Culture and Sport - Macao Yearbook

Health and Social Welfare
homes for various reasons. In 2008, 1,080 senior citizens were housed in homes for the elderly.
Macao also has one public and six non-profit-making day centres for the elderly, and three
non-profit-making multi-service centres, all of which are subsidised by the Social Welfare Bureau.
These provide day care, nursing and rehabilitation for elderly people in failing health. In addition,
one public and 22 non-profit-making social centres for the elderly organise social, recreational and
educational activities with subventions from the Social Welfare Bureau.
In 2008, the 10 day care centres for the elderly provided services to 2,844 elderly people, while
the 23 recreational centres provided services to 5,036 people.
There are four Home Help and Community Support Teams in Macao, which are attached to three
day centres and a day care centre for the elderly. The teams provide homecare and rehabilitation
services to the elderly in need, as well as better support for physically frail senior citizens living in
the community. Their services are divided into two categories: basic services and support services.
Basic services include homecare services (such as meal deliveries, home cleaning, bathing, personal
care, laundry, escorting the elderly and accompanying them when they receive medical services,
shopping, and other assistance outside their homes) and psychological and social support services
(individual counselling, home visits, support via the phone, and communal mutual-aid network
activities). Support services include nursing and rehabilitation services. In 2008, the teams provided
such services to 523 senior citizens, 338 of whom were living alone.
The Caring Service Network for the Aged is another programme in which volunteers regularly
visit and show their concern for elderly single people, giving them the warm feeling of being cared
for by society. In 2008, the network provided services to 976 senior citizens who lived alone.
Senior Citizen’s Card
Citizens holding Macao Resident Identity Cards aged 65 or above are eligible to apply for the Senior
Citizen’s Card. Senior Citizen’s Card holders are entitled to the welfare and benefits offered by
the public organisations and enterprises that have signed cooperation agreements with the Social
Welfare Bureau. By the end of 2008, the Social Welfare Bureau had issued a cumulative total of
30,121 Senior Citizen’s Cards.
Rehabilitation Services
Macao has five non-profit-making rehabilitation homes, all of which are subsidised by the Social
Welfare Bureau. Four of these provide residential care, vocational training and social and recreational
services for mentally disabled adults, the chronically mentally ill, and children under 15 who are
either mentally or physically disabled. The other is a halfway house for patients who are recovering
from psychiatric illness. Eight non-profit-making day care centres subsidised by the Government
provide services such as training for independent living, group learning, physiotherapy, social
activities and personal assistance to the deaf, the mentally disabled, people recovering from mental
illness and the visually impaired. During 2008, the five homes provided residential services to 320
people, while the eight day-care centres provided rehabilitation services to 907 people.
At present, six subsidised sheltered workshops, vocational training centres and supported
employment centres assist the disabled. They help to make the disabled aware of their own potential
and employment capabilities, and encourage them to become “self-confident, self-reliant and self-
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