News

RS year-4 OT Student Won Hong Kong PHAB Association 50th Anniversary 3"Free"D Living Design Competition

Congratulations to Tang Hoi Kiu Dorothy and her team members, Tam Cheuk Yan, Lam Wing Hay, Choy Marco and Hui Hei Tung, all year-4 students of BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy programme, for winning the 3"Free"D Living Design Competition championship held by Hong Kong PHAB Association on its 50th anniversary! The competition requires participants to use 3D printing technology to design creative assistive tools for elderly people and individuals with disabilities, helping them overcome daily challenges and improve their quality of life. The winning product developed by the students is a universal clip that enables wheelchair users for fixating and bringing their daily necessities. As part of the competition's requirements, the students had to design a product based on the needs of a client, who is a 21-year-old woman with cerebral palsy. Even though she usually commuted on an electrical wheelchair, she would sometimes walk while assisted with two walking sticks. Therefore, she hoped that the students can design a device which could help stabilise her walking sticks at the side of her electrical wheelchair. Students designed 2 clips in total and each clip consists of three parts: a 3D printed clip, a 3D printed board, and an adhesive 3M broom gripper. The students used 3D printing technology to produce the clip, springs were added to the design and the surface was covered with non-slip coating, to make the clip stronger and more durable. Then, they merged the 3D printed clip and board with long screws and fixed the adhesive 3M broom gripper at the other side of the board. The students also taken client’s interests into consideration that they printed the clip in red as it is client’s favourite colour. They even stuck photos of her favourite popstar on the surface of the clip for personalization and make it more engaging. Users need to compress the sides of the clip for opening, so the clip could be secured onto the bars of the wheelchair. When the user releases her grip, the clip will be fastened and stabilised. The stick can then be pressed into the adhesive 3M broom gripper, securing the sticker to the other side of the board and safely attaching it to the electric wheelchair. When the stick is needed, it can simply be pulled out. We would like to congratulate once again the five winning students, which they demonstrated their knowledge, creativity, and thoughtfulness by considering the needs and preferences of the user. We hope that this experience will encourage other students to care for those in need, foster mutual understanding, and promote inclusivity between people with and without disabilities.

A Remarkable Occasion: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences 10th Elite Alumni Seminar

On 12 April 2023, the RS 10th Elite Alumni Seminar was held and deemed to be a great success. We had the honor of inviting two distinguished alumni, Prof. David Man and Prof. Margaret Mak, to share their personal success stories with guests, teachers, alumni, and students of RS. Their insightful talks have made for a delightful and unforgettable evening for all attendees. It was our great honor to have Prof. Ben Young (Vice President (Student and Global Affairs), PolyU) deliver the opening speech at the seminar. Prof. Young highlighted that the purpose of the event was to celebrate the 45th anniversary milestone of the RS Department and to provide a platform for alumni to share their experiences and knowledge. He also expressed his vision that by inspiring and supporting fellow students and alumni in their learning and work, a positive contribution to the society could be made collectively. The event was graced by esteemed guests including Prof. Philip Chan (Senior Advisor to the Deputy President and Provost, PolyU) and Prof. David Shum (Yeung Tsang Wing Yee and Tsang Wing Hing Professor in Neuropsychology, Chair Professor of Neuropsychology, and Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, PolyU). In addition, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences, and Head of RS, PolyU) has delivered a lively introduction of Prof. David Man and Prof. Margaret Mak. Throughout his career, Prof. David Man has been fulfiling his leading roles in tertiary institutions and exhibiting his professional experience in academic administration and research management. He currently serves as the Director of Mental Health Research Centre (MHRC) and Professor in Occupational Therapy at RS Department, and has held various administrative positions at both departmental and faculty levels. Prof. Man has won numerous competitive grants from different funding bodies and is an internationally renowned scholar in rehabilitation, ranking among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists, as compiled by Stanford University. Earlier this year, he has been appointed as the Vice President (Academic) of Tung Wah College. Prof. Margaret Mak was appointed as the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Fellow in Rehabilitation Sciences in 2017 and has been subsequently converted to Endowed Professor since 2021, and she is the first academic staff in RS Department to be converted. Prof. Mak currently serves as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, and as Professor in Physiotherapy at RS Department. Her research focuses on neurological rehabilitation, with a special emphasis on Parkinson’s disease. Prof. Mak is not only an outstanding teacher and researcher, but also holds important positions in Physiotherapists Board of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. After the fascinating sharing by Prof. Man and Prof. Mak, as the seminar drew to a close, Prof. Hector Tsang extended a vote of thanks to the two elite alumni, guests, and attendees. With joyful farewells, every participants left the event with an eager anticipation for the next Elite Alumni Seminar and the opportunity to reunite once again.

