Swallowing disorder refers to difficulty chewing or swallowing when eating, and it is easy to choke or choke. Eighty percent of #dysphagia patients in Hong Kong are elderly, and on average one in nine elderly people aged 65 or above will have varying degrees of eating difficulties. Seeing that patients don’t like to eat because they “don’t eat well”, Zheng Cuibi, the founder of #SocialEnterprise “Sweet Story”, developed a soft meal recipe and held a meal sharing event, which became the "Chichuang Infinite Optimization Silver Age Life Innovation Competition 2019" Award-winning projects.
 
Cheng Cuipik: "We participated in the competition of the Federation of Social Services this time and started by making soft meals. In fact, we have seen that there are already many (social welfare/institutional homes) units in Hong Kong, both public and private, that are making meals for the elderly. But many Sometimes we just stay at the requirements of "I have enough to eat" and "I don't need to have my throat inserted". Many times Hong Kong people or Chinese people need to eat together and have a communication time. We see that the current #soft meal or paste meal is not very attractive in appearance, so we want to promote smile soft meal. Firstly, we provide food with more beautiful appearance; secondly, we promote shared eating at the same time. Eating together means eating the same dishes with family or friends, and the most basic thing is eating at the same table. "
 
Providing delicious soft-serve food is important, but opening an "elderly restaurant" is not enough. What the community needs most is more caregivers with feeding skills, so training caregivers for patients with dysphagia is also an important part.
 
Zheng Cuibi: "The people who share the meal may be family members, or caregivers or volunteers in the community. It seems normal to eat together, but for patients with dysphagia, we may not know much about their understanding or care skills. For example, what is " "Broken enough"? Or what kind of tableware is suitable and will not damage the patient’s mouth? Even when unfortunately we are choked or choked, is there any simple rescue knowledge for us to know? It is hoped that through a few courses and internship opportunities, friends who participate in the Shared Meal Ambassador Program will not only master the information about soft meals, but also become community ambassadors, spreading the needs and information about the elderly eating soft meals in the community. "
 
Winning projects in the competition will receive up to HK$200,000 in funding to implement the plan. Cheng Cuibik plans to use the funds to establish the first soft-serve food factory in Hong Kong and provide training courses for 120 caregivers. She also hopes that caring skills for dysphagia patients will become a profession to provide support for the elderly who want to age at home.
 
Infinite Innovation for the Elderly - Innovation Competition to Optimize the Life of Seniors:
Organized by the Council of Social Services, with the competition sponsored by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SEF) funding for the winning projects, and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and Hong Kong Design Center providing facility support and guidance respectively, it encourages The public, groups, social enterprises, businesses and non-governmental organizations respond to the needs of the elderly with innovative ideas.
 
The competition received a total of 69 applications. After preliminary selection, 16 shortlisted ideas have received final review this morning. Project themes include: gerontechnology, medical care, food choices, intergenerational inclusion, community building, etc. There are a total of seven winning projects, each of which will receive a maximum of HK$200,000 to implement the plan.
 
Source:
LSCS Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaIm58YMvjU&t=41s