Gerontology Commons^™

An Exploratory Study Of Pet Raising And Health Of The Elderly People In Hong Kong, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Kam Wing, Kevin Cheung, Lam Fat Lo

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Introduction:

Pets such as dogs, cats and fish were popular in many other countries (Marx et al., 1988; Gammonley, 1991; Brodie & Biley, 1999; PIAS, 2002). In Hong Kong, pet owners increased to 0.26 million (Census and Statistics Department, 2006). Dating back to 1980s, a research study reported the association between pet ownerships and health benefits for humans (McNicholas et al., 2005). According to the report, domesticated pets brought a sense of companionship and provided pet owners with pleasure. These pets could be tools for enhancing human social relationship and could also provide their owners with emotional comfort. Recent studies …

A Study Of Travel Behavior, Travel Preferences, And Subjective Well-Being Of Older Persons In Hong Kong, Ka Yan, Little Cheng

Lingnan Theses

Demographic ageing of the population is now well established in Hong Kong and, as elsewhere, is raising increasing concerns about the basic needs and the well-being of older persons. Older individuals vary considerably and may try to enhance their well-being in different ways by a range of leisure activities. The gradually improving financial and physical status suggests travel as a potential leisure activity which might enhance individual well-being and quality of life of older persons.

Previous research about travel has mainly involved marketing and sociological perspectives. The market research to date for investigating customer values of tourism and typologies of …

Age Identity And Adjustment Patterns In Later Life : A Qualitative Study Of Retired Secondary School Teachers And Manual Workers In Hong Kong, Kit Ying, Connie Yong

Lingnan Theses

With escalating heterogeneity of the older population due to extending healthy life expectancy, chronological age is decreasingly likely to be an appropriate discriminator of social groups among the diverse population. It may be more fruitful to understand how older people actually feel and live their lives than merely using chronological age as a categorizing variable. Therefore, the present research investigates individual age identity which may provide a more realistic indicator of ageing in the life course. It may also underpin many behavioral phenomena.

Age identity focuses on how an individual perceives himself or herself in terms of age. Previous studies …

Powerless Or Perilous? : Ageing Women As An Emerging Social Force In Hong Kong, Kit Ling Luk

Lingnan Theses

Ageing women have so often been represented in government policy rhetoric, gerontology literatures and journalistic discourse as the genderless, powerless and passive objects of welfare and services;, by and large, as a social problem that needs to be monitored and managed. Taking a cultural research approach, this thesis explores ageing women’s actual practices in Hong Kong social movements and aims to rerepresent ageing women as active social agents capable of generating multiple “tactical identities” enabling them to participate in and interact with an environment that poses concrete challenges to their participation.

In filling the gap between research on social movements …

The Role Of Volunteering In Successful Ageing : Impacts On Psychological Well-Being Of Older Persons, Sin Yui, Sharon Chan

Lingnan Theses

The thesis looks at volunteering, an activity in which time is freely given as a gift to benefit other people, groups and society. Formal volunteering, as opposed to informal helping, entails stronger commitment via organisations that offer more or less organised assistance often on an individual basis. The thesis suggests that older retired persons provide an invaluable pool of formal voluntary workers amidst the growing need for social services and fewer resources for social welfare expenditure. This pool will grow even more in the future. Moreover, the research looks at the experiences of social engagement in older and associations between …

麻雀治療實務手冊, Social Services Department, Yan Chai Hospital 仁濟醫院社會服務部, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University 嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Wing Suen Wan Au

Manual & Guide 手冊及指引

本港人口正急速老化，65歲以上的老年人口將在未來三十年佔總人口的四分之一。如何確保長者的生活質素，以及提升護老者的照顧能力，將會是未來香港社會的挑戰。過去十年，各政府部門、醫管局、大學、專業團體和社會服務機構，都致力發展和研究有關老年健康的課題，藉以提升長者的生理、認知、心理和社交健康。近年，很多從西方引入的治療研究，亦被嘗試應用在不同類型的疾病上，例如：懷緬治療、多感觀治療、音樂治療和認知行為治療等，但應用在華人身上的成效，則有待更多的驗證。