Symposium on Safe and Effective Access to Multidisciplinary Services, co-organized by the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at PolyU, and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine

The HKSAR Policy Address 2021 and 2022 proposed the amendment of the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Cap 359) to allow patients gaining direct access to allied healthcare services without doctors’ referrals, which has ignited a heated debate in the community. While the proposed change may shorten patients’ waiting times and prevent treatment delays by allowing people to have professional healthcare services in Hong Kong, some stakeholders have raised their concern about patient safety following the changes. To gain a better understanding of the benefits and impacts of such changes, the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at PolyU and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine co-organized a symposium on April 1, 2023 to invite different stakeholders, including a legislative council member, physicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and academicians, to discuss the safety and effectiveness of direct access to multidisciplinary services. The symposium comprised two sessions. In the first session, Prof. Gilberto Leung (President, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine) acknowledged the presence of inconsistent opinions from different stakeholders about the proposed amendment. He hoped that through the symposium, participants could gain a deeper understanding of the benefits and impacts of direct access to healthcare services on different stakeholders. Meanwhile, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, PolyU) facilitated guest speakers and audiences to discuss various pragmatic and academic issues associated with treatment effectiveness and patient safety, and to explore the benefits of direct access to healthcare services. Dr Hon David Lam (Legislative Council Member (Medical and Health Services), HKSAR) gave a brief introduction regarding the amendment of the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance, and highlighted the benefits of direct access service to the public. He also shared his experiences and insights on this topic. Dr Sheung-wai Law (President, The Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons) briefly introduced how they had been working with physiotherapists to provide safe and effective care by triaging patients with low back pain to different secondary and tertiary cares in the Hospital Authority over the last decade. He also shared the pros and cons of implementing the direct access to healthcare service in the future. The second session of the symposium involved four speakers from different healthcare disciplines, including Mr Ricardo Lai (Director, Rica Rehabilitation and Consultancy Service Limited), Prof. Regina Sit (Associate Professor of Practice in Family Medicine, The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Dr Timmy Chan (Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong), and Mr. Kenneth Au-Yeung (Founder, Healing Hands Physiotherapy Centre). They discussed the feasibility and limitations of direct access to healthcare service from different professional perspectives, including safety measures while treating patients, treatment effectiveness, and optimization of treatment plans. Prof. Tsang delivered the closing speech and expressed that the symposium had made a significant contribution to the continuous evolution and development of the local healthcare industry. The guest speakers and audiences candidly shared their views and raised questions from their perspectives, which allowed participants to gain a multifaceted understanding of the amendment. The symposium highlighted the benefit of having a multidisciplinary platform to discuss the implementation of the direct access to healthcare service so as to enhance the safety and effectiveness of healthcare services in Hong Kong. The success of this symposium is an important milestone for the development of the local healthcare industry and academia. The insights gained from this event have laid the foundation for the discussion of future medical development or reform.

