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The H.K.S.K.H. Tseung Kwan O Aged Care Complex began operation in March 2002. To mark its 15 years of effort in providing one-stop integrated services to seniors in Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung, the centre hosted its 15th anniversary celebration in the afternoon on 4th November, 2017.   The event was held at the Tseung Kwan O Aged Care Complex, which invited Ms Micy Lui, District Social Welfare Officer (Wong Tai Sin/Sai Kung) of the Social Welfare Department, Dr Jane Lee, Director of the Welfare Council, and Ms Joan Tong, former Miss Hong Kong pageant winner and Membership Officer 2017/18 of the Wai Yin Association, as the officiating guests.   To align with the event’s theme “Run for Fun”, the organiser designed an exciting orienteering race, “Let’s Run”, for participants to familiarize with the centre’s services and age-friendly community. Guests and senior members were paired up and divided into two teams to compete in the race. The teams had to visit 15 checkpoints to finish the game.   After officiating guests firing the starting shot, participating teams headed to different checkpoints such as musical therapy area, areas with nostalgic elements, inventive shooting games and African drum corner, among others.   A group of officiating guests then gifted participants who completed the game with a medal at the finishing point. Dr Jane Lee, Director of the Welfare Council, gave a speech to thank the centre and participants, and presented souvenirs. The event concluded with a musical performance by the H.K.S.K.H. Bishop Hall Secondary School’s student fellowship.

The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council has been putting considerable effort in providing support services addressing to the needs of stroke patients and their family members. In support of the World Stroke Day on 29th October, 2017, the Welfare Council jointly organised a stroke prevention programme with the Tong Ren Tong at the Plaza Hollywood on 28th October, 2017. The event aims at improving people’s knowledge about stroke and its prevention and treatment, and showing care to stroke patients.   Ms. Ding Yongling, the Deputy Managing Director of Beijing Tong Ren Tang (Group) Company Limited and the General Manager of Beijing Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine Company Limited, Mr Joe Sham, Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, Mr Jasper Tsang, the President of the 4th and 5th Legislative Council, artistes Mr Elaine Jin and Mr Stephen Wong, Ms Li Min, Director of Teaching and Research Division of the Hong Kong Baptist University’s School of Chinese Medicine, and cardiologist Dr David Siu, Professor of the Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU attended the ceremony as officiating guests.   Speaking at the event, Mr Joe Sham, Assistant Director of the Welfare Council, felt grateful for the chance to work with the Beijing Tong Ren Tong and looked forward to more collobrations in the future. Ms. Ding Yongling, the Deputy Managing Director of Beijing Tong Ren Tang (Group) Company Limited and the General Manager of Beijing Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine Company Limited, hoped the event could arouse public awareness towards stroke and promote the use of traditional Chinese medicine to maximize health benefits.   The organiser also invited Mr Jasper Tsang, former President of Legislative Council, artistes Ms Elaine Jin and Mr Stephen Wong to share their thoughts on the topic and screened a micro-film about stroke for public appreciation. Members and volunteers from the Council’s centres and other groups also put on fantastic shows that lit up the atmosphere!   Please support stroke patients and their beloved ones by making donations to the Sheng Kung Hui Stroke Rehabilitation Charity Fund.

The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council has launched its services for children with special educational needs (SEN) since 1981. Given its solid experience in SEN services, Smile With Us HK, a voluntary organisation, formed by Ms Laurinda Ho and a group of young people who care about Hong Kong, has donated HK$2 million to support the Council’s Smile Fund to help SEN children.   Ms Seiko Lee, Service Director of the Welfare Council, thanked Smile With Us HK and Laurinda for their generous support for the Smile Fund at a press conference, which would allow 150 SEN students to receive relevant subvented services early. On the other hand, the Welfare Council would continue to provide services to around 40,000 local SEN children in the days ahead.     Laurinda hoped what they have done could draw the public’s attention to needs of SEN students and assist grass-roots families who faced long waiting times for government-subsidised rehabilitation services.   Please like Smile With Us HK’s Facebook page and Instagram! They will be donating HK$10 for every “Like” on Facebook and Instagram.

