Attitudes of old people towards old age homes in Hong Kong

The attitudes of older people towards old age homes (OAH) in Hong Kong and the factors which influenced their attitudes were investigated. A total of 197 non-institutionalised older subjects were interviewed with a standard questionnaire. A quarter of them admitted to having thought about going into an OAH, though most had never visited one. Half of them would consider an OAH if they lived alone with no family support, while only a few would consider it if they were living with family. If they became disabled and required help from family, a third would consider an OAH. If family support was not available, two-thirds would consider an OAH, while a few opted for social services. If advised to go into an OAH by doctors or family, about a half of the subjects would comply. On stepwise logistic regression, independent predictors of the desire for an OAH were agreeing with OAH placement if it was affordable and if one was living alone with visits from family, admitting to be happy in an OAH, and previous experience with an OAH. We concluded that older people in Hong Kong were not in favour of an OAH unless there were physical disabilities and lack of family support. They were, however, vulnerable to external pressures.