Saint Francis University (SFU) held the 'Milestones & Visions: Caregiver Support Project Symposium 2025' on 5 November. Over 300 distinguished guests and senior management from the social welfare sector, including representatives from nine collaborating organisations, charity foundations, government bodies, academic and healthcare professionals have attended, leading to a new chapter of local elderly care service development.
The Caregiver Support Project expansion phase was jointly launched by SFU, City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and the Simon K Y Lee Foundation since 2023, in partnership with nine social welfare organisations. This cross-sector collaboration promotes two evidence-based professional intervention models—the Caregiver Support Model (CSM) and the Psycho-education Program on Empowerment (PPE). Utilising the Caregiver Needs and Resources Assessment (CNA) tool, it comprehensively identifies the 5 types of Needs and 7 types of Resources of caregivers to gain a multidimensional understanding of their circumstances. Since the kick-off of its initial phase in 2019, the project has trained over 60 seed social workers and caregiver mentors, deploying these tools to support more than a thousand caregivers across nine social welfare organisations.
The 'Milestones & Visions: Caregiver Support Project Symposium' featured four distinguished speakers. The opening session was chaired by Prof Stephen CHEUNG Yan-leung, SBS, JP, President of SFU. Prof CHEUNG highlighted that in response to the challenges of an ageing population, SFU actively promotes interdisciplinary research and social innovation. The Caregiving Research and Development Centre is established to drive policy and service innovation, with the Caregiver Support Project serving as a key practical implementation.
Mr Chris SUN, JP, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, delivered an address outlining the Government's determination and vision for advancing sustainable caregiver support. He affirmed the achievements of the Project, expressing gratitude to the Simon K Y Lee Foundation, SFU, CityU, and the collaborating organisations. He called upon all sectors of society to unite in addressing the challenges of population ageing.
Dr LAM Ching-choi, GBS, JP, Member of the Executive Council, assured the effectiveness of CSM and PPE, the two evidence-based tools developed under the Project, and hoped for a wider adoption across social welfare organisations to further enhance the professionalism and kindness of care services. The studies of the Project team have proven that CSM and PPE effectively improved caregivers' resource utilisation and mental wellbeing.
The symposium was concluded by Mrs Mabel LEE, Board Member of the Simon K Y Lee Foundation. She expressed that the Foundation consistently support evidence-based projects with social impact, and will continue to collaborate with the Government, academia and the social welfare sector to drive positive societal change and propel Hong Kong's elderly care services towards new milestones.