RS student won prizes in the Standard Chartered HK Marathon 2023

Mr YIP Tak Long, Year 1 student of Bachelor of Science (Honours) Scheme in Rehabilitation Sciences in Physiotherapy won the Standard Chartered HK Marathon 2023 - 10KM Men’s Overall 2nd Runner-up, and Men’s Junior Category Champion in the HK Marathon. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences is proud of Nick’s achievements in this international marathon event and wish him to have more breakthroughs in future competitions.  

PolyU Research: Microcurrent stimulation improves social and cognitive functioning of people with autism

A PolyU research team led by Dr Yvonne Han, Associate Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, has found that transcranial direct current stimulation treatment on brain function paired with concurrent cognitive remediation training can effectively improve the social communication skills and cognitive function of adolescents and young adults with autism.  Click here for more ____________________________________________________________ Media coverage: Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/40ZMS1s Ming Pao Daily News - https://polyu.me/40ZGEyL Hong Kong Economic Times - https://polyu.me/3xoASt3 Sing Tao Daily - https://polyu.me/3k2p0JY am730 - https://polyu.me/3EBhvkz Ta Kung Pao - https://polyu.me/3Ix6za0 Yahoo HK - https://polyu.me/410sYUc ____________________________________________ Click the link to participate the study: https://forms.gle/3i2PYLN5G5ypJxvc6

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences kicks off the celebration of sapphire (45th years old) anniversary

This year RS marks its 45th years old since its establishment in 1978.  To commence the celebration series, RS held the Kick-Off Ceremony of RS 45th Anniversary Celebration cum Spring Dinner on 7th February 2023. More than 200 distinguished guests, alumni, students and staff have joined us to share the happiness of celebration in the first month of Year of the Rabbit. The event was jointly organized with Physiotherapy Students’ Society and Occupational Students’ Society.  Among them, we felt privileged to have Dr Miranda LOU (Executive Vice President, PolyU) and Dr Libby LEE (Undersecretary for Health, Health Bureau) deliver speeches. Following their impressive sharing, Prof. Hector TSANG (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences) hosted a chit chat session with Prof. Sophia CHAN (Professor in Nursing / Senior Advisor to the President’s Office, Former Secretary for Food and Health, Food and Health Bureau) to discuss the future development of rehabilitation sciences. A gimmick opening for posting sapphire puzzles was then held to symbolize our shinning wishes for the practitioners and stakeholders of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy to join hands and contribute to the allied health fields. RS has been admitting students with the highest DSE scores among all PolyU academic programmes.  To better nurture these high-quality students, RS has launched the High Flyer Programme to pair up high flyer students and elite alumni since 2018. To update this accomplishment, Prof. Shamay NG (Associate Head and Professor of RS) gave a sharing on the progress of the Programme during the event. Mr Jimmy WU (Director, District Health Centre Team, Health Bureau), our mentor of the Programme and Mr Curtis YU (Year 2 student, BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy Programme) highlighted what they have experienced in the Programme. Ms Magdalene POON (Department Manager, Occupational Therapy Department, Kwai Chung Hospital) also shared her thought to the audiences.  The band show by our students and the singing session were the climaxes of the event. The student band members, consisting of year 2 and 3 Physiotherapy Programme students, have thoroughly showcased their talent in singing and playing musical instruments throughout this session. Prof. Hector TSANG and the VIPs then joined the team to sing classical songs in the 1980s, bringing resonance of past memory among the alumni.    At the end of the event, Prof. TSANG delivered the closing address in which he thanked all the guests, colleagues and students for attending the event. He also looked forward to seeing them in the other RS 45th anniversary events and expressed his best wishes for RS to close the event.

Promoting healthy life among middle-aged and older persons with physical disability (PWPDs) and their caregivers hybrid symposium

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.

