News

Prof. Hector Tsang has obtained funding from Lee Hysan Foundation to support a project for promoting teachers’ wellness

Prof. Hector Tsang has obtained funding from Lee Hysan Foundation to support a project for promoting teachers’ wellness We are delighted to share the good news that Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) has succeeded in acquiring funding from Lee Hysan Foundation to support a 2-year project titled “Teachers Wellness MED Program”. Heavy teaching and administrative workloads, education reforms, preparation for peer observation or external school reviews, pursuit of further education etc have imposed a great burden on teachers that could adversely affect their physical and mental health, and consequently their work performance. On the other hand, appropriate support and help from schools and the government is limited. There is an urgent need to develop a holistic health programme to help improve teachers’ physical and mental wellbeing. As a matter of fact, the challenges and stress that teachers face at different stages of life and career development are varied, resulting in various levels of physical and mental health problems. In view of this, Prof. Tsang and his team aim to use a life-span approach to provide holistic and sustainable care to teachers. The Teachers Wellness MED Program (with “MED” standing for “mental health, exercise, and diet”) will be tailor-made to meet teachers’ various needs at different life and career development stages. The programme is “holistic” in the sense that it embraces three aspects, namely psychosocial wellness, nutrition, and physical health. Because of the involvement of diet, Prof. Wong Man-sau, an expert in nutrition from the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, PolyU, has been invited to serve as a co-investigator of this project. Each of the above three aspects will involve onsite and online means, such as onsite stress management skill labs, onsite nutrition talks, onsite exercise workshops, reflective journal, nutrition knowledge booklets, exercise video clips, peer support group, online FAQ/support such as Facebook page and Instagram account, etc.

OT & PT undergraduates receive Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2020 & 2021

OT & PT undergraduates receive Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2020 & 2021   Four students from our BSc in Occupational Therapy and BSc in Physiotherapy programmes have been awarded the Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2020 & 2021. At the award presentation ceremony held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 23 June 2021, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mrs Carrie Lam, presented the certificates to them and other awardees. Prof. Timothy Tong, PolyU former President, also attended the ceremony and took photos with the PolyU awardees. The highly competitive Scholarship, jointly supported and sponsored by the Innovation and Technology Commission and HSBC, and organised by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, selects 25 local undergraduates with enthusiasm in innovation and technology (I&T) from all UGC-funded universities every year. Each of them is awarded a scholarship of up to $150,000 with a full slate of support for acquiring cross-cultural experience. The aim is to help them explore their I&T potentials for pursuing a career in the field and contributing to Hong Kong’s I&T development, thereby reinforcing the city’s status as an international I&T hub. Let us give a round of applause to the four awardees (listed below) and the Scholarship Coordinators, Dr Yvonne Han (Associate Professor) and Dr Fadi Al Zoubi (Assistant Professor)!   2020 awardees: Chow Tsz Ching, Erina (OT) Tse Lok Yung, Alison (PT) 2021 awardees: Cheung Yin Chi, Meryl (OT) Ng Chit Yui, Jeffrey (PT)

7th Online Elite Alumni Seminar

RS elite alumni shared their success stories online The 7th Elite Alumni Seminar of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) was successfully held online on 16 June 2021, during which two elite alumni were invited to share their success stories and precious work experiences with around 100 alumni, students and faculty members of the department. The event was graced by the presence of Prof. Wong Wing-tak, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU, who delivered an opening speech to welcome all guests and attendees and affirm the significance of the Elite Alumni Seminar series held regularly by RS. Prof. Wong’s speech was followed by the presentations of two guest speakers and elite alumni, Dr Raymond So and Dr Serena Ng. Dr Raymond So is a graduate from our physiotherapy programme and is now Director of Elite Training Science and Technology of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI). Dr So has been actively involved in research on sports training and sports medicine for many years. His major responsibilities in HKSI are to provide sports science, sports medicine and sports technology supports to coaches, assist in formulating suitable training programmes for athletes, and introduce innovative ideas to the abovementioned areas so as to systematically improve the performance of Hong Kong elite athletes. In his presentation, Dr So talked on the development of sports science and sports medicine support to the training of Hong Kong elite athletes. Dr Serena Ng graduated from our occupational therapy programme and is currently Centre Head of the Community Rehab Service Support Centre of the Hospital Authority. Her work focuses on driver rehabilitation, sexual counselling and rehabilitation, and advanced assistive technology for the disabled. All along, Dr Ng has impressed her colleagues with her foresight and sense of innovation in the application of evidence-based advanced technology in her department. She shared in her presentation about the experience of building a centre for knowledge translation and technology transfer in the Hospital Authority. After their presentations, the guest speakers engaged in active interactions with the attendees during the Q&A session. At the end of the event, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) expressed his sincere thanks to Prof. Wong Wing-tak, Dr Raymond So and Dr Serena Ng. He believed that the two elite alumni’s sharing would help broaden the horizons of RS students, and looked forward to the next Elite Alumni Seminar in the near future.  

