Happy Family Kitchen II, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) to enhance Family Health, Happiness and Harmony in Hong Kong: A cluster randomized control trial under FAMILY Project

Oral Poster Presentation SessionHong Kong Council of Social Service and School of Public Health, HKU conducted a three-arm cluster randomized control trial (cRCT) of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) “Happy Family Kitchen II” during July 2012 to June 2013. The present paper compared intervention arm A and control arm C to determine whether CBPR intervention improved family health, happiness and harmony (3Hs). 31 organizations in Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing districts were randomly allocated into: intervention arms A (n=11) and B (n=10), and waitlist control arm C (n=10).Within positive psychology and an agreed similar framework, each organization organized their own program on one selected theme of “Five-Taste Model” for people aged 6+ recruited by organization. Arm A had two intervention-sessions and one tea-gathering, and arm C had tea-gathering first (intervention at 3 months later). Participants were assessed four times (T1, pre-intervention; T2, immediately post-intervention; T3 and T4, 1 and 3 months after T2). Changes of primary outcomes from T1 to T3/T4 were compared in participants aged 12+ of arms A and C. Behavior score change was greater in arm A (n=416) than arm C (n=432) at both T3 (Effect size=0.11, p=0.03) and T4 (ES=0.21, p=0.003). Family health score and happiness score changes were greater in arm A than arm C at T3, with ES=0.23 (p=0.001) and ES=0.18 (p=0.01) respectively. Mental health score and intention score changes were greater in arm A than arm C at T4, with ES=0.16 (p=0.03) and ES=0.18 (p=0.01) respectively. All changes above indicated improvements in outcomes. This was the first cRCT to evaluate a CBPR short intervention in Hong Kong, which was effective with small effect size in increasing participants’ intention and practice in healthy behaviors and improving family 3Hs, suggesting that CBPR, evidence-based and evidence-generating programmes are feasible and effective.postprin

Strengthening family relationship to increase family health, happiness and harmony: Findings from a Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) project under FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society Project in Hong Kong

Oral Poster Presentation SessionSham Shui Po (SSP) district is one of the districts with high population density and lowest median household income. A CBPR project “Enhancing Family Well-being Project” was conducted by SSP District Social Welfare Office and School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong from February 2012 to May 2013. (1) To promote family health, happiness and harmony (3Hs) by building capacity for families to enhance family relationship; (2) To investigate the effectiveness of CBPR programmes in improving family relationship and 3Hs. After training, based on positive psychology, social service workers in 30 participating organizations designed and organized their own programmes (one 2-hour session; one 1-hour booster) on one self-selected theme (“Gratitude”, “Hope/Resilience” and “Open-mindedness”) for people aged 6+ recruited by the organization. Participants were assessed four times (T1, pre-intervention; T2, immediately post-intervention; T3, 6 weeks and T4, 3 months after T2) primarily on family relationship and family 3Hs using Family Relationship Scale and family 3H indicators respectively. 1586 individuals aged 12+ from 1031 families participated in 29 programmes. Most (89.5%) were aged 18+, 69.0% were female, 65.9% had secondary or above education level and 69.5% were married. The mean score of overall family relationship increased from 75.6 (T1) to 76.0 (T4) (effect size, ES=0.06, p=0.03). The mean scores of family expressiveness increased (ES=0.10, p<0.001) and family conflict decreased from T1 to T4 (ES=-0.05, p=0.04). Family health, happiness and harmony scores all significantly increased from T1 to T4: ES = 0.14 (p<0.001), 0.10 (p<0.001) and 0.10 (p<0.001) respectively. All changes above indicated improvements after the programmes. This CBPR brief intervention was effective in enhancing family relationship and 3Hs. The effects were small but sustained up to 3 months. The main limitation was the lack of a control group, which was not feasible in a large CBPR project.postprin

Physically active adults reported higher levels of family happiness, harmony and health: findings from the Hong Kong Family and Health Information and Trends Survey (FHinTs) under FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society Project

