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Club-initiated e-health project to help promote self-management of the elderly

11/24/2016

According to a survey conducted by Census and Statistics Department in 2013, over 1.38 million people in the city suffered from chronic diseases, 64% of whom were aged 60 or above. As a means of improving the health awareness of the city’s elderly, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has donated some HK$138 million to implement a three-year Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project together with the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA), the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing (IoA) and various NGOs. Under this project, cloud technology will be used to assist the elderly in carrying out regular health measurements in their local community. Surveys and data analysis will also be conducted to understand the health status of the elderly in Hong Kong.

Details of the project were announced at a press conference today (24 November) by the Club’s Executive Director, Charities and Community Leong Cheung; Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA Irene Leung; and Director of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Professor Jean Woo.

Mr Cheung noted that the objective of the Club’s elderly strategy was to extend the healthy and active years of the elderly through preventive support thereby promoting positive ageing. “Through the Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project, we hope to enhance the quality of life of the elderly at three levels: at the individual level, to raise their awareness of self-management and extend their active period of life; at community level, to strengthen the capacity of elderly centres in providing health support; and at the system level, to promote better collaboration between the healthcare and social systems through piloting an innovative care service model,” he explained.

The Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project consists of three main components:

  1. Tele-care programme. E-health corners will be set up in 80 elderly centres, benefiting some 5,000 elderly people over the three-year project period. After logging in to the e-health stations with their smart cards, the elderly will be assisted to conduct health measurements of blood pressure, blood glucose and weight by trained staff or professional health workers. This data will then be transferred to SCHSA by cloud technology for real-time monitoring and analysis. If the readings fall outside expected norms or no data is recorded for a prolonged period, the SCHSA nursing team will call those participants and follow up. Regular outreach visits will also be provided by a multi-disciplinary team of nurses, health workers and social workers to share health information with the elderly. The project is not aimed at replacing existing medical services or body check-up received by the participants. Instead, it will encourage them to build self-management habits and gain a better understanding of their own health.

  2. Well-being surveys. The IoA will support the participating elderly centres in carrying out regular well-being surveys for around 10,000 people, focusing on their cognitive, psychological and social well-being. The results will help give the elderly centres a comprehensive understanding of their users’ needs, enabling them to design suitable activities and services for them.

  3. Big data analysis. IoA will apply big data analysis to the information collected from the tele-care programme and well-being surveys to better understanding the health status and health trends of the elderly in Hong Kong.

 

The Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project reflects the Club’s strong commitment to the betterment of Hong Kong, in particular by encouraging cross-sector collaboration and social innovation to enhance service quality. In January, the Trust launched the Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project,bringing together the social welfare, academic and public and private healthcare sectors in a multi-disciplinary collaboration. Five innovative service models are being piloted to improve the quality of life of the elderly at their last stage.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to community betterment. Through its integrated business model of world-class racing, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution, the Club generates substantial economic and social value and assists the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2015/16 the Club donated a record HK$3.9 billion to charity and paid a record HK$20.9 billion in tax. It is Hong Kong’s largest single tax payer and one of the world’s largest charity donors. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.

The Cluba£į?s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung says he hopes the Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project will raise awareness of self-management among the elderly and extend their active period of life.
The Cluba£į?s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung says he hopes the Jockey Club Community eHealth Care Project will raise awareness of self-management among the elderly and extend their active period of life.

The Cluba£į?s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (2nd right); Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA Irene Leung (1st right); Director of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Professor Jean Woo (2nd left); and Chairman of the Department of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management at CUHK, Professor Helen Meng (1st left).
The Cluba£į?s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (2nd right); Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA Irene Leung (1st right); Director of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Professor Jean Woo (2nd left); and Chairman of the Department of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management at CUHK, Professor Helen Meng (1st left).

The Cluba£į?s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (back row, centre); Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA Irene Leung (back row, 1st right); Director of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Professor Jean Woo (back row, 2nd right); Chairman of the Department of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management at CUHK, Professor Helen Meng (back row, 1st left) and participants of the project.
The Cluba£į?s Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (back row, centre); Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA Irene Leung (back row, 1st right); Director of the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Professor Jean Woo (back row, 2nd right); Chairman of the Department of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management at CUHK, Professor Helen Meng (back row, 1st left) and participants of the project.

E-health corners will be set up in 80 elderly centres, where participants will be encouraged to log in with their smart cards and develop regular health measurement habits.
E-health corners will be set up in 80 elderly centres, where participants will be encouraged to log in with their smart cards and develop regular health measurement habits.

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