In response to Hong Kong's rapid aging population, how to assist the elderly to achieve a happy elder life has become a very important issue.

Our Elderly & Health Core Business together with Service Development & Research Core Business conducted an opinion survey on "How to lead a Happy Elder Life" between December 2004 and January 2005. Compared with a similar survey in 2001 by our Elderly Council, the elderly were happier. The interviewed teenagers, adults and elderly pointed out that having "good health" and "harmonious family relationships" were the key elements to a happy elder life. However, both teenagers and adults thought that the lack of "time", "communication skills", and "economic ability" were the key factors that limited them from assisting the elderly to lead a happy elder life. Also, 13.7% teenagers did not think that was their responsibility.

Based on the above findings, we recommend that the government should set up a comprehensive policy, taking different age groups into consideration, to assist our elderly to achieve a happy elder life.

For the teenagers, the government should include the concept of 'respecting and loving the elderly' into the formal education curriculum. Besides teaching communication skills with the elderly, teachers can promote that the behaviors of respecting and loving the elderly can easily be practiced in our daily life, such as having a meal with them, giving a call to them frequently or escorting them to see the doctor, etc.

For the adults, a family-friendly environment in society should be promoted to support family members to take care of their elderly. For instance, employers can establish a family-friendly working environment to enable their employees to have a balanced life so that they will have adequate time and energy to perform family responsibilities. Communication skills with the elderly, knowledge about aging and how to take care of our elderly should be common topics in family life education. In addition, the middle-aged people should be encouraged to have sound financial and emotional preparation for their elder life.

The elderly themselves surely play a crucial role in leading a happy life. "To maintain a harmonious relationship with family members", "to have a positive outlook on life", "to make more friends" and "to develop personal interests" are the key elements which elderly people can do to keep their life happy.

The government and the people in our society should try our best to provide good physical and psychological support for the elderly and to involve the opinions and participation of the elderly during policy making.

We believe that helping the elderly to achieve a happy elder life is the responsibility of every society, every family and every person and is an important step towards achieving a harmonious society.