Sharing and Problem Solving
Anxiety Relieved with the Elder Ring
Hotline: 187 8238
The SCHSA set up the Elder Ring Hotline Service in July 1999, which is the first manned hotline in Hong Kong providing instant two-way conversation for the elderly. In addition to information related to their daily lives, elderly persons can also share their problems with our social workers or volunteers, using it as a channel to relieve their stress, seek assistance and solve their problems.
Aims of the service:
To provide the elderly with an outlet for their stressful emotions and to provide immediate support and encouragement for them
To provide the elderly with various information in order to better utilise the social services resources that are specifically designed for them
To promote caring for the elderly among the community in order to ensure holistic care for them
Target group of the service:
Anyone in Hong Kong aged 60 or above
Service Hours:
9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Monday to Sunday
(Also open on public holidays)
Scope of service:
Hotline service
Attending to the elderly sharing and providing emotional support
Answering enquiries and providing information to the elderly
Elderly phone caring service
Calling the elderly every week if necessary to chat with them and get an update on their condition, and providing appropriate counselling if necessary
Referral service
Referring the elderly to available social services, where appropriate
Reminder Service for the Elderly
Using an interactive voice response system (IVRS) with autodial function, aims to deliver greetings, provide reminders and the timing information for the elderly and the needy on a regular basis through messages which are pre-recorded by celebrities and artists
Download the registration form: - Chinese Version Only MS Word format (127KB) | PDF format (125KB)
The story of the Elder Ring
Auntie Tam has no relatives in Hong Kong. She has been living alone in a senior citizen flat in public housing for more than 10 years. With a strong character and bad temper, she has bad relationships with people, and always having conflicts with her neighbours. Auntie Tam also did not get on with other members in the elderly centre and was boycotted there. So she did not like to join in with the centre's activities. With no family and friends, Auntie Tam became very lonely and found her life meaningless. Finally, she tried to kill herself with drugs. Fortunately, she was rescued in time.
After she returned home from the hospital, the Elder Ring arranged for volunteers to call and chat with her. She did not like the idea and was reluctant to talk at first; but our volunteers did not give up and kept calling her regularly. After two months, she finally softened up and began to talk to the volunteers, telling them her pent-up feelings. With the encouragement and suggestions of the volunteers, Auntie Tam has tried to control her temper and change her attitude towards other people. Now her relationship with her neighbours has improved. She is also accepted by members of the elderly centre again and goes there regularly. A smile has appeared on her face once again.
Volunteer Recruitment
Your caring calls and warm words of greeting will allow more elderly people to receive love and care. We sincerely invite you to join our Elder Ring volunteer team to help with the following tasks:
Answering phone calls from the elderly, answering enquiries and providing information
Calling and greeting the elderly regularly
Anyone interested and aged 18 or above can help us after taking an interview and a volunteer training course. Click here for online volunteer registration or
download the registration form: PDF format (49KB)
For enquiries on our Elder Ring hotline services, please contact our Elder Ring staff on 2379 1393 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m. every day).