Oral Poster Presentation SessionBehavioral Risk Factor Surveillance showed half (50.1%) of Hong Kong adults, aged 18-64, had not performed moderate physical activity (PA) and two-third (62.2%) had not performed vigorous physical activity (PA) in the past week. Whether PA was associated with family well-being (happiness, harmony and health) is less known. We examined the associations of moderate and vigorous PA with perceived family health, happiness and harmony in Hong Kong adults. The Hong Kong Family and Health Information and Trends Survey (FHinTs) was conducted in 2013 using random telephone interviews on 1502 adults aged 18+ with 70.6% response rate. PA was measured using two questions: (1) During the past 7 days, on how many days did you do at least 10 minutes of moderate physical activities (e.g. carrying light loads, or bicycling at a regular pace but do not include walking)? (2) Same question on vigorous physical activities (e.g. aerobics, heavy lifting, or fast bicycling)? Family well-being was measured using three separate questions of perceived family happiness, harmony and health with response ranging from 0-10 with higher scores indicating better well-being. General linear model was used to calculate β-coefficient for family well-being adjusting for potential confounders. Data were weighted by sex and age using 2012 census data. Of 1502 respondents (45.5% male, 73.4% aged 25-64), the average days of having moderate and vigorous PA were 2.42 (±2.75), and 1.46 (±2.13) respectively. Moderate PA was significantly associated with family happiness (adjusted β=0.09, p<0.001), and harmony (adjusted β=0.06, p=0.01) but not health (adjusted β=0.03, p=0.25). Vigorous PA was significantly associated with family happiness (adjusted β=0.12, p<0.001), harmony (adjusted β=0.09, p<0.001) and health (adjusted β=0.05, p=0.03). Increasing PA levels was associated with family well-being. Prospective studies are needed to confirm the findings. Intervention studies are warranted.postprin

New Industrial Urbanism

Since the Industrial Revolution, cities and industry have grown together; towns and metropolitan regions have evolved around factories and expanding industries. New Industrial Urbanism explores the evolving and future relationships between cities and places of production, focusing on the spatial implications and physical design of integrating contemporary manufacturing into the city. The book examines recent developments that have led to dramatic shifts in the manufacturing sector – from large-scale mass production methods to small-scale distributed systems; from polluting and consumptive production methods to a cleaner and more sustainable process; from broad demand for unskilled labor to a growing need for a more educated and specialized workforce – to show how cities see new investment and increased employment opportunities. Looking ahead to the quest to make cities more competitive and resilient, New Industrial Urbanism provides lessons from cases around the world and suggests adopting New Industrial Urbanism as an action framework that reconnects what has been separated: people, places, and production. Moving the conversation beyond the reflexively-negative characterizations of industry, more than two centuries after the start of the Industrial Revolution, this book calls to re-consider the ways in which industry creates places, sustains jobs, and supports environmental sustainability in our cities. This book is available as Open Acess through https://www.taylorfrancis.com/

Physical Planning Strategies of National High-Technology Industrial Development Zones in China

Over the last two decades, High-Technology Industrial Development Zone (HIDZ) has become an important strategy for urban development in China. Modeled on earlier examples in the US and Asia, they have developed in unique ways in China because of the rapid urbanization, large-scale sites, and trend toward high-technology-based new townships or technopoles. While the 84 current national HIDZs widely use planning strategies in their government-guided development and construction, the impact of these planning strategies remains is not well understood. This dissertation explores how and to what extent planning and management strategies impact the outcomes of HIDZs. It examines closely four case examples (Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park, Shanghai Zhangjiang High-Technology Park, Suzhou Industrial Park, and Shenzhen High-Technology Industrial Park). The study reveals the diverse and sometimes competing purposes of national HIDZs, ranging from stimulating innovation and improvement of products, to serving as an economic anchor and a tool for attracting international firms. The research demonstrates the importance of adopting a sustainable strategy for development of HIDZs that it guides place-making, regulates the land development process, improves the quality of the environment, facilitates cooperation among various sectors, and attracts investment. It explores the versatility of planning approaches, identifies a series of key factors that shape planning strategies, and provides suggestions for tailoring the approach to planning to local resources and conditions

Campuses, Cities and Innovation:

The locations of technology campuses determine where innovation takes place. In a knowledge-based economy, the future of cities increasingly depends on the presence of universities, their industry partners, talent and (start-up) businesses. The relationship between (technology) campuses and cities was a central theme in Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel’s doctoral research, which was defended and published in September 2016. During her PhD study, she collected data of thirty-nine technology campuses, which we – as her promotor and co-promotor – considered worth a spin-off publication. This publication “Campuses, cities and innovation” contains descriptions of 39 international cases that accommodate tech-based research activities. These case descriptions (in part B) are introduced with background information about concepts and methods (in part A) and reflected upon in conclusions and recommendations (in part C). Based on our experience - after more than twenty years of campus research at TU Delft – we identified a demand for case study references to support decision making at both universities and municipalities. TU Delft’s campus research team aims at generating management information on all campus levels: from the changing academic workplace and new concepts for university buildings to the sustainable campus and the knowledge city. This book is part of a book series that combines insights from theory with references from practice, to contribute to smarter campus management. With a large number of facts, figures and maps this book “Campuses, cities and innovation” is relevant for board members and (campus) management staff at universities as well as policymakers at municipalities and regional authorities. Additionally, decision-makers of industry partners, (start-up) businesses and (other) members of the campus community could be interested in comparing their campuses with worldwide examples. “Innovation is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” was one of the propositions that Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel defended in September 2016. With this book, we wanted to take the opportunity to support the preparation process and hope to stimulate innovation