華人社會一向重視家庭和親屬關係，以及勤奮工作的文化。大部份長者的教育水平偏低，年青時都只着重工作，甚少娛樂；跳舞、上戲院、閱讀、攝影只是少部份長者的嗜好，普羅大眾的娱樂文化主要是往茶樓品茗、打麻雀、打天九、看電視和賭博等等。麻雀治療是從長者過往較多接觸的活動中，發展出來的一套具有本土特色而非使用藥物的治療方法，旨意在融入長者的日常生活中，達到既提供娛樂活動，亦同時提升長者的身體、認知、心理和社交功能。

傳統的中國文化，一直流傳著所謂「打麻雀能醫百病」、「打麻雀是一種心靈寄託」、「打麻雀可以使人忘記煩惱、病痛」等說法。而每逢節日和家人團聚，“打幾圈”麻雀已成為一種很普及的娛樂活動。最近，有些報導以及一些醫生均指出打麻雀有助老年人避免患上心理疾病，以及減輕老年痴呆症患者的退化症狀。然而，上述的觀點至今仍未有科學方面的引證。

在2004年，仁濟醫院社會服務部與嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心,採用科學化的研究方法，於仁濟醫院社會服務部轄下八間老人院舍中，選取121位患有輕度及中度認知能力受損的長者進行麻雀治療的研究。研究的目的是希望引證麻雀治療能否改善患有老年痴呆症長者的身體、認知、心理和社交功能，並找出一套具策劃及有效執行的麻崔治療模式。透過研究的經驗和成果，將麻雀活動發展成為一稱具本土特色的健康治療工具。我們盼望藉此實務手冊，為年長一聚提供多一個非藥物的治療選擇；同時亦希望本手冊能夠發揮拋縛引玉的效果，使各界人士能夠繼續推廣和實行麻雀治療，造福廣大的社群。

A Report On An Exploratory Study On Visual Conditions Of Older People Living In Public Housing, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Meng Soi, Florence Fong, Hon Yui, Eric Wong, Ka Yu, Kenneth Au-Yeung

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

HOPE worldwide (HWW) has been a chartered charity organization in Hong Kong since 1993, with its focus on organizing service programmes in China and Hong Kong. Volunteers for Seniors Day (formerly Hope for Seniors Day) is one of the many programmes initiated by HWW to meet the urgent needs of the growing ageing population in Hong Kong. Starting in 1996, volunteers from corporations and social organizations have been recruited for Volunteers for Seniors Days on an annual basis. Since 2000, the programme has been jointly organized with the Housing Authority to provide cleaning and painting services to single elderly tenants …

An Exploratory Study On The Significance Of Outbound Travelling For The Older Persons In Hong Kong, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, David Rosser Phillips, Meng Soi, Florence Fong, Hon Yui, Eric Wong

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Hong Kong has been experiencing demographic ageing with an increasing number of older population and prolonged life expectancy. It is projected that population will increase from 12% in 2004 to 24% in 2031 (Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, 2002). Older people in the future are expected to be wealthier and healthier and the potential demand for recreational activities will strongly be associated with this group. As highlighted in the Chief Executive of the HKSAR 2001 policy address, the future direction of elderly care and services is to improve the quality of life of older persons, ensuring that they …

Happy Farming Programme : An Exploratory Study From An Intergenerational Perspective, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Institute Of Humanities And Social Sciences, Lingnan University, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Meng Soi, Florence Fong, Hon Yui, Eric Wong, Hoi To, Calvin Wong

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Background:

To extend the successful experience learnt from the Golden Organic Farming Programme in Tsuen Wan organized by Produce Green Foundation in 2004, a new farming programme entitled “Happy Farming” has been launched in Tuen Mun. A plot of land was leased to Good Tiding Church of Christian National’s Evangelism Commission in Lai Wai Tuen Mun (屯門泥圍佳音福音堂) by the Government. APIAS was invited to design and implement the farming programme in January 2005. Nine volunteers were recruited, including five older people and four youngsters to work together on farming activities including land exploitation, trainings, ploughing, weeding and mass activities such …

