“From Eye Health to Dementia”

In Hong Kong, the problem of double aging—ageing of population and building simultaneously—is getting worse. The lack of community drivers promoting understanding of the eye health of people with dementia (PwD) leaves an opportunity for improvement in the awareness of identifying and diagnosing eye problems in the elderly. It is suggested that certain eye problems such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Cataracts and Diabetic Eye Disease may increase the likelihood of developing dementia, and the identification of these symptoms may be early indications to seek consultation in the field of dementia.

Project Objectives

A community awareness’s programme in the model of academic-NGO cooperation to

• advocate the association between eye health and dementia among elderly, social workers and carers
• conduct a pilot community trial to achieve early diagnosis and monitoring progression
• address the impact of dementia by improving eye health in long term

Eye Health Talks︱2023.05.31 & 2023.06.01

To increase public awareness of dementia-related eye problems, two eye health seminars were organized at TWGH's Wong Cho Tong District Elderly Community Centre and S.K.H. Holy Carpenter Church District Elderly Community Centre, respectively.

Mr. Anthony Wu, the Resident Optometrist of the School of Optometry at PolyU shared the association between dementia and eye health, as well as eye care knowledge. The project team and student ambassadors led the participants to experience common eye diseases that affect the elderly, such as cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetes mellitus, and glaucoma, and remind the participants to seek medical attention as soon as possible if they encounter any associated symptoms. Ms. Keilee Mok, the Founder of Kreative Beans and a registered nurse, facilitated discussion to understand the participants’ pain points during eye examination.

Co-creation Workshops︱2023.06.06 & 2023.06.26

Following the eye health talks, two co-creation workshops were held at the centres respectively to collect opinions from different stakeholders with the design thinking’s approach. Participants actively raised the pain points they encountered when performing eye examination and reported on the solutions they devised. The workshops will help us make future recommendations about the eye examination and user experience.

Comprehensive Eye Examination

In June 2023, arrangements were made for about 60 elderly participants who attended the eye health talks and/or co-creation workshops to undergo a thorough eye examination in the Optometry Clinic at PolyU. The examination may not only assist participants in monitoring of their eye health and diagnosing associated diseases, but it may also aid in our understanding of the relationship between eye health and dementia. Following the eye examination, the optometrist gave the participants an explanation of their eye problems. The analysis of the overall results and their implications will be shared with the participating district elderly centres.