Nursing students scooped champions in Social Enterprise Challenge

SN student and alumna are the biggest winners of the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge. The innovative concept of applying Chinese medicinal therapies for injury prevention and sports rehabilitation to the general public and the ergonomic designed commode gained Ms Ka-yee Chan [our year-2 student on the BSc (Hons) in Mental Health Nursing programme] and Ms Ying-tung Chan (our alumna) and their multi-disciplinary teams the champions in the HKSEC.

The competition, organised by the Center for Entrepreneurship of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is an inter-collegiate social venture startup competition, which encourages students to employ a creative entrepreneurial approach to tackle social issues. Ms Chan, together with her three team members from the School of Chinese Medicine and the Department of Politics and Public Administration the University of Hong Kong, beat over more than 120 teams, and they were awarded the champion, with the startup prize money for an amount up to HK$ 75,000 for each team member, which will enable them to implement the first phase of their social enterprise namely “Chinese Medicine in Sports” under mentorship. The champion team also has the opportunity to represent Hong Kong to join the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Youth Co:Lab Summit 2019*, held in Hanoi, Vietnam in April this year.

Since the successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese medicine (CM) has been playing an important role in sports and many research studies have shown that CM therapies achieved good results for athletes. Unlike professional athletes, the public does not have easy access to sports team doctors and often neglects appropriate pre and post competition preparation and rehabilitation.

“Chinese Medicine in Sports” aims to fill the gap in the existing service by providing affordable and quality CM therapies, such as acupressure, massage, and cupping to public participants engaging in sports events or competitions (such as the Standard Chartered HK Marathon) and at the same time, providing employment with a decent wage for the visually impaired massage therapists. “Our project can bring mutual benefits to the service providers and users. This is the key for our success in the competitions, ” said Ka-yee Chan.

At present, the unemployment rate of the visually impaired persons is more than 85%. The team is recruiting visually impaired massage therapists and planning to provide training that integrates CM theories and sports science so as to enhance the knowledge of the therapists. As a mental health nursing student, Ms Chan’s role in the team is to recruit massage therapists, organise sharing events and provide psychological support to the recruits. “Many visually impaired persons have low esteem and they find it difficult to survive in the society. We hope that our social enterprise can help them enhance their professional status and demonstrate their potential,” said Ka-yee Chan. By improving the access of CM sports rehabilitation service, the team also hope to raise the public’s awareness of sports injury and rehabilitation, as well as promote the use of CM in sports science.

Alumna won another champion

Another champion project, Squatty Commode, is led by our alumna, Ms Ying-tung Chan (registered nurse) and guided by Dr Kin Cheung (Faculty Advisor of the project). The ergonomic designed commode helps guard against its rolling-over and prevent users from standing up, hence, reduces fall risks. The step-stool brings one’s legs up to mimic a squatting position, which promotes defecation.

For details：
Chinese Medicine in Sports
Squatty Commode