Survey On Public Attitude And Perception Towards Ethnic Minorities 2004, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Hon Yui, Eric Wong

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Oxfam Hong Kong commissioned Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS), Lingnan University to conduct a telephone survey and concealed participatory observation in order to recognize the public (Hong Kong people) attitude and perception towards ethnic minorities. Telephone numbers were selected at random from up-to-date residential phone directories and the target population of the study comprised Chinese speaking male and female adults aged 16 or over. The telephone interviews were conducted on 4 and 5 of August 2004 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. 512 interviews were completed from the randomly chosen 917 households, and the response rate was 55.8%. Results are subject …

Lifelong Learning For Older Persons In Hong Kong, Sze Sze, Stephanie Hui

Lingnan Theses

Lifelong learning (LL) has been widely regarded as one of the activities that can enhance well-being of the society and benefit older persons in terms of psychological, physical, mental, and cognitive well-being. In foreign countries like the Unites States of America, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Australia, and also China, LL among older persons had been developed successfully. Hong Kong, in contrast, has no systematic planning for the development of LL even though the aged population is increasing rapidly. This research aims at constructing a LL model for older persons in Hong Kong. The theoretical framework of study focused on …

Older Mothers' Expectations Of Intergenerational Relationships : The Intergenerational Ambivalence Perspective, Sze Wing Yan

Lingnan Theses

With the effects of social changes, family values have changed and tensions and contradictions are probably more likely to occur among family members. According to the intergenerational ambivalence perspective, intergenerational relationships are inherently structured so as to generate ambivalence. Ambivalence means the contradictions in the relationships between older parents and adult children that cannot be reconciled. Individuals are expected to use various strategies in their attempts to manage ambivalence at least temporarily.

Older women, who often have different life experiences than older men given the influence of traditional Chinese culture, are the focus of this research. The present study aims …

香港老年保障制度改革模式, Xuemei Wang

Lingnan Theses

1971年，香港已經建立了綜合援助計劃，以幫助貧困長者，並在2000年12月開始執行強積金計劃。從目前的情況來看，香港已經建立多支柱的老年保障體系，SSA和CSSA為長者提供基本生活保障，MPF制度為正規部門的就業人員提供年金保障，ORSO制度為正規部門就業人員提供額外保險。但此體系還相當的不完善，並不能給長者提供足夠的、可承受和可持續的養老金。

因此，面對日益嚴重的人口老齡化和老年貧困問題，香港老年保障制度也面臨極大的資金壓力，並處於老年保障支出越來越多，老年貧困問題制度越來越嚴重的尷尬局面。本次研究針對這些突出問題，結合國際老年保障制度改革的經驗，並根據香港實際情況，提出適合香港本身的老年保障制度模式，即提高MPF繳費率，擴大繳費基數，改革個人賬戶積累發放辦法，並將SSA由全民平均津貼制改為收入調查津貼制。

本文運用世界銀行開發的PROST軟件，從精算的角度進行具體成本分析。通過對未來70年的成本預測，以及與現制度的成本比較，以判斷此改革模式是否具有長期財務可持續性和可行性。通過此次研究，希望能為香港的老年保障制度提供一個雙嬴的方案，既可提供長期的老年保障資金支持，又可促進經濟持續發展。

A Study Of Life Events And Psychological Well-Being Among Older Persons In Hong Kong : The Role Of Self-Esteem, Coping And Locus Of Control, Kwok Hung, Billy She

Lingnan Theses

The present study investigates to what extent the life events, which includes self-perceived health, self-esteem, internal locus of control and coping effectiveness as indicators, could explain the occurrence of positive affect and depression amongst these elderly persons. The relationships between life events, self-esteem-level, internal locus of control, coping effectiveness, and psychological well-being among older persons (aged 60 or above) in Hong Kong are examined. Eight pilot study cases have been carried out in order to test for the validity of the research instrument. One hundred and three elderly respondents were successfully interviewed face-to-face from three main estates in Tseung Kwan …