Spatial Planning and High-tech Development

High-tech development—which lies at the very heart of the processes of economic&nbsp;growth—has been recognised by many developed and developing countries as a strategic instrument to enhance and sustain their competitiveness in the global economic network. Although the concept of high-tech development differs between countries, many share the underlying assumption that the core of high-tech development is to create a sound environment where innovation thrives. This ideology implies a definite spatial dimension. As a result, various spatial strategies have been formulated and implemented to support high-tech development. This has had intentional and unintentional effects on the economy, society and space. Numerous studies have been devoted to exploring, analysing and theorising this global phenomenon. However, there has been less attention given to the role spatial planning may play in the process of high-tech development and to the factors that shape the spatial planning approaches to high-tech development in a particular place. The major objectives of this research are to advance the knowledge of the role of spatial planning in the process of high-tech development, and to establish an analytical framework that helps reveal the major institutional factors that shape spatial planning mechanisms for dealing with the spatial issues of high-tech development in different places. This contributes to the field of high-tech spatial policies transfer and lesson-drawing. In order to explore the major factors that shape the practices of spatial planning in hightech development, a comparative approach is applied in this research. The Eindhoven city-region in the Netherlands and the Hsinchu city-region in Taiwan are selected as case study areas. Both city-regions can be recognised as success stories of high-tech development not only on a national scale but also on a global scale, despite the fact that they apply different approaches. In the Eindhoven city-region, the governments act as supporters and governors. High-tech development in the city-region is a result of close collaboration between different levels of government and other parties. In contrast, in the Hsinchu city-region the governments act as providers in high-tech development. By critically reviewing relevant literature, the research begins with the identification of principal components of high-tech development and their spatial dimensions, and with the establishment of a set of comparative frameworks, which are built upon the concepts of institutionalism and previous comparative studies of spatial planning systems. On the basis of the frameworks, the comparative study is conducted. Four major conclusions are drawn in this research. First, R&amp;D capital, relational capital and human capital can be identified as the principal components of high-tech development, but the conception of the principal components is not static. It may change through time and space, and be influenced by contemporary technological development and dominant discourses about high-tech development. Additionally, how governments in a particular place conceptualise the principal components will influence the content of their strategies for high-tech development. Second, how governments in a particular place use their spatial planning system and tools to conduct, facilitate and/or coordinate the development of high-tech spaces is influenced by the socio-political context (e.g. model of society, administration system and conceptualisation of rights in land), conceptualisation of the principal components, dominant style of spatial planning, but also by their historical roots and contemporary technological capacities. At the city-regional level, the particular culture characteristics and historical experience of a city-region also have effects on the approach to spatial governance. Third, it is common that governments recognise the necessity of collaborating with knowledge institutes and high-tech firms in the process of high-tech spatial development, because they have access to a wide range of know-how and crucial resources. The creation of new institutional arenas to invite institutes and firms to participate in the process of decision-making is a good strategy for governments, although they must assure that the decision-making process is transparent and accountable, and meets the principles of social justice. Finally, the two cases have shown that a successful high-tech spatial development would have spatial effects on the surrounding areas, such as traffic congestion, imbalance between land supply and demand for housing and/or industrial land, and so on. It is necessary to anticipate and monitor continuously the externalities of the development from a more comprehensive perspective and to leave room for adjustment to the spatial planning and governance approaches. The analytical framework built upon the institutional concepts of Ostrom and Scharpf worked well in this research, but in the process of conducting the empirical study I found that the framework of institutional analysis I established for the empirical study implied a temporarily fixed situation for analysis. Such a framework did create an easier situation for analysis, but proved difficult to use to investigate and explain the dynamic interrelationships between the changing institutional contexts and the decision making of high-tech spatial planning at a specific place and time. While considering this limitation, I adopted a diachronic approach to complement the empirical study of part three, in order to understand the influences of prior institutional developments and specific episodes on later policy/decision making and action taking. In the future, if other studies consider applying the frameworks of this research, the effect of historical path dependency has to be taken into consideration

Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Primary Care Setting in Taiwan: Comparison with Secondary/Tertiary Care

BackgroundThis study investigated the status of diabetes control and management in patients treated in a primary healthcare setting and compared the results with data previously obtained for secondary/tertiary care patients in Taiwan.MethodsThis study was conducted at 51 primary healthcare stations randomly selected island-wide in Taiwan in 2001. A total of 1302 type 2 diabetes patients who had been followed-up for more than 1 year were included. Blood was collected for centralized HbA1c assay. The remaining data and information were collected by review of medical records and patient interview.ResultsCompared with the results of a previous study on patients treated in a secondary/tertiary care setting, a significantly smaller percentage of primary care patients were receiving insulin therapy. Primary care patients also had a shorter duration of diabetes, a higher HbA1c level, better blood pressure control and a lower prevalence of complications. The proportion of patients achieving optimal control of glycemia and blood pressure was low. Patients aged < 65 years had a significantly shorter duration of diabetes, poorer diabetes control and better blood pressure control than elderly patients aged ≥ 65 years. Primary care patients aged ≥ 65 years had a significantly higher frequency of stroke than those aged < 65 years. The elderly group of secondary/tertiary care patients had a significantly higher frequency of coronary heart disease and stroke. Duration of diabetes and hypertension were the leading risk factors for complications in diabetes patients treated in both primary and secondary/tertiary care settings.ConclusionDiabetes control was poorer in primary care than in secondary/tertiary care patients, but control of blood pressure was better in primary care patients. The shorter duration of diabetes and better control of blood pressure in primary care patients and in patients aged < 65 years compared with their elderly counterparts might be related to a lower prevalence of complications

Ecological design of lighting and ventilation in traditional shophouses in urban Southeast Asia

Including a courtyard open to the sky is an interesting design feature in most old town shophouses. It has been found that the courtyard shophouses in this urban fabric were always good examples for the bioclimatic typologies where their residents could enjoy the outdoor daylight and fresh air with a minimum of energy use while not being separated from their climate and culture. However, such courtyards in Taiwan have gradually disappeared while more have been retained in urban Southeast Asia. This thesis intends to determine what kinds of factors influence the application, outcomes, and changes over time of early shophouses for its dwellers. The principal aim of this thesis is to evaluate the potential of the retention of traditional shophouse courtyards in urban Southeast Asia, especially in Taiwan, with a focus on the preservation of continuity rather than the preservation of the past. The work presented in this thesis consists of three main research activities, all focusing on the use of simulation tools and the logic of reasonable inferences to support the continuance of traditional shophouses: analysis of current traditional shophouses; development of an approach for well-founded selection of ecological design in lighting and ventilation; analysis of the suitability of existing practices and experiences to support the selection process; and development of a strategy as well as a proof-of-concept prototype that provides support for the selection of ecological issues and that demonstrates the viability of the proposed changes. It should be noted that the research is exploratory in nature and has only begun to address the many issues that are important in the preservation of urban heritages, but the questions addressed – what quality needs are important for shophouse occupant satisfaction and what quality dimensions are important for public attitudes – are arguably among the most important in quality maintenance

Passage to Rights: Rethinking Indigenous People’s Drinking Practices in Taiwan

This thesis aims to explicate the meaning of indigenous people’s drinking practices and their relation to indigenous people’s contemporary living situations in settler-colonial Taiwan. ‘Problematic’ alcohol use has been co-opted into the diagnostic categories of mental disorders; meanwhile, the perception that indigenous people have a high prevalence of drinking nowadays means that government agencies continue to make efforts to reduce such ‘problems’. Indigenous people in Taiwan still face continuous marginalisation and systemic discrimination which render drinking a prominent issue. However, interventions based on public health narratives lack efficacy due to discordant understandings of illness, moral experience and perceptions of culture. Based on 12 months of multi-sited research in Taiwan, my study finds indigenous drinking cultures have been both generated and reshaped by their life situations, both historically and contemporarily. Drinking practices today reveal suffering under structural violence but also show resistance emerging from social change. Drinking is also practised at the interstices of contested values that make health narratives invalid. An ever-reproducing drinking culture shows a gesture of self-fashioning under multiple sufferings, as well as strategies to restore livelihoods. In the time to pursue transitional justice, indigenous people’s symbolic sobriety unfolds through resistance against current governmentality over drinking in one sense, but fighting for autonomy in another. Therefore, drinking can be understood as a ‘passage to rites/rights’ that represents the struggle of indigenous people in search of traditional values and future respect