Photos as Active-ageing Viewfinders

In years 2018-2020, I had the privilege to participate as a Faculty Champion in Geron-Infusion Education (“GIE”, implemented in HKU under the name of “Campus Ageing Mix Project for University Students”, GIE-CAMPUS) funded by the ZeShan Foundation.  This opportunity has not only enhanced my knowledge in designing effective intergenerational learning environments, but also allured to me the urgency of teaching awareness of age-related implicit biases in our curriculum of Bachelor of Medicines and Bachelor of Surgery (“MBBS”).  In one course assignment where we invited undergraduate medical students to share photographic reflections on ageing, we were surprised to see multiple photo submissions of sunset which carried negative annotations on end-of-life and disabilities!

During the COVID pandemic in Hong Kong, there were inadvertently plentiful photos in the media depicting frailty and poor health in old age, such as those showing older patients lying outside A&E departments in cold weather as capacity was running out in public hospitals.  As a medical educator, these unfortunate and tragic media portrayals have prompted me to use photos for developing future doctors’ right attitudes towards caring for older patients in a bid to continue the spirit of GIE to counter negative age-related attitudes.

With the support of several HKUMed colleagues and the lens of GIE, I developed a regular workshop in HKUMed’s MBBS Medical Humanities Curriculum, adapting the technique of photo-elicitation for teaching awareness of ageism in healthcare.  In December 2023, this GIE-inspired project has become the very initiative in Asia to have been shortlisted by QS Reimagine Education Awards in the “Nurturing Values and Ethics” Category.

I am especially thankful to the ZeShan Foundation, Professor Daniel Lai (Hong Kong Baptist University), Professor Xue Bai (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Professor Vivian Lou (The University of Hong Kong).  Their vision and prior contribution to Geron-Infusion Education have inspired my subsequent teaching practice.