Consideration Of Protective Legislation On Family And Residential Care For Older Persons In Hong Kong, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Chao Li

APIAS Working Paper 工作論文

Older persons, like all members of any society, have the right to be free from mistreatment at family care and residential care. Furthermore, older persons are the special collectiveness, different from children or other adults, so elder abuse or neglect is a more complicated issue. Protective legislation aiming at protecting older persons from possible mistreatment as one of the various intervention approaches is essential. By analyzing the pros and cons in applying the legislation on institutional care (i.e. family and residential places) in Hong Kong, for three case examples, plus referencing to China’s experience, the goals and contents of the …

江、浙、滬三地農村老人精神文化生活比較硏究 : 以歸莊鎮、周王廟鎮、江橋鎮為例, Jiming Zhu, Liang Peng

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

中國人口正面向老齡化、如何豐富老人精神文化生活，並將重視老人精神文化生活需求和物質需求提到同一重要的高度，一直是中共中央所關注的工作。老人不僅需要物質上的需求，也需要有精神文化生活的滿足。有較充分的物質保障和豐富的精神文化生活是老人幸福的兩個重要因素。然而，一直以來，各界對老人物質需求關注和投入較多，對老人精神需求則重視不夠。因此，本文將探討三地（歸莊鎮、周王廟鎮和江橋鎮）農村老人精神文化生活。是次調查研究以問卷形式進行，將老人精神文化生活密切相關的精神慰籍作為一個獨立的部分進行調查。本文通過選取該部分的若干指標，對三地老人精神文化生活進行比較，並在此基礎上提供進一步豐富三地老人精神文化生活的相應對策。

Report On The Study Of The Relationship Between Formal And Informal Caregivers In Caring For Older People, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Christian Family Service Centre

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Christian Family Service Centre (CFSC) has been striving for better caring services for older people in Hong Kong. However, many studies often focus only on a single dimension of caregivng in either informal or formal caregivers. Few studies have viewed caring as an integrative approach, with limited examination and exploration on the caring processes and interactions between the caregivers and carees and the reasons for this pattern. Therefore, CFSC invited the Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS) to conduct the research. The present research aimed to explore caregiving relationships and care patterns among caregivers and carees. The goal was also …

An Exploratory Study Of The Impacts On Gardening To Older People : Case Study To "Tsuen Wan Golden Organic Farming Project", Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University, Produce Green Foundation

APIAS Working Paper 工作論文

Aims

This was an exploratory study to investigate how gardening could enhance and strengthen the physical health, psychological well-being and social networks of older participants.

Design and participants

Qualitative research methodology was adopted in this study. Interviews were conducted on ten elderly people. In order to check and confirm the information collected in the in-depth interviews and provide more useful information for our study, four older participants and four volunteer workers were invited to join our two focus group discussions (N=8) upon the completion of the in-depth interview. Data was collected between March and July of 2004.

Findings

In this …

Exploring The Changing Relationship Between Formal Carers, Informal Carers And Carees During The Elder-Care Process, Sing Nam Hung

Lingnan Theses

There are increasing studies looking at effects of caregiving to the frail elderly in Hong Kong. However, many studies often focus only on a single dimension of caregiving in either informal or formal carers without the focus on the elderly that receiving cares. Few studies have viewed elder caregiving as an integrative and dynamic approach, with limited examination and exploration on the caring processes and interactions between the formal and informal carers and elderly carees, and the reasons for this pattern.

Thus a caregiving triad might be considered as consisting of the elderly caree, the formal and informal carer, and …

Images Of Older Persons In Hong Kong Popular Films, Nga Man Wong

Lingnan Theses

Film watching is a popular leisure activity in modern society. Films, as a medium, provide powerful tools to deliver social messages and to create images of particular social groups. The cinematic images portrayed by films toward a particular social group may consequently shape our social perceptions and expectations of that social group. The ways that cinematic images portray older persons are, therefore, a potentially major source for detecting social values and views about them.

