Features

PolyU research shows mHealth mobile app with interactive nursing support enhances elderly health management

Primary healthcare is an integral part of the entire healthcare system. The Government put forward the Primary Healthcare Blueprint (the Blueprint) at the end of last year, which proposed prevention-oriented and community-based strategies to improve the overall health of the general public. The School of Nursing of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has launched a pilot mHealth health management mobile app with interactive nursing support. Research data shows the app empowers the elderly to monitor their chronic diseases and mental health conditions. An interdisciplinary team formed by healthcare professionals and social workers offer support to the elderly, such as providing timely medical referrals, thereby reducing the unplanned use of health services and enhancing elderly health management. The mHealth app is jointly developed by The School of Nursing of PolyU and a local telecommunications company to help monitor the health condition of the elderly. When an abnormal vital sign (such as blood pressure, or blood glucose level) is detected, a registered nurse will be notified via the app and will contact the elderly person to understand their health condition.  Another highlight of the mHealth app is the 24-hour nurse interaction function. By tapping one button in the app, the elderly can make a video call to a registered nurse to support and evaluate their health and mental condition. The research team, led by Dr Arkers WONG, Assistant Professor of The School of Nursing of PolyU, recruited participants from five elderly service centres of the Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service.  A total of 221 elderly aged 60 or above with at least one chronic condition(s) (including hypertension, pain or diabetes) participated in the study. The study found that there was a significant increase in self-efficacy, a significant decrease in the level of depression, a reduction in the use of medical services, and an improvement in the quality of life* in physical aspects, after the elderly used the app for three to six months. Hong Kong has one of the most rapidly ageing populations in the world. The number of Hospital Authority patients with chronic diseases is projected to reach three million in the coming decade by 2039, which will bring a heavy burden to the public healthcare system. Dr Arkers WONG said, “There was a significant reduction in the unplanned use of health services and unplanned visits to general practitioners by 76% and 72% respectively, after the elderly used the mHealth app with nursing support for three months. This illustrates that the approach of combining nursing support and digital technology can relieve the pressure brought about by the rising demand for public medical services, helping to achieve the goals set out in the Blueprint to improve the overall health condition of the elderly.” The research team recommends promoting the use of digital technology for health management among the elderly, and strengthening health-social collaboration on digital platforms. The research and development team will enhance the app, adding functions such as artificial intelligence, and incorporating content that is more suitable for the needs and preferences of the elderly so that they will continue to use the app, which will contribute to the goal of reducing public medical expenses. *Physical component summary of quality of life includes four domains, which are general health, physical functioning (e.g., climbing several floors, moderate activities), role activities (limited kinds of activities), and bodily pain.

Two SN projects supported by phase 2 of Mental Health Initiatives Funding Scheme to enhance psychosocial well-being of different community groups

School of Nursing (SN) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received support for two projects under Phase 2 of the Mental Health Initiatives Funding Scheme (the Funding Scheme) coordinated by the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, developing innovative social services programmes to benefit the mental well-being of people in the community. SN-led projects awarded under Phase 2 of the Mental Health Initiatives Funding Scheme Project Title Project Summary Principal Investigator Increasing Mental Health Literacy and Peer Support among Caregivers: An Electronic Painting and Peer Supportive (EPPS) Platform The project will develop an Electronic Painting and Peer Supportive (EPPS) Platform to provide mental health support for caregivers. It aims to enhance mental health literacy and peer support among caregivers. This electronic interactive platform motivates caregivers to share their paintings with others and seek help from families and professionals when they are stressful. Prof. Angela LEUNG Professor and Associate Head (Research) of School of Nursing Peer Support Virtual Reality-based Intervention for AD/HD Carers - Stress Relieving and Empathy Improving Programme A novel peer support virtual reality-based therapy will be developed for AD/HD carers to reduce their stress and improve empathy in getting along with their AD/HD children. The project aims to provide stress management for the carers to sustain healthy living conditions and relationships with AD/HD children. Dr Harry QIN Associate Professor of Schoo For more detailed information, please refer to the PolyU’s media release.  

PolyU and NECHK Join Hands to Provide Interactive Social Robots for Older Adults and Caregivers

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NEC Hong Kong (NECHK) to provide intelligent interactive social robots for older adults and their caregivers. A series of research projects will also be carried out to investigate the effects of using social robots on managing self-care and to encourage older adults’ proactive engagement in interpersonal activities to foster a physically and mentally healthy life.

