Policy Research @ HKIAPS

Past Events: Seminars

Left to right: Mr Woon-kwong Lam, Dr Ruby Yu, Prof. Jean Woo, Ms Sandra Lee, and Prof. Fanny Cheung Seminar on “We Are Living Longer than Before, But Are We Healthier?”
We Are Living Longer than Before, But Are We Healthier? 31 July 2018 \| 12:00–14:00 \| Room 505, Esther Lee Building, CUHK
Speakers Prof. Jean Woo Dr Ruby H. Y. Yu	Director, CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing Research Fellow, CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing
Discussants Mr Woon-kwong Lam Ms Sandra S. Y. Lee	Honorary Senior Research Fellow, HKIAPS; Former Convenor, Executive Council, HKSAR Government Former Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Health), HKSAR Government
Moderator Prof. Fanny M. Cheung	Pro-Vice-Chancellor, CUHK; Co-Director, HKIAPS
Organizers Policy Research @ HKIAPS CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing

Hong Kong tops the world charts for longevity, with men expected to live to 81 years and women to 87 years in 2016. This longevity is a great achievement, but does a longer life mean a healthy life? In the seminar, Prof. Woo first gave some background on the topic, and also discussed Hong Kong’s ageing population and the importance of paying attention to the issue of frailty. Dr Yu then further discussed trends in frailty and functional disabilities among older Chinese people in Hong Kong.

Considering the growing number of people with complex health and social care needs, especially frail older people, additional nurses and care workers will be required to care for older people. The current models of care are unsustainable. The research team discussed priorities for policy, practice, and research to enable people to age well, focusing particularly on the significance of the role played by effective primary care services in delivering quality care and on the importance of providing supportive environments for improving health and well-being.

Two discussants, Mr Lam and Ms Lee, gave their feedback on policy directions. Mr Lam compared several health indicators of Hong Kong with those of other countries and regions. He stated that no matter how well the doctors are doing, people in Hong Kong keep ageing and the number of frail, elderly people will keep growing. Although the HKSAR government has slightly increased its investments in the area of health in the past few years, health remains an underinvested area when measured in terms of its share of public expenditures. He emphasized that a great deal of time will be needed to catch up with developments in this area, and that the government will need to overinvest in this field for quite a long period of time.

Ms Lee discussed past health policies and stated that the government must recognize that all of its policies, whether in the areas of labour planning or health care services planning, should include an element involving the elderly. Institutes must find a way to present the idea to the government that ageing is an issue that the government should not avoid. She stressed that the problem that we are facing today is that the ageing population has increased, while the government is still catching up from previous cut-backs. She pointed out that, regardless of what happens, the government should not reduce its health budget, as more than a decade will be needed to catch up with developments in this area.

More than 30 scholars, researchers, and CUHK staff attended the seminar.