RS PhD student Bingbing Zhang received Eurasia-Pacific Ernst Mach Scholarship

RS PhD student Bingbing Zhang received Eurasia-Pacific Ernst Mach Scholarship   Ms Bingbing Zhang, RS PhD student under the supervision of Dr Georg Kranz (Research Assistant Professor of RS), has been recently awarded the Ernst Mach Grant, Eurasia-Pacific Uninet. The scholarship is offered by OeAD, Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation. With this scholarship of HK$68,500, Ms Zhang will be able to conduct research in Austria for six months. She will work at the Neuroimaging Labs (http://meduniwien.ac.at/neuroimaging/) at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna.

RPg student gathering in June

RPg student gathering in June This year, the research student gathering was held on 3 June via Zoom. We have all gone through a tough 2020 and early 2021. Now the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be easing off and the research students in our department finally had a chance to gather online. Over 15 research students, their supervisors and RS faculty members joined the gathering and enjoyed the food, games (including “scavenger hunt” and “guess the movie”) and highly anticipated lucky draw. It was a great way to relieve some of our stress amid the long-lasting pandemic.   Prof. Hector Tsang (Head of RS) and Prof. David Man (Associate Head of RS and Chair of the Departmental Research Committee) gave an opening speech and encouraged the research students. We are also grateful to Prof. Tsang and Prof. Man for sponsoring the prizes for our lucky draw. Congratulations to the winners of the grand lucky draw!

Asia Pacific International Rehabilitation Forum 2021

The Asia Pacific International Rehabilitation Forum 2021, hosted by The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and attended by more than twenty participating units, was successfully held from 6 to 10 May 2021. With the theme of “Healthy China 2030: A vision for health care is a national health mission for all”, the forum aimed to optimise the application of rehabilitation sciences and enhance the quality of life. The forum also encouraged collaboration of research efforts in rehabilitation and healthcare among experts around the world, including Prof. Hector Tsang from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS), Dr Antonio Stecco from New York University, and Ms Jody Anne from the WHO. A wide array of topics were discussed in the forum, including chronic pain management, autism rehabilitation, biotechnology innovation in rehabilitation medicine, and neuro-rehabilitation. The forum strived to make a social impact in the fields of rehabilitation and healthcare, and to promote good health through better prevention and treatment of diseases as well as palliative care. Prof. Tsang was one of the prominent speakers to deliver a speech in the forum, on the topic of the “Opportunities of professional training for occupational therapists and physiotherapists in Hong Kong”. Prof. Tsang introduced the historical and recent developments of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and RS, and the relevant academic programmes of RS that help to advance the knowledge of rehabilitation sciences. Besides, Prof. Tsang shared his vision of the future high-quality training for occupational therapists and physiotherapists with the establishment of the new PolyU campuses in Homantin, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Visit by the Hong Kong Housing Society, Elderly Services Team

Dr Carmen Ng (General Manager of Elderly Services, Hong Kong Housing Society) visited RS department with her team. During the visit, they had meeting with Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS), Prof. Amy Fu (Professor and Associate Head of RS) and Prof. Kenneth Fong (Professor and Programme Leader of OT). The team also joined a tour around the teaching, research and service facilities of RS. They are exploring the possibility of collaboration in the future.

The School of Dance of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts visited RS

Following our visit to the School of Dance, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA) last month, Prof. Anna Chan (Dean of the School of Dance) led a team of delegates to visit RS. During the visit, the team learned more about our teaching, research and service facilities. The two parties also explored the possibility of collaboration in the future.

Commissioner for Labour, Labour Department visited RS Department

Mr Sun Yuk-han Chris, JP (Commissioner for Labour, Labour Department) led a team to visit RS Department. During the visit, they had meeting with RS Department to explore the possibility of collaboration in the future. The team also joined a tour around the teaching, research and service facilities of RS.

New publication by RS

New publication by RS We are happy to announce that our new publication, Notes of Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists (in Chinese), was released in March 2021. Prepared and written by the Department’s PT and OT experts under the supervision of Prof. Hector Tsang, Head of Department, the book’s contributors include professors at various levels, clinical associates, frontline physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The stories compiled in this amazing collection are all based on real clinical cases, vividly, intuitively related by the above-mentioned rehabilitation professionals in the form of therapy notes. With the ageing population and growing life and work pressures, chronic diseases such as degeneration of knee joint, frozen shoulder, osteoporosis, stroke, dementia, depression, and occupational musculoskeletal disorder are increasingly common. This book aims to demonstrate, through interesting cases of common medical problems, how physiotherapists and occupational therapists apply professional techniques, equipment and technology to assist patients. Although their treatment methods differ from those adopted in conventional healthcare (e.g. injection, medication, surgery, etc), they are equally effective in relieving patients’ suffering. Moreover, their treatments help to minimise the inconvenience that the diseases bring to the patients and their families, thereby enabling the patients to take a more positive attitude towards illness and life. In addition to introducing the work of physiotherapists and occupational therapists, the book discusses some common diseases and shares practical medical knowledge. We believe that students and general readers who are interested in the two professions will benefit greatly by reading this book.   Notes of Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists (in Chinese) is now available in major bookstores. If you want to purchase the electronic version of this book, please scan the QR Code below: