Alzheimer’s disease poses a severe threat to Hong Kong’s rapidly ageing population. In partnership with the Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), CUHK has launched the Charles Kao CUHK BEAT AD Service, which provides free, comprehensive, community-based Alzheimer’s disease screening to Hong Kong residents aged 60 to 80. By identifying the elderly individuals who have early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease or those who are at risk of the disease, tailor-made preventive measures can be implemented to mitigate the growing burden of dementia and slow its progression.
The Charles Kao CUHK BEAT AD Service truck is now stationed on the CUHK campus. During its pilot phase (2023–2025), it helped over 700 elderly citizens and their caregivers to prepare themselves for the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease. The Clinical Neuroscience Centre in the CUHK Medical Centre has also joined forces with the Foundation to establish a ‘Neurocognitive Registry’ to advance medical research on dementia and AD.
The project is developing a collaborative stepped-care service model to align community mental health services with district elderly services to maintain a community-based support network for elderly persons suffering from depression.
Website: www.jcjoyage.hk
This multi-disciplinary collaborative project aims to develop end-of-life care service models to provide holistic support for terminally ill elderly persons residing in the community and elderly homes.
Website: http://www.JCECC.hk/
Launched in 2017 with a vision to guide individuals in exploring their emotional well-being, TourHeart+ (‘to our heart +’) has evolved into one of the city’s most innovative and vibrant mental health ecosystems. It benefits over 59,000 users, including college students, working emerging adults, and members of the wider public.
Led by Professor Winnie Mak of CUHK’s Department of Psychology, this online platform transforms mental wellness with user-centered self-help resources such as digital mental health interventions, interactive chatbots, and a supportive online community, promoting stigma-free, accessible support through meaningful engagement. By empowering users to cultivate self-care habits and a supportive community for exploring mental health, the platform extends its reach beyond personal journeys, contributing to a cultural shift toward proactive mental health awareness and advocacy in schools, workplaces, and families.
Website: https://www.jcthplus.org/
This project has established eight youth mental wellness hubs across Hong Kong. These hubs identify youths with early mental distress and provide them with early intervention by a team of cross-sector professionals.
Website: https://levelmind.hk/
The spread of misinformation in the digital era has made it challenging for people to find accurate resources about their health, especially the elderly. Pharmacists specialise in the safe and effective use of medications, and are in the best position to answer drug-related queries.
Ampoule is an online interactive drug-enquiry platform for the public to find useful health information, administered through School of Pharmacy at CUHK. To reach more platform users, a mobile app was launched in 2019 to provide ready-to-hand information to the public. The majority of Ampoule users are Hong Kong citizens, among them a group of elderly service workers who inquire about medication for their service members.
The CUHK Medical Centre (CUHKMC) is Hong Kong’s first non-profit private teaching hospital. With a social mission to bridge the service gaps between private and public healthcare in Hong Kong, CUHKMC is dedicated to offering quality healthcare service. The centre is wholly owned by CUHK, and all surpluses from healthcare services will be ploughed back to the hospital for hospital development and the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK for research and teaching.
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development.
- Visit the UN website to learn more
