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Jockey Club helps enhance living quality of Alzheimera£á?s patients through art appreciation pilot programme

11/03/2015

According to a study conducted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, art appreciation can have a positive impact on Alzheimer’s patients by giving them mental stimulation, both in terms of relieving their symptoms and improving their communication with caregivers.  Last year, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust supported the launch of the city’s first pilot programme in this field, titled Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly.

Today (3 November) saw the launch of a public exhibition of art works created by participants of the pilot project. Officiating guests included the Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung; Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui; Chairman of the Elderly Commission Professor Alfred Chan; Director of the Hong Kong Museum of History Belinda Wong; and Chairman of the Art in Hospital project Professor Oscar Ho. 

The free exhibition will run until 23 November at the Hong Kong Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui.  It is expected to attract 30,000 visitors, conveying a positive message on elderly care to the general public.

Mr Cheung told guests at today’s event that the Club hoped this cross-sector co-operation would inspire more upcoming creative projects, helping build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city and bringing benefits to the elderly in the long term. “We also hope the art work of the elderly can raise public awareness of Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.

Helping build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city is one of three main strategies the Trust is focusing on in the coming three to five years.  Launched in March 2014 with the Trust’s donation of HK$3.5 million, the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly pilot project, has provided some 200 guided visits to exhibitions at the Museum of History like “The Hong Kong Story” and “A Century of Fashion: Hong Kong Cheongsam Story”, combined with related art workshops.  In addition, 36 tailor-made outreach workshops have been organised for those having difficulty in travelling to the museum, allowing them to appreciate the same history and art at their care centres through exhibition contents uploaded to iPads. 

During the past 18 months, Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly has benefited over 11,500 participants who took part in associated museum programmes and outreach workshops.

Concurrently, a research study of the programme has found that after visiting a museum, elderly people show an elevation of self-reported mood.  Moreover, those with Alzheimer’s show an improvement in their quality of life. 

With the pilot programme about to end, the art exhibition launched today is aimed at building greater public awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, and of how the exploration of art and culture can play a positive role in elderly care.  In addition to providing a platform for elderly participants and Alzheimer’s patients to showcase their art works, it will give them another opportunity to share their feedback on the programme.

The Charities Trust has contributed over HK$1.15 billion to the well-being of the elderly in the past decade. Besides supporting this pilot programme and exhibition, and its earlier establishment of the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing (JCCPA) in 2000, the Trust has recently made a HK$12 million donation to The Chinese University of Hong Kong to set up the CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing (IoA), and commissioned the Institute to evaluate the elderly’s quality of life based on Global AgeWatch Index reports.  This will enable an AgeWatch Index to be developed specifically for Hong Kong, which can provide an objective and comparable measurement over the years to show achievements in various areas and reflect improvements to the well-being of the local elderly population.

In addition, the Trust-initiated Age-Friendly City project will see the Trust co-operating closely with Hong Kong’s four gerontology research institutes – the IoA, Sau Po Centre on Ageing at The University of Hong Kong, Institute of Active Ageing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies at Lingnan University – to assess the current levels of age-friendliness in eight pilot districts of the city and identify potential areas for improvement.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class horse racing operator and Hong Kong’s largest community benefactor, as well as one of Asia’s most prestigious membership clubs. Operating as a not-for-profit organisation, the Club allocates its surplus funds for charitable and community projects. In 2014/15, its donations reached a record $3.87 billion, and in the last decade alone it supported over 1,300 projects. The Club is also Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer, contributing a record HK$20.05 billion in 2014/15. With about 70% of its revenue given back to society every year through donations and tax contributions, The Hong Kong Jockey Club delivers a significantly higher return to the community than any other racing and/or sports betting organisation in the world. As a socially responsible organisation, the Club helps Government combat illegal betting and advocates responsible gambling. The Club is also one of Hong Kong’s largest employers with over 24,000 full-time and part-time staff. 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.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition, the Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung says the Club hopes this cross-sector co-operation will inspire more upcoming creative projects, helping build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition, the Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung says the Club hopes this cross-sector co-operation will inspire more upcoming creative projects, helping build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city.

The Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (2nd right); Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui (centre); Chairman of the Elderly Commission Professor Alfred Chan (2nd left); Director of the Hong Kong Museum of History Belinda Wong (1st right); and Chairman of the Art in Hospital project Professor Oscar Ho (1st left) officiate at the opening ceremony of the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition.
The Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (2nd right); Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui (centre); Chairman of the Elderly Commission Professor Alfred Chan (2nd left); Director of the Hong Kong Museum of History Belinda Wong (1st right); and Chairman of the Art in Hospital project Professor Oscar Ho (1st left) officiate at the opening ceremony of the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition.

The Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (centre); Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui (2nd right) and Chairman of the Art in Hospital project Professor Oscar Ho (1st right) tour the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition.
The Club's Executive Director, Charities and Community, Leong Cheung (centre); Under Secretary for Home Affairs Florence Hui (2nd right) and Chairman of the Art in Hospital project Professor Oscar Ho (1st right) tour the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition.

Some senior citizens tour the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition.
Some senior citizens tour the Journey for Active Minds: Jockey Club Museum Programme for the Elderly exhibition.

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