Tele-support in Eating

prototype, food, elderly, Impact Incubator

Tele-rehabilitation speech therapy support services on swallowing problems, feeding skills and oral-motor exercises

  

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the social services sector has implemented service adjustments for the sake of social distancing. Non-urgent services, such as rehabilitation services for elderly with dysphagia, have been suspended or postponed. While these rehabilitation services have been delivered in the traditional face-to-face mode in Hong Kong, tele-rehabilitation service is an innovative solution to address the public health concern during the pandemic. Realising this idea, the venture launches tele-rehabilitation support services on swallowing problems, feeding skills and speech therapy so that the elderly and their caregivers could receive rehabilitation or consultation services at home. This would help improve the quality of life of the elderly and ease the burden of the caregivers.

The venture will engage speech therapists to deliver 15 sessions of free online seminars and workshops on various topics, such as swallowing difficulties, feeding skills and oral-motor exercises. Clinical services or online consultation sessions could be offered at a discounted price to address individuals’ needs and concerns.

Name of Organisation

Methodist Centre

Approved Funding Amount

HK$272,000

Funding Period (Status)

1 year (Ended)

Impact/Outcomes

  • Established a Youtube channel as the online resource center and a Facebook page as the online platform with over 860 subscribers and 1 780 followers respectively
  • Reached out to over 540 elderly and caregivers, of which 116 were elderly
  • Received and replied to more than 160 enquiries on swallowing difficulties and speech therapy support
  • Offered 83 charged speech therapy consultation or evaluation sessions to elderly/ their caregivers
  • Provided 15 free tele-rehabilitation consultation sessions to elderly/their caregivers
  • Conducted 15 free online seminars/ workshops with speech therapists for nearly 700 participants on topics like oral and swallowing exercise and feeding skills
  • Disseminated 73 pieces of healthcare information via Facebook page and Whatsapp groups, including 29 articles, five videos and 39 graphics posts

Website

www.methodist-centre.com