Social Welfare Department (SWD) and PolyU RS have committed to continue the collaboration in providing MPT and MOT programmes for 5 more cohorts

RS held the inauguration ceremony for its Master in Physiotherapy (MPT) and Master in Occupational Therapy (MOT) programmes today (3 January 2023), in order to welcome the freshmen of the upcoming academic year. With the support from the Social Welfare Department (SWD), Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, SAHK, Po Leung Kuk, relevant NGOs, as well as RS colleagues and students, the ceremony was completed with a great success. The Department is honoured to have Dr Lawrence Li, Deputy Council Chairman of PolyU, to deliver the welcome address at the ceremony. Dr Li mentioned that PolyU and SWD had been cooperating with each other to provide the aforementioned programmes from 2012, and would continue to cooperate, in an effort to regularize the two programmes so as to meet the society’s ever-growing demand. Miss Charmaine Lee, Director of Social Welfare, SWD, also delivered a speech, introducing its Training Sponsorship Scheme and relevant new developments. During the inauguration ceremony, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head, Department of RS, PolyU) and Miss Charmaine Lee have together completed the Kick-off Ceremony of Cooperation, symbolizing the continuous collaboration between RS and SWD in the provision of five more cohorts of MOT and MPT programmes to 2029. After that, Mr Faye Cheung, Principal Social Services Secretary (Elderly and Rehabilitation) of Po Leung Kuk, and Ms Edith Hung, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SAHK, have introduced respectively their organizations and the current development of rehabilitation in Hong Kong. Two graduates of the master programmes have also shared their learning experiences. Dr Hon David Lam, Legislative Councilor of HKSAR Legislative Council, was then invited to present souvenirs to the speakers in appreciation of their sharing. Finally, Prof. Tsang delivered the closing remarks at the end of the ceremony. He briefly introduced the prospects of social welfare in Hong Kong and encouraged the freshmen to provide high-quality professional services to the people in need in the future. The inauguration ceremony came to a successful conclusion.  

MoU Signing Ceremony between RS of PolyU and School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Nanjing Medical University

RS of PolyU and the School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Nanjing Medical University (NMU), held a Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony on 12 December 2022, symbolising a closer and more concrete collaborative relationship between RS and NMU. RS and NMU have built a solid foundation for collaboration. In 2016, the two parties co-organised the 10th Pan-Pacific Conference on Rehabilitation (PPCR) in Shanghai, with around 1,000 participants.  During the ceremony, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS, PolyU) and Prof. Xu Guangxu (Dean of School of Rehabilitation Medicine, NMU) separately introduced the background and prospect of cooperation between the two universities in the field of rehabilitation. The main purpose of the MoU is to further explore and implement collaborations in teaching and research projects, staff and student exchange programmes, clinical practice, etc. in order to facilitate the development of the discipline of rehabilitation medicine in mainland China. PolyU has always encouraged various academic departments to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with mainland China. We look forward to further exploring the models and opportunities for collaboration with NMU in different areas.  

MoU Signing Ceremony between RS of PolyU and Guangzhou Medical University

RS of PolyU and Guangzhou Medical University (GMU) held a Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony on 25 November 2022, signifying the official establishment of a closer collaborative relationship and broader areas of cooperation between the two parties. It also indicated that the scale of cooperation has been elevated from the departmental/college level to the university level. RS and GMU have built a solid foundation for collaboration. Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) has been appointed “Distinguished Professor of Nanshan Scholar” by GMU in 2019, and provides direction for curriculum and team setup for rehabilitation-related disciplines at GMU. During their speeches for the ceremony, Prof. Kwok-yin Wong, Vice President (Education) of PolyU, and Prof. Li Jianhua, Vice President of GMU, both expressed expectations for more in-depth cooperation between PolyU and GMU in teaching and scientific research for their mutual benefit. Prof. Hector Tsang and Prof. Zhou Xinke, Director of The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of GMU, also separately introduced the background, outcomes and future directions for cooperation between the two universities in the field of rehabilitation. PolyU has always encouraged various academic departments to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with mainland China. We look forward to further exploring the models and opportunities for collaboration with GMU in education, research, teacher and student exchanges, curriculum development, and clinical practice.