Jointly organised by the Welfare Council, the Central and Western District Office and the Central Venue Management Ltd., and the Central and Western District Council, the “Together We Build: Community Engagement in Public Space Transformation@SummerFest Lifestyle” will be held on the Central Harbourfront Event Space on 25th to 27th August, 2017 for public enjoyment. The event is supported by the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, Sino Group, Sun Hung Kai Properties, the Sun Hung Kai Properties Charitable Fund, the China Merchants Loscam (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd.— alongside other organisations. On 14th July, 2017, the Welfare Council hosted a press conference at the David Li Kwok Po Community Hall, H.K.S.K.H. St. James’ Church to introduce the event to general public, where 20 mock-up public furniture as well as a life-sized public furniture (2m x 2m x 2m) and a sedan chair were exhibited.   A Speech by Dr Donald Li, Chairman of the Welfare Council Board of DirectorsIn his speech, Dr Donald Li, Chairman of the Welfare Council Board of Directors mentioned, “With architectural design as the main theme, the “Together We Build: Community Engagement in Public Space Transformation@SummerFest Lifestyle” engaged 20 teams of designers and students of architectural and design industries and different institutes to lead service users and members of the public to build a HK-shape giant maze and 20 large pieces of furniture designed according to the theme of “healthy living”. Upon completion of the project, members of the public can interact with others in the maze to share the success of social participation inclusion.” Dr Li felt grateful for the dedicated support of co-organisers, major sponsors and supporting organisations to the event and wished it a great success.   Event Briefing by Dr Jane Lee, Director of the Welfare Council Dr Jane Lee, Director of the Welfare Council, then briefed attendees on the event’s details. “The event aims at creating an ideal platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration and the enriching of recreational and public spaces in response to the lifestyles and needs of members of the community. The event will also pique the community’s interest in architecture, design and art, and promote the spirit of social harmony,” Dr Lee said.   Dr Lee added that the event would gather 2,000 participants to build a HK-shaped giant outdoor maze of 5,000 m2. The maze would include 20 large-sized public furniture featuring activities with healthy lifestyle designed by different service users and designers, reflecting the creativity of individuals of different backgrounds and various needs of the community. A sedan chair race would be held at the event. The sedan chairs of the race would be made to be components of a piece of public furniture. Participants could team up for an exciting sedan chair racing around the maze. Besides, a variety of DIY workshops and activities would be organised for public enjoyment.   Mr Robert Wong, Project Development Director of the Welfare Council, Shared on the Concept of Social Participation Inclusion “People and the community are considered to be livelihood issues of concern to the general public. However, they are considered to be fundamental to architectural projects. It is a traditional mindset that architectural teams should play a key role in architectural design while users’ participation is not a must. Still, the Welfare Council incorporated participatory and person-oriented design to form a platform where service users can get involved in the process so as to achieve a better outcome in architectural design,” Wong said.   Wong also noted that the Council’s design team would host seminars and design workshops, and take service users to do site visit and teach them to produce mock-up public furniture so as to inspire their creativity and exchange views with them. Through Together We Build: Community Engagement in Public Space Transformation@SummerFest Lifestyle, the Council hoped to stand out the concept of community engagement, which means to invite service users to take part in the design process and break free from the traditional frame work of architectural design.   Cheque Presentation Ceremony The generous support of our major sponsors including the Ng Teng Fong Charities Foundation, Sino Group, Sun Hung Kai Properties and the Sun Hung Kai Properties Charitable Fund also facilitate the event’s smooth operation. A cheque presentation ceremony was held at the press conference, where Mr Daryl Ng, Executive Director of Sino Group, and Mr Adam Kwok, Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties, presented a HK$1.5 million cheque respectively to the Welfare Council representatives, Dr Donald Li and Dr Jane Lee.    Kick-off Ceremony Accompanied by Dr Donald Li and Dr Jane Lee, seven guests including Mr Daryl Ng, Mr Adam Kwok, Ms Susanne Wong, District Officer (Central & Western) of Home Affairs Department, Ms Michelle Lee, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Central Harbourfront Event Space, and Ms Ting Xu, Head of Sales Management, China Merchants Loscam, officiated at the kick-off ceremony. Counting to three, guests put the props to form a mini HK shaped maze. The kick-off ritual represented that the joint efforts from all sides would contribute to the success of the event. The finished model is one-hundredth of the size of the original maze.   