AUTUMN / 2007

12

The Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) has been providing high-quality internationally benchmarked entry-level education to occupational therapists and physiotherapists for 28 years. Our graduates are competent professionals serving clients in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and many other countries. We also offer excellent opportunities to practitioners and researchers for pursuing further education from a disciplinary-specific or multidisciplinary perspective in rehabilitation sciences. In order to achieve its mission of providing high-quality education and mediating professional development, our Department still has a lot to do in the future. Your support is vital to facilitate this process!

Please offer your support by making a donation. Your donation, no matter whether big or small, will make an impact on the future of rehabilitation in Hong Kong and throughout the world.

Donation FormName: Prof. / Dr. / Mr. / Mrs. / Ms. / Miss

Address:

Contact Tel. No.: Email:

Company: Position:

Year of Graduation: (For RS alumni only)

Donation Amount:

I wish to contribute to the development of RS; please allocate my donation for the following purpose(s). (Please add a “✓ ” where appropriate)❏ Research conducted by RS❏ RS student development❏ At the discretion of RS❏ Other (Please specify):

Please make your cheque payable to:THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITYand mail it to:Department of Rehabilitation SciencesThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong

** A donation receipt will be issued by the University for tax deduction purposes

Signature: Date:

Your BIG or small Donationwill make an Impact !

AU T U M N / 2 0 0 7

Cover Story

Also in this issue:

The Agreement Signing with the Graduate

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

p.9

RS Co-organized the 4th Asia-Pacific

Occupational TherapyCongress (APOTC) 2007

p.5-7

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Touching lives, making an impact

The Master in Physical Therapy (MPT) degree wasconferred upon the second batch of 33 graduates ata special graduation ceremony held in Wuhan onJuly 20, 2007. A PolyU delegation, led by thePresident, Prof. Poon Chung-kwong, officiated atthe graduation ceremony. The delegates includedProf. Chetwyn Chan, Head of the Department ofRehabilitation Sciences; Prof. Christina Hui-Chan,Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences; and Dr.Grace Szeto, Acting MPT Programme Leader.

In addition to the PolyU delegation, thegraduation ceremony was officiated by Prof. LiPeigen, President of Huazhong University of Scienceand Technology (HUST), other officials from HUST,and representatives from the Ministry of Health andTongji Hospital. Following the ceremony, Prof. Poonhosted a lunch with the MPT graduates and guests.

In his capacity as Acting Dean, Prof. Chetwyn Chan hosted a dinner with the graduates on the same day.

The 2-year MPT programme is offered in Wuhan by theDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences of PolyU in collaborationwith Tongji Medical College of HUST. The majority of graduateshave taken up clinical or teaching positions in hospitals and educational institutions such as Tongji Hospital, the SecondAffiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical College, the ThirdAffiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-san University, the First AffiliatedHospital of the Inner Mongolia Medical College and WuhanUniversity of Science and Technology.

the Second Batch of Graduates of the

Master in Physical Therapy Programme

Applause for

Prof. Poon Chung-kwong, President of PolyU, and Prof. Li Peigen,President of HUST, congratulated the MPT graduates during the lunchon July 20, 2007.

A group picture was taken after the MPT graduation ceremony on July 20, 2007.

2 3

AUTUMN / 2007

By Dr. Grace Szeto

The health and safety of workers has always been a topconcern for Physiotherapists (PT) and OccupationalTherapists (OT). This year, the Department of RehabilitationSciences and the Occupational Safety & Health Council(OSHC) have joined together to organize a specialOccupational Safety & Health Assessor Training Programme.The programme has recruited over 60 PT and OT, Year 2 and3 students to participate in an intensive Manual Handling(MH), Display Screen Equipment (DSE) and Risk AssessmentTraining Workshop. The training programme was completedin November 2006 and the students were awarded

certificates to verify their 'OSH assessor' status. The programme was organized by the OSHC as part of their 2007Occupational Safety & Health Campaign . The aim of the programme is to allow small and medium-sized companies to have a trial risk assessment conductedfor them by trained assessors, so that a named responsible person within the company can learn from the experienceand carry out further assessments in the future. SinceDecember 2006, our student OSH assessors have conductedthese assessments within different companies and havefound this to be a valuable learning experience.

