoming one-third of the population. With this growing population, the need for dental care among older adults is expected to surge. Oral health care is one of the government's core policy agendas and the Department of Health has emphasised its importance. It has implemented a number of policies, such as increasing the number of dental training places, setting up an expert group for oral health care policy planning, and conducting regular oral health surveys of the population. It is subsidizing several programmes, including the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, Community Care Fund Elderly Dental Assistance Programme, Outreach Dental Care Programme, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Programme, in order to promote oral health care in older adults. These programmes have received support and positive feedback from both the public and dental service providers. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the oral health care of older adults in Hong Kong and recommendations to enhance their effectiveness.
全球老年人口数量及其在总人口中的占比都在增加。在香港，预计到2039年65岁及以上的人口数量将达到250万，占总人口的三分之一。随着这一人口群体的不断壮大，老年人对牙科护理的需求预计将激增。口腔保健是政府的核心政策议程之一，卫生署已强调其重要性。它已实施了多项政策，例如增加牙科培训名额、设立口腔保健政策规划专家小组以及定期对民众进行口腔健康调查。它还资助了多个项目，包括长者医疗券计划、关爱基金长者牙科援助项目、外展牙科服务计划和综合社会保障援助计划，以促进老年人的口腔保健。这些项目得到了公众和牙科服务提供者的支持及积极反馈。本综述的目的是概述香港老年人的口腔保健情况，并提出提高其成效的建议。
