CHINA: Hong Kong’s MTR Corp has launched a Caring for Dementia programme, adding functions to its fare collection system which alert staff if a missing person is detected in the network.
The Octopus smart card numbers of missing persons with dementia can be entered into the fare collection system, which then sends alerts to staff if a missing person enters the network. The staff can then inform the police of their whereabouts. The missing person will not be able to pass through an exit gate using the Octopus registered on the system.
CfD’s Secret Angel app from the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing has also been installed on mobile tablets at 95 customer service centres to assist carers with locating missing family members, and more than 3 000 frontline staff have received training in communication with the elderly and people with dementia.
‘With an ageing society, MTR has been focusing on caring for the elderly and persons with dementia and striving to provide an elderly-friendly railway service’, said Annie Leung, General Manager for Marketing & Customer Experience. ‘The Caring for Dementia programme further leverages on the extensive 18 district coverage of the MTR network in Hong Kong to assist police in looking for missing elderly persons or persons with dementia.’