As some cinematic images tend to reflect social attitudes and behaviours, the present research aimed at investigating how popular films portray the images of older persons. …

Explaining Volunteering In Old Age : A Social Reinforcement Perspective, Tsz Wai Lau

Lingnan Theses

Volunteering has been widely accepted as potentially a very good means to engage older persons and to maximize their contribution to society. There is a need to understand the entire process of volunteering, the reasons that motivate older persons to participate in volunteer services and activities and to appreciate why committed elderly volunteers continue to involve themselves in volunteering. The present study attempts to explore the possible motivational and sustainable aspects in the process of volunteering guided by a social reinforcement perspective. It further aims to propose an explanatory model for the initiation and sustainability of volunteering involving older persons …

「仁濟老友記行動」計劃成效調查報告, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University 嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心, 仁濟醫院社會服務部

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

計劃理念

仁濟醫院董事局在一九九七年八月開始推展「仁濟老友記行動」計劃，以結 集社會人士的力量籌募善款，將所得以定額形式免費贊助該院轄下各長者中 心的綜援受助人或經濟貧乏的長者會員免費參加中心舉辦的活動，以鼓勵他 們積極參與有益身心的社群活動，保持心境開朗，避免長者因經濟困難而失 去參與社交活動的機會及與社群疏離。截至二零零二年十二月為止，該計劃 已踏進第六個年頭。

計劃簡介

每年參與「仁濟老友記行動」的長者均可獲定額贊助，以免費參與各長者中心舉辦的活動。計劃中每位長者的全年定額贊助金額因應每年的善款所得而在不同年度作出修訂。於97/98 年度至 99/00 年度贊助額為每人每年$500， 在99/00 年度開始修訂為每人每年$300，至02/03 年度開始設立「老友記助學金」，當中是以$100 資助知識、資訊和學習性質的個別活動、課程或班組； 而另外定額贊助的$200 供長者用作自由選擇參與中心舉辦的任何活動用途。 事實上，發給長者的贊助金額並非以現金形式由長者去支取，而是以記帳扣數形式進行。即每位長者名下有一筆定額數目的贊助費，當他們報名參加活動時，活動費用便於該長者名下的贊助費賬目中自動扣除。而贊助額賬目也 不能「多除少補」，即活動收費大於賬目所餘金額數目時，長者不可自行補貼差額以動用贊助。此外，$100 的「助學金」和 $200 的「自由選擇」贊助金兩者餘款是不能合併使用。

調查目的

是次仁濟醫院董事局社會服務部委任嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心對「仁濟老友記行動」計劃進行詳細評估及分析，以了解該項計劃對參與長者的成效，並對此計劃的未來發展方向作出建議。

University-School Link Partnership Projects (Uslp) For Promotion Of Intergeneration Communication, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, David Rosser Phillips, Meng Soi, Florence Fong

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Started as a pilot experiment, the University-School Link Partnership (USLP) was designed to encourage interactions between young and old people. It was first initiated in 2000 and implemented from September 2001 to September 2002. Co-organized by the Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS), Lingnan University and the Church of Christ in China Ming Kei College, the USLP involved four schools and ten social welfare organizations with a total of 288 students, 265 older persons and 106 volunteers participating in the project.

