GEG Community Nursing Scheme
Scheme Background
In recent years, Macau has experienced rapid economic growth and currently has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region. This low unemployment rate has contributed to labour shortages across all sectors, including health and social services.
The nursing profession in Macau, as with the rest of the world, struggles with manpower shortages against the landscape of an ageing population with increasing chronic diseases, and the ever-expanding roles of nurses, aggravated by a limited number of health sciences programmes and related enrolment being offered at local tertiary institutions; the only two nursing schools in Macau graduate just over 100 nurses each year. As such, Macau has had to heavily rely on hiring graduate nurses returning from abroad or qualified professionals from overseas, most of which choose to enter clinical settings.
Nursing in the community (such as in elderly day-care services, nursing homes, rehabilitation clinics, home care services, etc.) faces an even more acute manpower shortage since many qualified nurses tend to prefer to work in hospital or clinical settings due to better pay, support and the availability of structured in-service training.
Through the Scheme, the Foundation hopes to bring more attention and publicity to the importance of the community nursing profession, both in the academic and professional world, and to highlight the plight of the community nursing situation in Macau. It also hopes to generate a discussion and debate in society – within Government, the health and the social services sectors – which may eventually result in a culture shift that positively changes attitudes towards community nursing.
Scheme Partners
Macao Polytechnic Institute
Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Scheme Implementation
Against the backdrop of an ageing community in Macau, the Foundation understands the importance of community nursing when “ageing in place” is becoming the preferred option for our elderlies. It is the Foundation’s wish to not only encourage more nursing graduates to consider joining the community nursing profession, but at the same time to continue to find ways to improve the quality of community nursing services in Macau.
The GEG Community Nursing Scheme was therefore initiated with these objectives in mind. Working with nursing schools in Macau and Hong Kong, the Foundation put together the following components of the Scheme in an effort to raise the quality of community nursing care in Macau:
• Community Nursing Scholarships
• In-Service Community Nurses Continuing Education Training
• Public Health Research Projects
Community Nursing Scholarships
A Scholarship Scheme made available for 3rd or 4th year students enrolled at either Macao Polytechnic Institute’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programme or Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau:
- Full tuition remission for the third and fourth year of study;
- The opportunity to participate in overseas practicum organized by their respective institutions, of up to two weeks in select overseas locations to broaden their knowledge and gain a wider perspective on the community nursing situation outside of Macau;
- A further opportunity to better understand the community nursing situation in the region through opportunities to meet with practicing community nurses as well as participate in activities such as visits to local Macau and Hong Kong non-government organisations.
- Scholarship recipients are, however, required to commit to seek employment as community nurses upon graduation, and remain employed with a local Macau non-government organisation for a continuous period of not less than two years.
In addition to offering the scholarships, the Scheme provided for opportunities for scholarship students to learn about the state of community nursing in nearby areas, from their overseas practicum in Australia, volunteering activities in service agencies in Macau and visits to non-governmental service organisations in Hong Kong. Over the years, the Foundation organized a number of activities, from visits to job shadowing opportunities and volunteering at Macau and Hong Kong non-governmental organisations to enable the scholars to broaden their knowledge of community nursing, and to also better understand the work of community nurses in different settings.
Feedback from Scholarship Recipients
In-Service Community Nursing Continuing Education Training
The GEG Community Nursing Scheme provides opportunities for continuing education and professional development on nursing and public health-related topics for in-service community nurses, training which was not widely available to those practising at local non-governmental organisations. Academic staff from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Nursing and Macau Polytechnic Institute collaborated to offer advanced community nursing training courses on different topics to practising community nurses.
Ten courses on eight different topics on community nursing were offered to in-service community nurses free of charge. Each course comprised 40 classroom hours and took place across five Saturdays. From September 2016 through December 2019, over 200 in-service community nurses from 20 non-governmental organisations in Macau attended the courses.
The courses offered included:
- Health Needs of the Community
- Rehabilitation Nursing
- Care of Older Persons with Cognitive Impairment
- Long Term Care for Elderly People
- Quality Management in Nursing
- End-of-Life Care
- Advance Practice in Chronic Disease Management
- Care of People with Mental Problems in the Community
Feedback from Training Organiser
Feedback from Course Participants
Feedback from participants regarding the courses was positive, with many citing that the courses were beneficial to their day-to-day work as these types of training are generally not offered to community nurses in Macau, especially at no charge.
Public Health Research Projects
The Scheme also supported collaborative research projects by the three nursing schools, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau and Macau Polytechnic Institute. Research was conducted on the Community Nursing Needs in Macau, in particular related to Palliative and Dementia Care in Macau. The initial research results were announced at a conference held in August 2018, attended by the Advisor on Health at the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, and representatives of Macau Government’s Health Bureau.
Four research papers, in particular on dementia literacy in Macau and challenges to sustaining the health of the population in Macau, were submitted in late 2019 and early 2020, while various presentations on advocating dementia literacy were made at international conferences. An International Scholar Award by the American Heart Association was also received for one particular research on “The Health Needs Assessment Study of Macau Residents”.