PolyU pioneers nursing education with first-of-its-kind VR learning system “Virtual Hospital”

Nursing education mainly comprises classroom teaching and clinical practice. Yet, face-to-face teaching and clinical placements at medical institutions have been affected amid the epidemic. With a view to enhancing the learning outcomes of nursing students, a research team led by Dr Justina LIU, Associate Professor of School of Nursing, and Dr Kitty CHAN, Senior Teaching Fellow of the same school, has developed a virtual learning system “Virtual Hospital” which makes use of virtual reality (VR) technology to offer an innovative experiential approach to nursing education. Virtual Hospital is a first-of-its-kind virtual learning system in Hong Kong that simulates the complex and chaotic environment of a real-life hospital ward. With a total of 11 games, the system provides five scenarios, namely “Clinical Practicum Orientation”, “Challenges of Delirium”, “Managing Multitasks”, “Prevention of Errors” and “Potential Heart Attack”. More than 1,200 combinations of randomised situations and multiple choices make it difficult for students to predict the tasks they will be handling, while they are required to provide instant responses to multitasks and make appropriate nursing decisions through assessing a patient’s condition and interpreting their medical information.  

Secretary for Food and Health visits the Caroline Hill Road Community Vaccination Centre today

Professor Sophia CHAN, Secretary for Food and Health, today visited the Caroline Hill Road Pop-up Community Vaccination Centre (PCVC) in Causeway Bay, which is operated by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in a non-profit-making mode, and commenced operation on 29 March 2022. Accompanied by PolyU President Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, Professor CHAN toured the centre to understand its operation and gave encouragement to the medical team on duty. She also expressed her gratitude to the University to support the Government’s vaccination programme.   Supported by a team of 300 students, teaching staff and alumni from PolyU’s School of Nursing, the Caroline Hill Road PCVC offers the BioNTech vaccination to people aged 12 or above. The School’s final year students will assist in the administration of the vaccine under the supervision and support of the teaching staff and alumni who are experienced registered nurses. The Caroline Hill Road PCVC is open daily from 8am to 8pm and will operate until the end of June. Learn more about PolyU’s initiatives to help fight the pandemic in Hong Kong: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/combatcovid19/

PolyU’s School of Nursing strongly supports the Caroline Hill Road Pop-up Community Vaccination Centre; Chief Executive and Secretary for the Civil Service visit the Centre today

Vaccination is paramount to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the community demand for vaccination, the Hong Kong SAR Government has established the Caroline Hill Road Pop-up Community Vaccination Centre (PCVC) in Causeway Bay, which commenced operation today (29 March). Located at the site provided by Hysan Development and the Chinachem Group, the PCVC is fully supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). The University is operating the PCVC in a non-profit-making mode to help the community battle the pandemic.  

Schools of Nursing at PolyU and Tung Wah College join hands to conduct N95 respirator fit tests for community isolation facility healthcare practitioners from Hong Kong Baptist University

Wearing the correct size of respirator properly can reduce the risk of infection from COVID-19 for frontline healthcare practitioners. Recently, the Schools of Nursing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Tung Wah College (TWC) are collaborating to jointly conduct N95 respirator fit tests at TWC’s Integrative Health Centre for over 200 nursing staff and students from Hong Kong Baptist University’s (HKBU) School of Continuing Education (SCE) who will be working at the Kai Tai Holding Centre. The latter will be looking after elderly COVID-19 patients who have mild symptoms or those who have recovered but cannot yet return home or to their care homes.

PolyU stands together with the Hong Kong community in collaborative efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic

PolyU stands together with the Hong Kong community in collaborative efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic

