With the target of serving 10,000 elderly, the ‘Generations Connect’ Project will see over 1,000 nursing students providing community intervention and behavioral coaching to the elderly.

Supported by a HK$10 million joint donation from the Sino Group and the Foundation, the School of Nursing of HKUMed, and eleven charitable organizations and NGOs will be devising the scope of services in tandem to focus on the needs of the elderly aged 65 or above.

The project is set to commence in November with its first phase of pilot services.

Nursing students will build relationships with the elderly and engage them in dialogue to promote health and wellbeing through regular home visits, phone greetings and video conferencing.

Self-care tips for COVID-19, health assessments and mental health education will also be offered to provide timely and appropriate support for those in need.

‘Through pairing up youth volunteers with the elderly in need, we hope that a beneficial synergy can come about allowing the elderly to be cared for and the youth volunteers to learn important life lessons,’ the deputy chairman of Sino Group and director of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation Daryl Ng Win-kong said.

In addition, the project will organize various activities to encourage them to cultivate healthy hobbies and expand their social circle for the holistic improvement of mental health, lifestyle and overall wellbeing.

Coupled with the domain knowledge of HKUMed’s nursing curricula, the project will also develop an elderly-friendly e-platform and mobile app.