Our History

Over the past two decades, the work of CoA has been shaping the development of long-term care policies and programmes in Hong Kong.

July 5, 1994

Prof. Iris Chi

Prof. Iris Chi, the Founding Director, led to the implementation of the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in November 2000.

Under this Mechanism, an internationally recognised assessment tool ─ Minimum Data Set-Home Care ─ is adopted to ascertain the care needs of older adults and match them with appropriate services.

“We are too used to thinking of our lives in stages, but the development of ageing well has to start with childhood.”

Prof. Nelson Chow

Prof. Nelson Chow, the then-Director of CoA, believed that ageing is a problem faced by people of all social classes and it is not just a problem of the poor.

“Ageing is a problem faced by people of all social classes; it’s not just a problem of the poor.”

Prof. Joe Leung

Prof. Joe Leung, the then-Director of CoA strived to build an elderly employment-friendly society through extensive studies.

“Work is social engagement, how to build an elderly employment-friendly society?”

Dr. Ernest Chui

Dr Ernest Chui, the then-Director of CoA, has led to the adaptation of the Long-term Care Voucher System by the SWD. The voucher system encompasses both the Community Care Service (CSS) and the Residential Care Service (RCS) and adopting the “money-following-the user” principle to provide an additional choice for older adults in need of long-term care services.

“The elderly population is growing and services are never enough…There will always be a gap to fill. What we can do is to formulate insights for future trends.”

Prof. Terry Lum

Prof. Terry Lum, the then-Director of CoA, has led the team to develop an ageing-in-place model for older adults living in public rental housing and conducted a study to enhance the infrastructure of the long-term care system in Hong Kong.

“Growing older is often celebrated in the family; why does that become ‘ageing’, a problem in the sociological context?”