More of the Same: A Document Analysis of the Government's Response to Ageing with Intellectual Disabilities in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

As the population of people ageing with intellectual disabilities grew in the 1980s, the Hong Kong government supported research exploring their needs and recommended a range of initiatives, including the promotion of community inclusion. This study aimed to identify how the government has understood and responded to the ‘problem’ of people ageing with intellectual disabilities since that time. A total of 53 documents published by the Hong Kong government between 2004 and 2024 related to ageing with intellectual disabilities, including reports, funding agreements, financial budgets, and policy recommendations, were identified. They were thematically analysed to identify how ageing with intellectual disabilities was represented as a problem and how the government responded to the problem. The findings show that people ageing with intellectual disabilities are portrayed as declining physically and ageing prematurely, their needs as no longer being met by vocational adult services, and their families as having limited capacity to meet their increasing care needs. With a few exceptions, government policies have not pursued specialist programs targeting ageing people or their families. Rather, policies have enhanced the capacity of general services for adults with intellectual disabilities to address health care needs, the capacity of parental caregivers through education and allowances, and have alleviated parental anxiety about future care through the establishment of Special Needs Trust. While recognising the changing needs of the growing number of people ageing with intellectual disabilities, the Hong Kong government has nonetheless continued the policy trajectory established in the 1980s that emphasises lifelong care and protection of people with intellectual disabilities rather than promoting community inclusion and independent living.