Eating Habits of Young Persons for Healthy Aging

Fruits and vegetables are important parts of healthy eating and they provide excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber in our diet. Those who consume fruits and vegetables regularly have a reduced risk of many chronic diseases. According to the WHO, inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables may have contributed to as much as 14% of gastrointestinal cancer deaths and 11% of deaths resulted from ischemic heart disease worldwide. Since 2011, Hong Kong has been promoting a “2 Plus 3 a day” diet campaign aiming to raise the general public's awareness on consuming a minimum of 2 portions of fruits and 3 portions of vegetables a day. However, recent statistics showed that nearly 81% of people aged 18 – 64 failed to meet this requirement. This paper focuses on investigating the determinants of fruits and vegetables consumption behavior among university students in Hong Kong.

Aging in Place

Aging is a function of time and is a natural and integral part of the life cycle. Aging process differs among individuals and brings all kinds of changes, affecting not just the physical body and its functions, but also to the social, psychological and financial situations to individuals. Aging in place (AIP) is a common preference among older people for remaining in their local community and maintaining their social networks throughout the aging process. Issues about appropriateness of aging in place, long-term care, and residential homes are discussed. Some models and recommendations are discussed, completed with thoughts on future studies.

Public-Private Partnership in Health and Long-Term Care

An exponential growth in elderly population reflects a proportional increase in recourses that are unaffordable and unsustainable to the economy. This rapid demand for health services and long-term care not only leads to non-financial implication like shortage of manpower and long waiting time, but this also creates a large burden on health and related services in the public sector. Involving the private sector to provide better and more efficient facilities and services and to encourage innovation will enhance productivity, speed up project and service delivery, and increase opportunities for investment in health. This chapter examines existing problems within health care systems in aging populations such as Hong Kong, explores the advantages and challenges of Public Private Partnership (PPP), identifies successful factors in establishing PPPs models, reviews the PPP projects in Hong Kong and elsewhere and recommends methods in promoting PPP in health and long-term care as sustainable solutions.

Long-Term Care Spending Relevant to U.S. Medicaid Expansion

The U.S. population is living longer, placing a demand on long-term care services. In the U.S., Medicaid is the primary player in funding costly long-term care for the aged poor. As a major health reform law, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, gives financial incentive for states to expand Medicaid, transitioning long-term care services from facilities toward community care. Facing other funding obligations and recent recessions, not all states expanded their Medicaid long-term care program using the financial incentives. Some states continue to spend more dollars on traditional nursing facility care despite legislation. This chapter explores why some states spend more revenue on nursing facility long-term care despite enhanced federal funding to reform, while others are spending more on home and community-based services. Regression analysis and 50 state-level data is used.

The Economics of Long-Term Care

This chapter presents key concepts of economics relevant to the financing and delivery of long term care services. It first examines the magnitude of population aging in developed economies, and the associated implications for long term care. Key economic concepts relating to the demand, supply and financing of long term care services are then discussed. Policies, practices and major models of financing of long term care are further explored followed by a presentation of the conceptual framework for reform. It concludes that in view of the magnitude of the problem, incremental changes in the existing systems are unlikely to be adequate. A clear understanding of the economic concepts to underpin major transformation of existing systems and policies that do not align with populations trends is urgently needed.

Chinese Herbal Medicine in the Management of Atherosclerosis-Related Chronic Conditions in an Aging Population

Chronic conditions are important problems for an aging society. They impede on healthy aging and increases the cost of living due to increased medical cost. The most prevalent chronic conditions faced by the elderly population are hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes mellitus. They increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis, a chronic condition which causes heart attack and stroke. This chapter provides a review on existing therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, and briefly discusses their side effects. This chapter also provides a brief introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and its development in ancient China. This will be followed by a discussion on the recent research on the use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and the potentials and challenges of incorporating CHM in mainstream healthcare system.

SSLD and Senior Service

This chapter introduces the SSLD (Strategies and Skills Learning and Development) System as a comprehensive model for practice in psychosocial service for seniors. The challenges and issues associated with aging are complex, and involve physical, biological, psychological, social, existential and spiritual dimensions. In order to address them in a comprehensive and balanced manner, we need to draw on an extensive set of knowledge, experience and skills taken from various healthcare and human service professions. The SSLD system is built on a meta-theoretical structure that interfaces well with both analytic and holistic conceptualizations of the human person within his or her life-world, or being-in-the-world. Principles and methods of SSLD practice are described through phases of intervention: engagement and problem translation, N3C assessment, 6D (domains of being-in-the-world) formulation, implementation, review and evaluation. These are illustrated with practice examples. Issues related to practice research and knowledge production are also explored.

Integrated Care as a Strategic Solution for Active Aging in the Community

A rapidly aging population is an international challenge. Although much has been done, senior citizens today are not experiencing better health than our ancestors (WHO, 2016). This chapter reviews evidence on the current international good practices, the positive clinical and economic impact of integrated care, and how Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) methodologies add value to the implementation of integrated care. In the second half of the chapter, three enablers of implementing integrated care are reviewed: 1) a common technological platform, 2) service-restructuring with the introduction of new job roles and recruitment, and 3) creation of a financial model that incentivizes integrated care. In conclusion, while research has shown that integrated care is effective in fostering aging in place, challenges remain as to how it could be implemented given that population aging has increased the demands on healthcare resources. This chapter reviews how OR/MS methodologies can facilitate the implementation of integrated care.

Development of Accreditation Approach of Elderly Care Service Providers

The purpose of this book chapter is to explore the similarities and differences in the development of performance measures and accreditation systems for the quality assurance of elderly care service providers of Asian and Western origins, focusing on Hong Kong, Macau, Australia and Canada. Building on a proposed theoretical framework, this study utilizes a multiple-case study method to examine the influencing factors for the accreditation approach adopted by a jurisdiction. The findings suggest that the quality assurance of the elderly care service operators of the Asian origins as selected appears to lag behind those of the Western countries and undergo their own peculiar paths of development. Thus, Hong Kong and Macau could learn from the practical experience of Australia and Canada in terms of their concerted approaches for funding, accreditation and assessments under an increasingly market-driven service sector in which the well-being of the end-users needs to be adequately protected.

United Kingdom Health Promotion Initiatives for Healthy Aging

People are living longer but not, unfortunately, living longer healthy lives as there is an increasing number of years spent in ill-health from the age of 65 years onwards. Rates of chronic non-communicable diseases are increasing. This purpose of this chapter is to describe how modern healthcare aims to involve patients more in their care (so called self-management) to reduce the incidence of complications linked to chronic disease while attempting to promote healthy ageing. Support for patients' self-management is multifaceted but patients require support from healthcare professionals and this will be discussed as well as the educational requirements of the healthcare professionals who support those patients. How well nurses are prepared for giving patients health promotion advice will be described using an example of research from the United Kingdom. The chapter will conclude with an outline of how healthcare professionals are considered as role models for healthy living.