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The Nethersole School of Nursing at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust held the ‘Kick-off Ceremony cum Symposium for the CADENZA Training Programme’ today which signifies the commencement of the 5-year CADENZA training programme, a territory-wide interdisciplinary programme in Hong Kong designed to provide general and professional education in gerontology. Officiating at the Ceremony were Ms. Sandra Lee, JP, Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Health), Food and Health Bureau, HKSAR; Dr the Hon Leong Che-hung, GBS, JP, Member of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Elderly Commission, HKSAR; Mr. William Y. Yiu, Executive Director, Charities, The Hong Kong Jockey Club; and Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Vice-Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Two overseas experts specializing in Gerontology, Professor Mike Nolan, Professor of Gerontological Nursing at the University of Sheffield and Dr. Scott Miyake Geron, Associate Professor of Social Welfare Policy and Research, Boston University School of Social Work delivered keynote lectures at the Symposium. They shed lights on ways of creating positive partnerships with older people, family carers and formal carers, as well as building a foundation to develop a stronger workforce in the rapidly aging community.

The CADENZA Training Programme is part of the 5-year project “CADENZA: A Jockey Club Initiative for Seniors” which aims at revolutionising the way society views its elders, the mode of care for the elderly, and the reliance on the medical model of care. CADENZA was launched by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust in 2006 with HK$380 million funding. The CADENZA Training Programme is designed to provide general and professional education in gerontology free of charge for the general public, informal and family caregivers of older people and professional health care and social workers. The objectives of the training programme are to:

‧Increase public awareness of aging population in Hong Kong as well as the health care and social needs of older people;
‧Foster a positive attitude towards aging in the community;
‧Equip informal and family caregivers with basic knowledge and skills in caring for older people in their immediate environment; and
‧Enhance the expertise of professional health care and social workers in the delivery of high quality interdisciplinary care for the aging population.

There are different types of training activities for different target audience, including radio programmes, roadshows, public seminars, carnivals, educational leaflets for the general public; workshops, site visits, self-help groups for the informal and family caregivers; and self-directed web-based courses, seminars, clinical visits for the health care and social professionals. The professionals will also be awarded with titles as “CADENZA Practitioner” and “CADENZA Ambassador” depending on the number of courses completed.

For details of the CADENZA training programme and the forthcoming activities, please visitwww.cadenza.hk/training.