The Office of The Ombudsman said on Monday an investigation had been launched into whether government funds were being "underutilised" when promoting gerontechnology solutions among a populace that is seeing an increasing ageing demographic.

Gerontechnology refers to an interdisciplinary field that links existing and developing technologies to cater to the needs of an ageing population.

Common gerontech products include mobility aids, hoists, lifters, anti-wandering systems, companion robots and daily living aids.

In a statement, Ombudsman Jack Chan said the Social Welfare Department had been actively promoting such products to cater to the needs of society and to ease pressure on healthcare workers and carers.

A dedicated fund, the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care, was launched in 2018 to subsidise the elderly and rehabilitation service units to procure, rent or trial technology products.

The Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly had also been expanded to cover the rental of support tech products since September 2023, and services at all subvented district elderly community centres and neighbourhood elderly centres were widened to include promoting gerontech, he said.

While gerontech products could have helped improve lives, Chan noted that some people held the view that a lack of knowledge, information and assessment tools might have led to government funds being underutilised, causing the penetration of such tech in the SAR to remain at a "relatively low" level.

"In addressing the challenges of an ageing society, integrating innovative technology into elderly and rehabilitation services has become inevitable," he said.

"That said, there is still considerable room for improvement in the application of gerontechnology in the community.

"In this light, I have decided to launch a direct investigation operation to examine the effectiveness of the Social Welfare Department's measures to promote the application of gerontechnology."

He noted that the investigation would cover the utilisation of the funds, the actual adoption of such products at various service units, supervision by the department, as well as relevant initiatives.

Chan said he welcomed public feedback and that suggestions could be sent to his office by March 23.


Edited by Priscilla Ng