Staff Activities

Dr. Cecilia Li and the principals from three primary schools have successfully bid for theQuality Education Fund on a project concerningthe 'Interactive Computerized HandwritingTraining Program (ICHTP) for enhancing handwriting performance'. A series of parents'and teachers' training workshops were conduct-ed and children with handwriting problems were provided with an enhanced training programme. A public seminar was organized to report theresults of the project to the participants.Professor Helene Polatajko, the Professor andChair of the Department of Occupational Therapy,was also invited to be the guest speaker for theseminar. Dr. Carly Lam, Associate Head of the

School of Optometry; Dr. Howard Leung from City University; and Ms. Wong Lai Ching, Principal of T. W. S. St. BonaventureCatholic Primary School, were also invited to present the multi-disciplinary approaches in the management of children withhandwriting problems. The seminar attracted over 150 participants from diverse backgrounds, including teachers, parents, medical officers, nurses, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists. The participants were particularly interested in the presentations and software demonstrations.

An Interactive Computerized

Handwriting Training Programme (ICHTP) Assessor Training Programme

Occupational Safety & Health

for Enhancing Handwriting PerformanceBy Dr. Cecilia Li

4 5

AUTUMN / 2007

Student's Activities

FHSS Summer Internship Programme

This summer, I joined a three-weeksummer internship programme organized by the Faculty of Health and Social Science (FHSS). I had a wonderful experience during my stay inBeijing with the China RhythmicGymnastic Team.

This was a once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity to have such close contactwith this type of sport. During the programme, I observed the training ofthe athletes and provided them withpost-training exercise programmes. The athletes practiced more than 12 hours a day and I was impressed bytheir persistence and professionalismas world-class athletes.

Their training was very intensive and most of the team members were only youngsters

aged from 8 to 23. Although they were young, some of the athletes weremore mature than their biological age.

When we were not on duty at the training centre, we went sightseeingover the weekends. We visited the Templeof Heaven, Yuanming Garden and the siteof Peking Man in Zhoukoudian. The mostexciting experience was the trip to themausoleum of Ming Dynasty. It seemedlike we were part of the movie TombRaider! When we went down 10 flights ofstairs, the gloomy coffin chambers and the cold air made me feel really nervousand excited.

This was a wonderful and invaluable summer trip and I hope I will

have additional chances to join the internship programme and visit more places in the future!

By Ho Sau ChoYear 3 physiotherapy student

Photo taken with the athletes of the China Rhythmic Gymnastic Team

Specific exercise training for the team members.

RS Activities

Over 600 delegates in the field of Occupational Therapy,from within and outside the Asia-Pacific region, gatheredtogether in Hong Kong from June 23-26, 2007 to present,exchange opinions and discuss many innovative ways, basedon theories and evidence, to combat the many everydayhealth challenges faced by modern society.

This event is the 4th Asia-Pacific OccupationalTherapy Congress co-organized by the HongKong OccupationalTherapy Association and the Department ofRehabilitation Sciences of The Hong KongPolytechnic University at the Hong KongConvention andExhibition Centre.

The Secretaryfor Health, Welfare and Food, Prof. YorkChow, and the Vice-President (AcademicDevelopment) of TheHong Kong PolytechnicUniversity, Prof.Suleyman Demokan,officiated at the openingceremony of theCongress. The theme ofthe Congress was 'Embracing Cultural Diversity throughInnovative Practice', where Occupational Therapy expertsfrom over 20 countries shared the most recent developments in rehabilitation.

At present, there are over 1,200 registered occupational therapists in Hong Kong working in differentsectors and areas of healthcare and rehabilitation. With suchdistinguished international, regional and local specialistssharing their experience, the Congress offered practitioners agolden opportunity for stimulation, advancement andimprovement of their service for the clients under their care.

RS Co-organizedthe 4th Asia-Pacific Occupational Therapy Congress

APOTC 2007

6 7

AUTUMN / 2007

OpeningCeremonyJune 23, 2007

Education SymposiumJune 21, 2007

RS Booth inCongress

June 23-26, 2007

Clinical VisitJune 25, 2007

RS Activities

Pre-CongressWorkshopJune 22, 2007

Congress Dinner

June 24, 2007

8 9

AUTUMN / 2007

RS Activities

Academic Advisor of RS:

Professor KennethOttenbacherApril 10-12, 2007

The Agreement Signing with the

Graduate University of Chinese Academy

of SciencesMay 23, 2007

Visit by Zhuhai Study

Mission April 26, 2007

RS Participating

in SMARTConvention 2007

May 9-10, 2007 Lunch Reception for RSGraduates 2007

June 18, 2007

CONGRATULATIONS

News

A Warm Welcometo NEW STAFF

Mr. Lam Siu Hong,Technical Assistant

10 11

AUTUMN / 2007

Editors’ CornerEditors: Ms Sharon M H Tsang &

Ms Clara S C LeeDepartment of Rehabilitaion SciencesThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Tel: 2766 4332Fax: 2330 8656Email: rsstsang@polyu.edu.hk

ELDSS Projects FundingDr. Shamay Ng (HK$384,000)Research Project: E-case studies inneurological physiotherapy: Puttingpieces together into clinical practice.