The aims of the project were to enhance the intergenerational relationship between the young and the older participants through …

The Meaning Of Care For Older Chinese Caregivers : An Exploratory Model Of Positive Caring, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, K. M., Carmen Ng, C. K., Liliane Chan, David Rosser Phillips

APIAS Working Paper 工作論文

Caring is often a highly personalized and individual activity. Through in-depth and searching interviews with two older care-givers, this study explored the determinants that help to sustain cares in their long-term care role and proposes an explanatory model for sustaining care. Attempts were made to uncover those meanings held by Chinese care-givers in interpreting their roles in a positive way despite the enormous demands placed on them by care-giving or, if they interpreted their care giving negatively, the attitudes that sustained their giving of care. Narrative accounts were obtained through separate interviews (conducted by two experienced social workers) asking open-ended …

A Report On An Evaluation Of The Hope, Worldwide Seniors Day 2003, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Meng Soi, Florence Fong, Siu Ping, Ella Ng

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

The HOPE worldwide 1 (HWW) in Hong Kong has been chartered as a charity organization since 1993 with its focus on organizing service programmes in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Amongst these, the Hope for Seniors Day is one of the many attempts initiated by the HWW to meet the urgent needs of the growing ageing population in Hong Kong. Starting from 1996, volunteers from corporations and social organizations have been recruited for the Hope for Seniors Day on an annual basis. The programme aims at giving practical assistance to elderly people who are living alone in public housing estates, …

An Exploratory Study Of Older Persons' Computer And Internet Usage In Hong Kong, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, David Rosser Phillips, Meng Soi, Florence Fong

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

Computer usage and internet access for older persons have been increasingly emphasized in Hong Kong, particularly as a live access tool for keeping frequent contacts with the outside world and the applicability in online medical consultation for those who are frail and isolated. But how are these computer communication technologies being used among the older persons? The question has not been much explored. Hence, this study aims, as a first step, to find out the profiles of older persons using computer aided communications including internet and e-mails. The objectives of the present study are to:

1. measure the proportion of older …

The Concept Of Healthy Ageing In Hong Kong, Mei Lan, Mandy Chiu

Lingnan Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of ‘Healthy Ageing’ in Hong Kong. The research attempts to explore the historical base from which ‘Healthy Ageing’ has been conceptualized in both Western and Chinese societies. This study also tries to provide an overview of literature that relevant to the ‘Healthy Ageing’ concept, and to provide an initial theoretical framework of ‘Healthy Ageing’ in a Hong Kong Chinese context.

This study mainly adopts a qualitative approach in exploring the meaning of the concept. Since that ‘Healthy Ageing’ is likely to be conceptualized from the concept of health and ageing, …

Quality Of Life Of The Chinese Elderly In Hong Kong : Preliminary Findings From Two Focus Groups Studies, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, Sheung Tak Cheng, David Rosser Phillips

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

In addressing the issues of developing a culturally sensitive and elderly relevant measure of quality of life, the research teams resort to a multi-staged approach. The first is to take on an easier target group (i.e. those living in community and are reasonably mobile) in an attempt to develop an initial measure for the elderly people living in community. Assuming that this initial measurement will be largely applicable to the frail ones, an alternative version will be developed based on the modification of the former. So the first stage was a series of focus groups designed to exhaust meanings and …

Impacts Of Residential Relocation On Stress, Coping And Quality Of Life Among Older Persons In Hong Kong, Siu Pan, Benny Chan

Lingnan Theses

Residential relocation could potentially be injurious to older persons. Indeed, much of the research literature in Western societies points out that involuntary residential relocation may exert undesirable impacts on older persons’ lives. Those impacts could be even greater if the relocation was forced upon the individual one person. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the impacts of involuntary residential relocation on older persons’ quality of life, stress and coping in Hong Kong. From a review of the literature, it was hypothesized that there will be perceived stress during and after the process of residential relocation, and satisfaction …

An Exploratory Study Of Informal Support And Life Satisfaction Of Older Persons In Macau, Meng Soi, Florence Fong

Lingnan Theses

The purpose of the research is to explore the forms of support provided by informal support networks of spouse, adult children, relatives, friends and neighbours for older persons in Macau. The research also attempts to identify the elements that contribute to life satisfaction among active older persons. As little research has been conducted in Macau, this study tries to introduce data and possible suggestions for initiatives in elderly policy in this area.

The thesis adopts mainly a qualitative approach in exploring the possible informal support elements that contribute to life satisfaction as perceived by active older persons. Sixty-five in depth …