Research Papers - Submitted
Investigating dementia literacy among community-dwelling adults and older adults in Macau: A mixed methods study. BMC Geriatrics.
Leung, A. Y. M., Leong, C. S. U, Cheong, P. L., Tsang, A. S. M., Lam Nogueira, B. O. C., Liu, M., Van, I. K., Cheung, D. S. K., Xie, Y. J., Fung, O., Yuen Loke, A., Molasiotis, A. (under review). (Impact Factor: 2.818) submitted on 1 Dec 2019. Ref. BGTC-D-19-00932
The challenges to sustaining the health of the population of Macau from the perspectives of community health leaders: A qualitative descriptive study.
Cheung, D.S.K., Xie, G.Y., Lam Nogueira, O.C,B., Loke Yuen, A., Tsang, S.M.A., Fung, O., Cheong, P.L., Leung, A.Y.M., Leong, C.S.U., Liu, K.M., Van, I.K., Molasiotis, A. (2019). (submitted Dec 2019).
Relationships between television viewing, computer and mobile phone usage and sleep quality in a Chinese population: findings from the “Healthy living, longer lives” study. Journal of Medical Internet Research
Xie, Y.J., Cheung, D. S. K., Yuen Loke, A., Lam Nogueira, B. O. C., Liu, M., Leung, A. Y. M., Tsang, A. S. M., Leong, C. S. U, Molasiotis, A. (Under review). (Impact factor: 4.945). Submitted on 5 Feb 2020.
Dementia literacy in the Greater Bay Area of China: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Special Issue: Health literacy and Equity
Leung, A. Y. M., Molasiotis, A., Zhang, J., Deng, R., Liu, M., Van, I. K., Leung, I. S. H., Loke Yuen, A. (under review). (Impact Factor: 2.145) abstract was accepted. prepared full paper – submitted Dec 27, 2019
Research Papers - In Preparation
Public awareness and attitude towards depression: A community-based qualitative study in Macao.
The lifestyle characteristics and co-morbidity in Macau residents: findings from the "Healthy Living, Longer Lives" study.
Exploring the perception and expectation of dementia care services in Greater Bay Area: A qualitative study.
Awards
2020 Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award by the American Heart Association.
Associations of Sleep Quality with Body Mass Index and Obesity: The Health Needs Assessment Study of Macau Residents.
Xie, Y.J., Yuen Loke, A., Cheung, D. S. K., Lam Nogueira, B. O. C., Liu, M., Leung, A. Y. M., Fung, O. W. M., Tsang, A. S. M., Leong, C. S. U, Cheung, J., Van, F., Molasiotis, A.
Presentations
Public awareness and attitude towards depression: A community-based qualitative study in Macao.
Leung, A. Y. M., Cheong, P. K., Leong, S. U., Lam, N. O. C., Liu, M., Van, I. K., Yuen Loke, A., & Molasiotis, A. (2018). The 12th Biennial Conference of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery. Cairns, Australia. 18-19 July 2018.
Understanding of dementia and related services in Macao: A qualitative study.
Leung, A. Y. M., Leong, S. U., Cheong, P. K., Lam, N. O. C., Liu, M., Van, F. , Yuen Loke, A., & Molasiotis, A. (2018). The 12th Biennial Conference of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery. Cairns, Australia. 18-19 July 2018.
Associations of Sleep Quality with Body Mass Index and Obesity: The Health Needs Assessment Study of Macau Residents.
Xie, Y.J., Yuen Loke, A., Cheung, D. S. K., Lam Nogueira, B. O. C., Liu, M., Leung, A. Y. M., Fung, O. W. M., Tsang, A. S. M., Leong, C. S. U, Cheung, J., Van, F., Molasiotis, A. AHA EPI/Lifestyle 2020 Scientific Sessions, Phoenix, AZ, USA, 3-6 March 2020.
Internet usage and health information seeking behaviours among Macau youths – the preliminary findings from the Macau Community Health Needs Assessment.
Xie, Y.J., Yuen Loke, A., Cheung, D. S. K., Lam Nogueira, B. O. C., Fung, O. W. M., Leung, A. Y. M., Liu, M., Tsang, A. S. M., Leong, C. S. U, Cheung, J., Molasiotis, A. The 12th Biennial Conference of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery. Cairns, Australia. 18-19 July 2018.
Advocating dementia literacy in society: The stakeholders involved and the actions needed.
Leung, A. Y. M. (2019 Nov12-14) Keynote speech in the 7th International Health Literacy Conference organised by Asia Health Literacy Association. Thu Duc Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The project ‘Promoting dementia literacy in Zhuhai and Hong Kong’ was selected as the listed project.
Leung, A. Y. M. (2019 Feb 24-26). The 2nd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Health Cooperation Conference. Health Commission of Guangdong Province, Food and Health Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong SAR, Health Bureau of Macao SAR Government, and Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government. Shenzhen, China.
Dementia literacy in the Greater Bay Area of China.
Leung, A. Y. M. (2019, Jan 14). The Inaugural Ceremony and Seminar of Hong Kong Health Literacy Hub cum Asia Health Literacy Association (AHLA) Hong Kong Office. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
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