Sharing SessionThe organiser invited a design team formed by HKU SPACE architectural studies students and two service users including Ms Law and Ms Fung from the Welfare Council’s elderly centres to share their thoughts on the project. The design team has co-designed one of the large piece of public furniture, and they agreed that the project gave them an exclusive chance to exchange ideas and work together to create a beautiful yet practical furniture. Mr Yeung, a student of the design team, thought the project did not only let them make best use of the summer holidays and contribute the community from what they have learnt at school but also gave them an opportunity to partner and brainstorm with service users so as to perfect the design. Also, Ms Law never thought she would become a “designer” to design large-sized furniture for the centre. She just couldn’t wait to see the final product and try it with other senior citizens.   After the ceremony, guests toured the mock-up public furniture and 20 mini models while designers and service users shared their design concepts and thoughts with one another.   Hong Kong people are welcome to participate in the “Together We Build: Community Engagement in Public Space Transformation@SummerFest Lifestyle”. For enrolment methods and event details, please visit the event’s website:  www.webuild.skhwc.org.hk or call Ms Fung at 2533 1209. To keep abreast of the latest updates on the event, check out Together We Build Facebook page (Together we build_Skhwc). 

A Collaborative Cooking Programme, “Chef Anchor”, Launched by the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council and Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited Improved 90% of Participants’ Cooking Skills and Self-care Ability   In Hong Kong, approximately 9 out of 100 elderly people over 70 years old suffer from mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Ten to 15% of patients with MCI could become affected by dementia within the first year of the onset of MCI. At this moment, there is no complete cure for dementia which could affect patients physically, psychologically and socially but early intervention, appropriate treatments and aids could help delay deterioration of the disease. In light of this, the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council and Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) launched the “Chef Anchor”, the first collaborative cooking programme designed by the Welfare Council’s occupational therapists and Towngas’s cooking instructors to offer training to MCI participants to alleviate their symptoms. Research results showed that 90% of MCI participants saw improvements on self-confidence, cooking skills and cognitive ability after completion of the first phase of “Chef Anchor”. On 8th June, 2017, the “Chef Anchor” sharing session was held at the Towngas Cooking Centre to brief attendees on the programme details and research results, with a view to raising the public’s knowledge about MCI while helping patients cope with daily life and fostering social interaction. A song using the melody of Towngas’s commercial theme song with new lyrics regarding cooking safety was composed. Participants were required to sing the song every session. The objective of this practice was to provide cognitive training and rebuild participants’ self-confidence in cooking.   Mr Joe Sham, Assistant Director of the Welfare Council, and Mr Issac Yeung, Towngas Head of Corporate Affairs, officiated at the sharing session, where the organiser announced the research results of the first phase of “Chef Anchor”. After completion of Phase 1, the Welfare Council surveyed 19 MCI participants and found that the procedural learning method in cooking helped improve their self-confidence, cooking skills and cognitive ability so that their abilities to follow cooking instructions could be enhanced. Most participants thought that the programme increased their confidence in cooking as well as helped them avoid mistakes, including forgetting steps and leaving the stove on. Research findings also revealed that the cognitive screening test results of about 90% of MCI participants were improved, reflecting that their cognitive ability was enhanced by the programme.   In his welcome remarks, Mr Joe Sham, Assistant Director of the Welfare Council, felt delighted to cooperate with Towngas on “Chef Anchor” cooking programme and targeted to extend the programme to cover more senior citizens with MCI. “As there are no major differences between MCI and normal ageing, MCI patients usually refuse to accept their problems and receive treatments. “Chef Anchor” combined cooking with occupational therapies, using procedural learning method in flame cooking to offer authentic cognitive training to participants. Not only did such training method increased participants’ confidence in cooking, it can also be applied to other facets of life so as to enhance participants’ overall cognitive ability and thus improve their quality of life”, he added.   