About the Speaker

Prof. Terry Lum

Professor Terry Lum is Professor of Department of Social Work and Social Administration and the Henry G Leong Professor of Social Work and Social Administration at The University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on elderly services and policies. He is currently directing several large-scale social interventions to prevent physical frailty and geriatric depression and to develop innovative models of medical social collaboration. Professor Lum received his undergraduate training in Economics and graduate training in Social Work at the University of Hong Kong. He received his doctorial training in social policy at the Washington University in St. Louis. He had taught in the University of Minnesota for 12 years before he joined the University of Hong Kong in 2011. He was elected as a Fellow by the Gerontological Society of America in 2011 and was awarded the Career Leadership Award by the Association of Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW) in the United States in 2016.
SPEECH TITLE
The JC JoyAge Task-shifting Model to Promote Healthy Mental Ageing in Hong Kong
Abstract
Healthy mental aging is the process of developing and maintaining mental functioning that enables wellbeing in older age. Common mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, affect a substantial portion of older adults population. It is estimated that at least one in ten older people in Hong Kong displays depressive symptoms, however, the persistent shortage of mental health professionals has limited our capability of achieving healthy mental aging. Task shifting is an approach in mental health care that may potentially address the unmet mental health needs in Hong Kong and other low-to middle- resource places. In the JC JoyAge project, we developed and tested a two-level task shifting care model: from professional care in specialized clinic to professional care in community elderly center, and from preventive care by professional in specialized care settings to by paraprofessional and trained volunteer in community elderly center. In this talk, we will share lesson learned from implementation of this two-level task-shifting model and our initial findings of its effectiveness.
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