Brief introduction:

Dr Wang’s lecture, titled “COVID-19 Pandemic Online Health Information”, described how online health information had affected public perception and behaviour in Hong Kong. Dr Wang pointed out that COVID-19 pandemic not only created a public health crisis but also impinged on online health information and mental health. He emphasised the importance of acquiring real-time, accurate and reliable information to facilitating preventive practices and reducing fear during the pandemic, as pervasive misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 on social networking sites and online forums could undermine the collective effort on anti-pandemic measures. Information overload and the digital divide were also a source of concern.

About the Speaker:

Dr Wang is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, the University of Hong Kong, Program Director of Master of Nursing and Fellow of American Academy of Nursing. His research interests include health information behaviors and lifestyle behavior change.

Brief introduction:

Professor Chan introduced her research findings about “Lifestyle Medicine for Physical, Mental and Brain Health”. Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based practice which helps individuals acquire and sustain the right habits to improve their health. Major components include a whole-food, plant-based diet, regular physical activity, stress management, positive thinking, social engagement and avoidance of risky substances. While scientific research in Western countries has found lifestyle medicine to have positive therapeutic effect on physical illnesses like diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and pain, Professor Chan’s research team has focused on its effect on cognitive disorders over the past 10 years and developed a form of lifestyle medicine based upon Chinese Chan concepts. Her research findings have suggested that this form of lifestyle medicine has positive effect on the cognitive functions of children with autism and older adults with memory problems.

About the Speaker:

Professor Agnes Chan Sui Yin is currently a professor at the Department of Psychology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Director of the Research Centre for Neuropsychological Well-Being. She obtained a doctoral degree in 1995 majoring in clinical neuropsychology from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Her research interests including frontal dysfunction associated with Autism, memory problems associated with mild cognitive impairment, innovative interventions for improving cognitive functions. She has over hundred publications and has been published in Top-ranking journals including Nature. Her research has been cited over five thousand times, with one paper has been cited for about eight hundred times. Her research was reported by BBC, ABC and New York Times, and she was appointed with several honorary positions including adjunct professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Consultant to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UCSD. She is the author of two commonly used clinical assessments in Hong Kong namely the Hong Kong List Learning Test and the Dementia Rating Scale.