Hosted by Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, PolyU
Sponsored by Labour and Welfare Bureau
To facilitate persons with physical disability (PWPDs) living a meaningful and independent life in the society, professionals in the rehabilitation and social welfare sectors in Hong Kong have been putting their hands together to create an inclusive community. In July 2022, the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has been entrusted and sponsored by the Labour and Welfare Bureau to implement a project named as “Promoting healthy life among middle-aged and older persons with physical disability (PWPDs) and their caregivers”. This project aims to address the importance of wellbeing and transfer professional hand-on skills to the PWPDs and their caregivers for enhancing their quality of life.
The project team conducted 6 activities including three online talks and three face-to-face workshops at the end of 2022 and a symposium was held on 13th Jan 2023, giving a closure to the whole project. On that day, the Department has the honour to have Miss Vega Wong, JP, the Commissioner for Rehabilitation from Labour and Welfare Bureau, who delivered an informative speech for us. Together with Miss Wong, Ir Prof. Christopher Chao, the Vice President (Research and Innovation) PolyU, Prof. Hector Tsang, Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, PolyU and Ms. Ng, the representatives of PWPDs caregivers, put a symbolic puzzle with coordinated effort to launch the event. The puzzle symbolized that The Hong Kong SAR Government, PolyU, PWPDs and their caregivers, work together to build an inclusive and caring community for PWPDs.
In addition, the symposium had also invited Ms Mable Siu, the Chief Social Work Officer of the Rehabilitation and Medical Social Services Division of the Social Welfare Department, and several representatives from different non-government organizations and provided a platform for PWPDs, their caregivers and our honourable guests to exchange ideas on facing ageing issues.
Last but not least, the symposium had also invited Prof. Hector Tsang, and Prof. Alice Chong, Research Professor of Felizberta Lo Padilla Tong School of Social Sciences, Caritas Institute of Higher Education (CIHE), Hong Kong, to deliver keynote speeches on the topic of “Promoting healthy life among persons with physical disability (PWPDs) and their caregivers”. The event was brought to an end with the enthusiastic responses from the participants.