At the sharing session, Mr Issac Yeung, Towngas Head of Corporate Affairs, shared, “The collaborative cooking programme—“Chef Anchor”—aims at improving MCI participants’ self-confidence and cognitive ability via cooking. Towngas would like to offer our specialty, flame cooking, to help MCI patients and create shared value. We also encouraged our staff and clients to assist participants during cooking classes in order to enrich their knowledge about the disease and to empower them to serve themselves, as well as others.”   Dr Adrian Wong, Research Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist at the Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at CUHK, also shared on the topic of how procedural learning method could help patients with MCI. Adrian agreed that a detailed breakdown of cooking could help train participants’ cognitive ability. Ms Charis Wong, Occupational Therapist I of the Welfare Council, and Ms Pauline Wong, Manager of Towngas Cooking Centre, illustrated the design of Chef Anchor. “Unlike other recipes, we had further broken down the steps of our task-analyzed recipes which feature colours, words and image explanations for easy understanding and safety purpose, making MCI participants enjoy the fun of flame cooking”, Pauline said. Ms Charis Wong, Occupational Therapist I of the Welfare Council, explained that MCI participants were weak at thinking and analyzing and they needed more time in receiving new messages. However, common recipes with complicated steps required users to think quickly and analyze so as to complete the tasks. Mr Chan, a 90-year-old participant, also shared his experience at the cooking programme. Chan told that he seldom cooked due to poor health while meal delivery services were arranged for him by the elderly centre. But after joining the programme, he acquired cooking skills again and regained fun and confidence in cooking. Cindy, Towngas’s volunteer, thought that she has learnt more about the life challenges of senior citizens with MCI as well as their difficulties in remember things so she would communicate with them patiently. She also gained satisfaction while working with them in the programme.   Hong Kong’s First Multi-disciplinary Procedural Learning Method in Cooking Designed for MCI Participants   “Chef Anchor” is a multi-disciplinary programme launched by the social welfare sector and business sector. In March 2017, the Welfare Council conducted a cognitive screening test for hundreds of senior citizens from its elderly centres. The senior citizens with the tendency of MCI and had difficulties in cooking were invited to join the programme. Phase one and Phase two of “Chef Anchor” have been completed so far.   “Chef Anchor” is a systematic programme featuring the following four steps to delay cognitive decline of elderly people:   Occupational therapists and social workers of the Welfare Council designed authentic cognitive training for MCI participants, and provided cognitive screening test to them. Occupational therapists and social workers of the Welfare Council and Towngas cooking instructors and graphic designers worked together to tailor-make the task-analyzed recipe. This recipe featured all necessary ingredients for the dish with cooking procedures written in simple, concise and clear wordings. Safety instruction, colours, words and image explanations were also used for easy understanding and safety purpose. Occupational therapists and social workers of the Welfare Council would give appropriate support to MCI participants and Towngas’s volunteers.

“O Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled, as to console, to be understood, as to understand, to be loved, as to love with all my soul…”   Thanks to Mr Robert Shum, Independent Director of the Welfare Council Board of Directors, for bringing the Vitalia Academy for Life Long Learning and Ms Ming Lie, Barrister-at-law, together. With the support of Ms Lie, who is also a fundraising committee member of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Fundraising Concert 2017, the Central Choir of the academy got a chance to perform the Council’s song, “St. Francis’ Prayer”, for a thousand of guests at the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Fundraising Concert 2017, with the orchestral accompaniment, at the night of 25th March, 2017.   Through multiple trainings and activities, the academy’s Central Choir has cultivated senior citizens’ interest and skills in singing, sending joy to people round the corner with beautiful songs. The Central Choir has been formed since 2004, which includes 20 members from 13 elderly centres of the Welfare Council. Although the Central Choir has rich performing experiences and is widely recognized, it truly treasured the once-in-a-lifetime chance given by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Ms Lie. The valuable experience did not only push members of the Central Choir to learn their weaknesses and keep improving but also helped promote the importance of lifelong learning, which is in line with the mission of the academy: empowering retirees through incomparable learning experiences.