In an effort to promote the development of long term care services in the Chinese communities and strengthen the academic exchanges and collaboration of the elderly health field, the “10th World Congress on Long Term Care in Chinese Communities” was held in Macao during 24 – 26 October 2013, hosted and organized by the Association of Long Term Care in Chinese Communities and Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau. The Opening Ceremony of the Congress, held on 24 October AM at the Macao Tourism Activities Centre, was officiated by Ms. Vong Yim Mui, Acting Director of the Social Welfare Bureau of Macao SAR Government, Mr. Liu Xiaohang, Director of Department of Education and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, Ms. Liu Xin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Gerontological Society of China, Dr. Edward Leung Man Fuk, President of the Hong Kong Association of Gerontology and the Association of Long Term Care in Chinese Communities, Dr. John Tang Sai-Hung, Superintendant of the Cardinal Tien Hospital of Taiwan, Vice-President and Secretary-General of the Association of Long Term Care in Chinese Communities, Professor Gui Shixun, Associate Chairman of the Gerontological Society of Shanghai and Vice-President of the Association of Long Term Care in Chinese Communities, Mr. Ung Hon Chao, Vice-Chairman of Board of Directors of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, and Professor Florence Van Iat Kio, President of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau.

The conference section took place on 24 and 25 October at the Macao Tourism Activities Centre and the Plaza Restaurant, and the visit to long term care institutions was arranged on 26 October. This year’s Congress, themed “Ageing at Home – Mobilizing Community Participation for Long Term Care of Elderly”, aims at promoting cross-disciplinary and cross-sector communities’ participation in the development of long term care services in the context of a multi-cultural society. A number of government representatives, experts and scholars in gerontology and long term care from home and abroad attended the Congress as keynote speakers, including Ms. Lo Sok Ha, Head of the Elderly Service Division of Social Welfare Bureau of Macao, Professor Lin Zhan, Dean of Loewenberg School of Nursing of the University of Memphis of the United States, Professor Helen Bartlett, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University of Australia, Professor Qiu Renzong, Emeritus Professor of the Institute of Philosophy of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Professor Guo Qing, Vice-President of Hangzhou Normal University, Professor Gui Shixun, Associate Chairman of the Gerontological Society of Shanghai, Ms. Chen Reychi, Deputy Secretary-General of Alliance for Healthy Cities of Taiwan, Dr. John Tang Sai-Hung, Superintendent of the Cardinal Tien Hospital of Taiwan, Dr. Edward Leung Man Fuk, President of the Hong Kong Association of Gerontology, Professor Alfred Chan Cheung Ming, Director of Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies and Office of Service-Learning of Lingnan University of Hong Kong, Professor Michelle Zhu Mingxia and Associate Professor Bill Zeng Wen, faculty members of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau. The keynote speeches, covering a wide range of topics including the review and prospect of long term elderly care services of Macao, global issue of ageing, ethical considerations for elderly health care and social care, Macao ageing service index, autonomy and empowerment of the elderly and active ageing, were highly applauded by meeting delegates. The Congress brought together over 400 delegates from Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Sichuan, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao to discuss and exchange views on the mode of community’s participation in long term care services, home and institutional-based elderly care and relevant research findings, as well as the mode of retirement life and long term care services of the Chinese communities in different parts of the world. In the Concurrent Session, over 30 papers and 50 posters were presented, encompassing topics of living at home support, institutional care, healthy lifestyle, rehabilitation, end-of-life care, community medical care, and care of carers, etc.

The Closing Ceremony of the Congress was held on 25 October PM at Macao Tourism Activities Centre. In her closing remarks, Professor Michelle Zhu of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau indicated that the topics covered had been wide-ranging and the keynote speakers had made their discussions mainly from the perspectives of policy and ethics. It was proposed that the challenges of medical care could be overcome by a number of approaches, namely delay of ageing, health education, strengthening of grade I and II prevention, reinforcement of elderly care institutions’ function of offering treatment, and the incorporation of researches and technology into clinical setting and daily life of the elderly. Concerning the strategies for dealing with ageing, it was proposed to lay emphasis primarily on policies, researches and real practices as well as to gather cross-sector and cross-disciplinary support, while community participation and the consistent service improvement of elderly care institutions are indispensable. In the end, Professor Zhu offered some suggestions on enhancing the development of long term care, including the nurture of specialists in gerontology, establishment of comprehensive end-of-life care services, implementation of elderly subsidizing policy and monitoring of the subsidized services. The Congress, as a whole, also offered four recommendations for dealing with Macao’s ageing population – (1) encouraging local cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary exchanges and collaboration, (2) paying close attention to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of elder people’s chronic diseases that arise in the process of ageing, (3) enhancing the exchanges and integration among Chinese communities in terms of elderly care services and elderly-related researches, and (4) promoting the ambience of respecting, loving and caring for the elderly, particularly among the youth. Following the closing remarks, Professor Zhu handed over the Congress flag to the representative of the organizer of the next Congress - Professor Jia Rangcheng, Vice-President of Ningbo College of Health Sciences.

In order to deepen meeting delegates’ understanding of Macao’s long term care services, they were invited to pay visits to the affiliated institutions of the Congress’ local co-organizers on 26 October. The institutions were Kiang Wu Hospital, University Hospital of Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), Seniors Academy of Macao Polytechnic Institute, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine of MUST, Our Lady of Mercy Home for the Elderly, Lar de Idosos da Obra das Maes, Asilo Santa Maria, Centro das Idosas da Associacao Geral das Mulheres de Macau, Centro de Cuidados Especiais Rejuvenescer, Centro de Dia Brilho da Vida, Lar de Cuidados “Sol Nascente”, Centro de Dia de Mong Ha da FAOM, Rehabilitation Centre of FAOM (Taipa) and Centro de Cuidados Especiais Longevidade. The visits were a good opportunity for meeting delegates to walk into the local community and obtain a clearer picture of the operations and services of Macao’s elderly care institutions. Moreover, the visits also served as a channel to collect valuable opinions of improving the long term care services of Macao.

The Association of Long Term Care in Chinese Communities was announced establishment in Macao in 2006. Serving as a member institution, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau has been involved in the planning and preparation of the annual “World Congress on Long Term Care in Chinese Communities. This year the College takes up the role of the organizer of the Congress for the second time, and is committed to offering opportunity to long term care institutions of different places to collaborate, communicate and connect with one another. This year’s Congress is sponsored by the Social Welfare Bureau of Macao SAR Government and the Yuen Yuen Institute of Hong Kong, and co-organized by the Gerontological Society of China, Gerontological Society of Shanghai, Cardinal Tien Hospital of Taiwan and its Yonghe Branch, Taiwan Long-Term Care Professional Association, Hong Kong Association of Gerontology, University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao Polytechnic Institute, University of Saint Joseph, Macao Federation of Trade Unions, Macau Holy House of Mercy, Obra das Maes, Macao Association of Gerontology, Caritas Macau, General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau, Women’s General Association of Macau and Kiang Wu Hospital.