This dissertation, "The Construction of a Model of Community Care for Elderly People in Hong Kong" by Po-ling, Pang, 彭寶玲, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract of thesis entitled 'The Construction of a Model of Community Care for Elderly People in Hong Kong' submitted by PANG Po Ling for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong in Feb 2001 This thesis is a study on the application of the community care model for elderly people in Hong Kong since the early 1970s to the present, focusing on the process of actualization in Chinese societies. This thesis attempts (1) to examine the dynamics that exists between the state, the family and the wider community in care provision for elderly people; (2) to identify problems in its application in Chinese societies; and (3) to rebuild the model so to be better applied in care provision for elderly people in Hong Kong. To study the local application of the community care model, qualitative methods of secondary analysis were used. Documents and studies iconcerning the local development of elderly services were reviewed. In-depth interviews were conducted with informed persons from different institutions to gather comments to enrich the research rationalization. Furthermore, comparisons were made with the development of elderly services in Singapore and Taiwan to examine the specialties in actualizing the community care model in Chinese societies. It is founded that the care provision of the state, the family and the wider community are subject to a number of variables in the changing societal environment. The existing actualization has mainly been dependent on the family as the major carer. However, affected by the changes in its structure and values, the capability and willingness of the family to care for its elderly members are obviously diminishing. Statutory services are limited to a minority of the elderly people. The state, affected by the variables of cost, legitimation and control, must take up the major caring responsibility, though it cannot expand its services indefinitely. Care provision for elderly people by the wider community, affected by the variables of community cohesiveness and socialization, has never been extensive. iiAfter all the community care model lacked a concrete guideline to follow and a central mechanism for implementation. The study suggests that the community care model must be rebuilt to work in Chinese societies, in which new policy goals must be set with explicit means and ends. A shift of statutory service provision from a short-term perception based on needs towards a longer-term strategy of prevention is necessary to support the family to be the carer. Only when formal and informal care provision, in both public and private sectors, are working harmoniously with one another can the model of community care be described as achieving its objectives. iii DOI: 10.5353/th_b2986636 Subjects: Older people - Care - China - Hong Kong Older people - Services for - China - Hong Kong