Hong Kong is battling an unprecedented wave of the novel coronavirus epidemic. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to supporting the Government’s efforts on various fronts in the fight against the pandemic. Over 700 PolyU students, alumni and staff have signed up to support community vaccination and testing programmes and provide assistance to different groups in need. They are part of PolyU’s collaborative efforts with the community in support of the Government’s anti-pandemic measures. Supporting elderly care homes and senior citizens has become paramount given the Omicron variant’s threat in the fifth wave outbreak. PolyU’s School of Nursing is teaming up with a number of local and Mainland China donors to provide more than 200 nursing homes with supplies, including 44,000 rapid antigen test kits, 200,000 sets of personal protective equipment (including face shields and N95 respirators), and 100 pulse oximeters. These enthusiastic donors and partners include the Zhongnanshan Medical Foundation of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Hecin Scientific, Teochew International Federation and the Federation of Hong Kong Chiu Chow Community Organizations, Peking University Alumni Association Shenzhen Branch, Koch Biotechnology (Beijing), Guangdong Biolight Meditech, and Wuhan Tianhe Ruiyuan Technology. The distribution of the supplies has been rolled out in phases to address the needs of the elderly and nursing home staff and help safeguard their health. Professor David SHUM, Chair Professor of Neuropsychology and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, said, “PolyU has been closely working together with the Hong Kong community in the fight against COVID-19. For the past two years of the pandemic, we have been relentlessly supporting the authorities in their contact tracing efforts, and applying our research and innovation capabilities to support frontline healthcare workers and the general public. PolyU will continue to draw on its expertise from various fields and make new contributions to the Government’s anti-pandemic efforts.”  

Biggest-ever funding in the School of Nursing kicks off community participatory research to reduce COVID-19

The School of Nursing alongside the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences in PolyU have secured a total of HK$ 55.88 million from the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) of the Food and Health Bureau, HK Government. This is the second* COVID-19 related HMRF fund that we have received and the biggest research support the School has ever obtained.   The study entitled ‘A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach to Reduce the Covid-19 Risk in Hong Kong: Developing and Testing Social and Behavioural Interventions’ is led by Prof. Alex Molasiotis**[Angel S.P. Chan Lau Professor in Health and Longevity] , Chair Professor of Nursing and Head of the School of Nursing. The study is among the 18 research proposals approved for funding by HMRF recently. This 4-year programme of research is funded with over HK$ 27.6 million.    The research study consists of five individual but inter-related projects targeting different groups in the society, such as ethnic minorities, caregivers of persons with chronic illness, students and the general workforce, with a common theme: Applying digital technology to enhance COVID-19 related health literacy, adherence to hygiene practices and infection control policies, as well as vaccination and early testing rates. Two eye-catching digital innovations in this programme of research are the AI-driven Vaccine Communicator and Virtual Reality Game-based Educational Intervention. The former is a web-based psycho-educational programme that incorporates the AI-driven Digital Assistant, which engages users in interactive communications and motivational interviewing skills, as well as providing relevant and effective information in addressing their hesitancy towards vaccines. The latter applies virtual reality technology to help school children learn about the routes of infection of COVID-19 and its reproduction in the host. It aims to improve hand-hygiene compliance, respiratory etiquette, and knowledge of early testing among primary school students.   Another uniqueness of this programme of research lies on its community-based participatory approach. The planning and development of health educational programmes is usually professionally-oriented with limited inputs from recipients. The research team, however, attempts to break away from the traditional top-down approach and will adopt a community-based participatory bottom-up approach to engage the health education recipients in idea exchange, discussions, and creating and evaluating the educational materials to ensure that the interventions are appropriate and culturally specific to them. ‘We are going to listen to the stakeholders and integrate their views into the development of the interventions to address their needs and specific conditions,’ said Prof. Alex Molasiotis, ‘This engagement will also enhance the community capacity to respond to future health challenges and achieve more sustainable and impactful results.’ *Prof. Angela Leung’s (Principal Investigator) ‘Blended Gaming COVID-19 Training System’ (prototype) was one of the COVID-19 commissioned research projects selected by the Food and Health Bureau last year and her team was given over HK$1.2 million from the HMRF for developing and implementing the system.   **Prof. Alex Molasiotis (Principal Applicant), Prof. Angela Leung, Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PI); Dr Grace Xie (Co-PI), Dr Grace Ho (Co-PI), Dr Yan Li (Co-PI), PolyU’s School of Nursing; Dr Polly Leung (Co-PI) [PolyU’s Department of Health Technology and Informatics]; Dr Jenny Hua Li Wang, Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare (FMPH), Hospital Authority (HA); Dr Catherine Xiao Rui Chen, FMPH, HA; and Dr Danny Wah Kun Tong, Senior Manager (Nursing)/Principal Nursing Officer, HA.