Tai Kwun Conversations: Music & Arts Co-creation for Inclusiveness - Pilot Project for The Dementia Community

Co-Founder of ”Every Life Is A Song”

An artist with multi-faceted experience along her journey as songwriter, lyricist, singer-songwriter, founder of live house and music label, and being an active producer and curator, Vicky believes that the power and value of music lies beyond the limits of commercial music industry, and she has always endeavoured to promote Hong Kong’s music culture. Uniqueness and novelty are presented in Vicky’s works. Some of her important works include 《雌雄同體》, 《弱水三千》, 《彳亍》, 《今天終於一人回家》、《銀髮白》、《剎那的烏托邦》, and more recently 《在錯誤的宇宙尋找愛》、《溝渠暢泳》、《荊棘海》. Having released 3 albums of her compositions, Vicky endeavours to explore the pop and artistic boundaries in her performances in particular in her concert at Freespace, West Kowloon in 2020. In May 2022, Vicky presented her first interactive self-healing experience at Tai Kwun, which was then further developed into an interactive art experience with arts technology and healing elements at Shatin Town Hall. Vicky will continue to curate community art and socially-engaged participatory art projects, and explore the frontiers of multi-media and arts and technology oriented performances, stretching the boundaries and possibilities of art and her music works.

Founder and Chairman of Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease

Mrs. Gwen Kao is the Founder and Chairman of Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease.  She graduated from the University of London in 1955 and married Professor Charles Kao, the "Father of Fibre Optics”, in 1959.    Having attended to her husband since 2003 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Mrs. Kao established the Foundation in 2010 to provide care and support to the patients, their families and caregivers, and gives all she knows about the disease to the general public through her own caregiving experiences.

Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the programme leader of the Master in Occupational Therapy Program

After receiving his first Bachelor degree in Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University, Canada, Dr. Sam Chi Chung Chan further pursued the professional qualification of occupational therapist at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He practiced as a registered occupational therapist for almost a decade in a rehabilitation hospital in Hong Kong, serving clients with spinal cord injury, orthopedic conditions, and various medical and geriatric conditions, such as stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He further studied a PhD degree in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His PhD study focused on the effects and neural processes of cognitive strategies on pain perception of people with chronic pain. He also had the opportunity to work as a Research Fellow at the Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, Canada, involved in neuroscience studies on frontal lobe functions. Dr. Chan’s recent research focusses are therapeutic interventions for enhancing cognitive functions of people with neurological conditions such as cognitive impairment and chronic pain and community-based rehabilitation programmes for promoting body functions and community participation for people with chronic conditions.

Assistant Supervisor, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Circle of Care – Community Support Centre for the Elderly

Yendi Chui has over 15 years of experience in serving the dementia community and their family members at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGS) Circle of Care – Community Support Centre for the Elderly. She has served dementia patients of various conditions, including several years of hands-on experience with Professor Charles K. Kao. From 2010, the TWGS has introduced the “Physical and mental function activation exercise therapy” from Japan to improve the conditions of dementia patients. The method is studied and proven effective by the University of Hong Kong- after patients receiving the treatment for half a year, their physical, cognitive, emotional and social conditions can be improved by 40-50%. Chui has received the first degree instructor qualification in Japan and is qualified to conduct therapy and training in Hong Kong.

Registered Arts Therapist (AThR), Registered Social Worker, Founder of Hong Kong Expressive Arts Therapy Service Center

Janet has worked as an Expressive Arts Therapist since 2016. Through facilitating art participation and creation with service users to enhance their physical and mental health. Clientele includes the elderly with emotional disturbance and dementia, mentally ill patients and ex-patients, people with intellectual disability, children and youth with special education needs or emotional disturbance, and the caregivers of the mentioned clientele. She has professional training in dementia care and bereavement counselling. The Department of Medicine and Therapeutics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Jockey Club Center for Positive Ageing awarded the Certificate in Dementia Care to certify her knowledge of dementia care.