Dr. Marco Pang (HK$304,000)Research Project: Lifespan development: Interactive learningthrough multi-media.

Dr. Jenny Chung (HK$452,000)Research Project: Promoting

WORK as Pleasure!By Ms. Pearl Law

Physiotherapy in-charge Chi Lin Care and Attention Home

PT alumni

Time flies. It was nearly a decade agothat I first stood in this department.Every working day here, althoughsometimes tough, is enjoyable andmeaningful. Working in an elderlyhome is indeed rewarding and revitalizing. Talking to an elderly clientcan be tremendously entertaining andinteresting. Through my interactionswith the elderly, I have learnt so muchabout life and work.

How can I describe our elderly clients? Sometimes they are like teachers to me. They tell me their complaints, theirresponses to the treatment and sometimes even their traditionalChinese methods of dealing with their illness. Through theirresponses, we learn a lot, about our ancient methods of

I have been working as an occupational therapist for the past 24years in the psychiatric, geriatric and psychogeriatric fields in different hospitals. In 1993, I joined the Psychogeriatric OutreachTeam and pioneered the OT community service with the staff ofKwai Chung Hospital and the other OTs of the Hospital Authority.We are dedicated, committed and enthusiastic OTs and havedeveloped our service to meet the needs of psychogeriatricclients in the community, including those with dementia,depressed and healthy elderly clients. We are creative and havedeveloped new ways of practice that include consultative andeducational roles for our formal and informal carers besides ourtraditional clinical roles. We outreach to elderly homes andclients' homes to provide a unique OT service based on a whole-hearted client-centred approach. During my spare time, I enjoyupdating my knowledge by taking master's and certificate pro-grammes; and I am now enrolled in a part-time PhD programme. I am also an active volunteer in the community working to establish the HK Alzheimer's Association, the HK PsychogeriatricAssociation and the Hong Kong Institute of OT, and I am supporting the HK OT Association to develop OT services in

Hong Kong and Mainland China. In 1997, I started to work as aSenior OT, Advanced Practitioner in Psychogeriatrics. Besidesdaily clinical work, I have many opportunities to work on expertpanels for different community and research projects such as a dementia pilot programme in elderly homes and day-care centreswith our multi-disciplinary team. I am proud that I am an OT. I enjoy my rewarding and creative OT career and like the fact thatI can empower my clients, carers and students to lead a meaningful and challenging life. I must wholeheartedly thank mymentors, supervisors, colleagues, subordinates and students forthe great team work throughout my OT journey, and for the pastachievements and impact we have made and the challenges wehave had to overcome together in OT, dementia and elderly community services. I have had an enjoyable, exciting andmemorial time in working with students in their placements. As a mentor, I am glad to see OT students and younger OTs growing strongly in their OT careers in the community. Let us gohand-in-hand to realize our OT dreams and vision. I am sure we will have a brilliant future!

dealing with different diseases, about the diseases themselves and about their reactions.... It is wonderful to see how the bodies react in aging process.

I feel that elderly patients are the bestpatients. Their trust in us and in our treatmentshelps their recovery, and helps us to develop. Theirwillingness to participate in clinical studies alsopromotes the field of physiotherapy. They are thebest clinical educators. They help to develop and

shape our students in their physiotherapy education.Furthermore, they are also like friends. They give us the

best cooking advice, and recipes for the best Chinese tonic foods.I am grateful to the Lord for making this possible, and

to the elderly clients, who have shaped my pilgrimage over thesepast few years on earth.

GeriatricsClinical Specialty :

professional competence of occupational therapy students in geriatric practice through e-basedlearning activities.

HHSRF grantDr. David Man (HK$209,000) ResearchProject: Mental health enhancement:Cognitive training for Hong KongChinese persons with schizophrenia invocational rehabilitation.

PolyU Niche Area FundProf. Alice Jones and her team have been successful in securing the PolyU Niche Area Fund ofHK$2,763,000 for two years to support the research work under the'East-meets-West in RehabilitationSciences' project. Additionally, theteam has managed to get start-upfunds from the department and theDean's reserve in the past year.

HSBC Scholarship forInternational Student 06/07Physiotherapy Year 2 Student Bryan Chee Swee was awarded theHSBC Scholarship for InternationalStudent for the year 06/07. Bryan lefthis home town in Malaysia to study physiotherapy at our university and achieved an excellent academic performance.

By Grace Lee Advanced practitioner (Psychogeriatrics)

Kwai Chung HospitalOT alumni

OT Journey in the Psychogeriatric Field!A Challenging and Rewarding