Alex Yui-Huen Kwan

Positive ageing: the views of middle-aged and older adults in Hong Kong

Life expectancy has been increasing rapidly in many parts of the world, including Hong Kong. A longer life can be welcome as an opportunity to fulfil as yet unmet aspirations, or to take up new challenges and projects, but it may also be a burden, especially for individuals who are unprepared. A pressing question for longer-life societies is: how may older people live their longer lives to the full positively? This article reports a qualitative study of Hong Kong Chinese peoples views about ‘positive ageing’, as expressed and discussed in 15 focus groups of middle-aged and older people. Two themes emerged: first, the participants considered that positive ageing should comprise good health, having a positive life attitude, active engagement with an activity or with society, feeling supported by their families and friends, being financially secure, and living in a place with emotional ties; and secondly, several key factors that enable positive ageing were identified, namely, adopting a healthy lifestyle, thinking positively, promoting family and inter-personal relationships, and building up financial resources. The views of the participants about ‘positive ageing’ are compared with those reported from western studies, and the policy implications are considered.

Aging Well Socially through Engagement with Life: Adapting Rowe and Kahn's Model of Successful Aging to Chinese Cultural Context.

Although aging well socially (Engagement with Life) is as important as aging well personally (Illness Avoidance and Functioning) (Rowe & Kahn, 1998), it has received less research attention. A Caring (CE) and a Productive (PE) form of Engagement were derived from an analysis of Chinese cultural meanings of engagement, and combined with Illness Avoidance and Functioning to form a 4-factor model. Confirmatory factor analysis based on 2,970 Hong Kong Chinese (40 to 74 years) showed a good model fit that was replicated a year later with 2,120 of the original sample. Further analysis led to a more parsimonious model where Illness Avoidance and Functioning converged into a single second-order factor whereas CE and PE remained as distinct first-order factors. The results supported the differentiation of Rowe and Kahns Engagement with Life component into Caring and Productive Engagements.

The Mental Health Status and Long Term Care Needs of the Chinese Elderly in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This paper examines the mental health status of 945 Chinese older people who are in need of long term care services in Hong Kong. It was found that for those aged respondents who are already waiting for admission to infirmary, over 59.3% were already living in private aged homes, and only as few as 17.8% of these applicants were still living in their own homes. Besides, it was found that the mean SPMSQ score was lowest amongst those living in medical infirmary (1.52) and highest for those living in their own residences (5.99). Analysis of the relationship between GDS scores and residential types reveals that there were higher proportion of respondents residing in their own residences that fell into the highly depressed category. There is a need for the overall revamp of the planning, provision and financing for long term care and psychogeriatric services for Chinese older people in Hong Kong.

Availability, Use, and Cultivation of Support Networks as Predictors of the Well-Being of Middle-Aged and Older Chinese: A Panel Study

Objectives. To examine the impact of the availability, use, and cultivation of a support network on the well-being of community-dwelling, middle-aged, and older Chinese. Methods. A total of 2,970 Hong Kong Chinese aged 40–74 years were interviewed using a structured questionnaire in 2004. Out of the original group of interviewees, 2,120 (71.4%) were interviewed again in 2005. Results. Structural equation modeling revealed a good fit of the model employing Wave 1 support network data and demographic characteristics to predict Wave 2 well-being. As hypothesized, the availability of important social ties and the cultivation of ones support networks were found to predict well-being one year later, but not the use of support networks to meet emotional, financial, or companion needs after controlling for demographic variables and baseline well-being. Discussion. Cultivating support networks can be interpreted as positive and active coping. Such cultivation is in line with what socioemotional selectivity theory predicts; specifically, when people age, they become more selective and concentrate on strengthening their relationship with those they are emotionally close to. We argue that network cultivation deserves more attention in theory, practice, and research to strengthen the resilience and adaptability of individuals approaching and experiencing old age.

The Utility of Enhancing Filial Piety for Elder Care in China

One way to judge the utility of enhancing filial piety in society is to assess its contribution to the utility of individual filial piety and of family elder care, as opposed to state elder care. Filial piety in society refers to filial piety as an aggregate social norm. The utility of individual filial piety and of family elder care refer to the expectations and desire for them. A survey of 1,219 older Chinese in six cities in China provided data for assessing the utility of enhancing filial piety. The results generally show that the social norm of filial piety does not consistently strengthen the utility of family elder care. Importantly, the effects of the social norm vary substantially among the six cities. These findings imply that enhancing filial piety in Chinese society would not raise the preference for family elder care over state elder care among the older population. That is, the social norm of filial piety would not sustain individual filial piety or family elder care in ways favorable to older Chinese.

Are Health Care Professionals Ready for Alzheimer's Disease: A Comparison of U.S. and Hong Kong Nurses.

The Alzheimers Disease Knowledge Test (ADK) was administered to samples of practicing nurses in the United States and Hong Kong. Nurses experienced with Alzheimers Disease patients, having specific training on AD, and reporting greater knowledge about AD were, in fact, more knowledgeable. Overall, U.S. nurses were significantly more knowledgeable, but exhibited more negative bias than Hong Kong nurses. Findings suggest that nurses in Hong Kong, as well as in the United States, need more training about Alzheimers disease.