Census and Statistic Department, HKSAR had released the report of 2016 Population by-census. The figures revealed that Hong Kong becomes an aging society with a very rapid pace. We have a population of 1,160,000 with people aged 65 or above, being 16% of the total population of 7,336,000. That means 1 in 6 is elderly. Besides the impact on the overwhelming growth rate in public health expenses, the implication to the health system and society is to focus on strategies that ”Add life to years” instead of “Add years to life”.

“……. to ensure that the elderly can live full, enriching and productive lives. For this to be possible, good health is essential,” said Dr. Nata Menabde, WHO Representative said in the 2012 World Health Day.

Technology-enabled and smart-care product plays a significant role. I was invited to speak in a symposiumorganized by The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, named “智能創建健康生活” held in the Head Quarter of Hospital Authority last month. The theme is how to utilize technology to take care of our health and lead a healthy lifestyle.  All the speakers pointed out the importance of technology and self-managing one’s health in both personal and societal level as the preventive measures for the ageing society. Products and services linked with the smart phone provides solution in health monitoring and safety for elderly are available.  For example, a mobile ECG to check the heart rate and detect atrial fibrillation, walking stick and other aids with ergonomic design, a care service paired with a smart watch with GPS function and NGO’s support service at the back end to prevent elderlies from wandering away and missing.

I introduced Kradal safety tiles from Safe Concept in the seminar. It is developed in New Zealand by Acna, an international manufacturer specialized in polyurethane foam cushioning technology. The tiles can absorb the shock on impact 70 % as compared with concrete and expect to reduce the numbers of hip fractures and other injuries from fall but firm to walk on. This provides a comfortable and safe environment for the elderlies, family members and care givers. Kradal have been used in one the rooms in the Elderly Home of St. James Settlement in February. We are also invited to install the safety floor in the show flat of Smart Living@Science Park, near Science Park’s signature landmark “Golden Egg” and set up a booth in the grand opening ceremony of the event on 24th March.

For the new health care model I mentioned, now will be a stroke prevention pilot program named “遠離中風 – 健康在我手“.  We target at those aged between 50-65, people with a golden age. The participants with some known high risk factors for stroke will go through the Automatic Retina Image Analysis, ARIA. This is a non-invasive, fast and simple way to detect the risk of stroke just by analyzing a retina image. The whole process can be finished within 5 minutes.

Those with high risk score in the ARIA will join a heath improvement program which consisted of group sessions and individual follow up in three months. They will learn to set a tailor-made health goal and action plan with self-management strategies.  Each of them will be given an activity and sleep tracker, Withings Go, for monitoring the daily activity and sleep quality. We will introduce mindfulness in the group as a means to facilitate the understanding and communication with our body. The first phrase of the pilot are joined by The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service and St. James Settlement. Each NGO will recruit 20 participants. The pilot will be held from May to July. We can get the feedback and evaluation after that.