In order to construct a society with health equity, we need to have contributions from different stakeholders. HIA believes that everyone is uniquely capable in achieving health of oneself and the community. Only by integrating the strengths and imaginations of people can we build a diversified and healthy community that belongs to everyone. For this target, we actively get in touch with different members in the community to achieve “symbiotic community health” in the society.
Kwai Tsing KOL Programme
Kwai Tsing KOL Programme (hereinafter KOL) is the first HIA programme to have volunteers as the basis to conduct community building work. Through community listening, community resources analysis and regular group discussions and so on, KOLs investigated the needs of service targets and planned intervention strategies. In outreaching services, KOLs found out that the cleaners at Tai Lin Pai Road Refuse Collection Point do not have enough space during lunch break whilst cannot maintain sufficient nutrition intake from their lunch because of eating out. KOLs organised several community canteen programmes in “Kwai Tsing Community Health Management Hub” and collected data of their lunch habits. With the data, members planned “Kwai Tsing KOL Meal Voucher Initiative” which lets the cleaners have their meals and take a break in “Kwai Tsing Community Health Management Hub.” The plan was suggested and approved to execute by the board of directors of HIA.
The belief KOL upholds is that every member in the community is capable of achieving health equity of oneself and the others. In the process of health empowerment, the discussions between KOLs and different stakeholders help KOLs understand the impacts of different stakeholders towards the health performance of a specific group of people (in this case, the group of cleaners), and at the same time promote the concept of health equity to different people in the society.
Healthy Workplace
Hong Kong people are very busy at their work. They spend most of the day working. Therefore, the impacts of the working environment to health are pivotal. HIA actively cooperates with different companies in the district and encourages them to promote a “healthy workplace” at corporate level. Enterprises shall secure the health of employees in the workplace, including reasonable lunch and rest breaks, rest rooms with suitable sizes and environment, suitable appliances for work and proper platforms for effective communication between employers and employees.
Co-operations with Valued Partners
HIA actively co-operates with various valued partners to get to know more about the disadvantaged, for example, people living in the subdivided units, low-income working families and grassroot labourers to understand their health performance more considerately. With the integration of the social resources of the partners, we can help service users achieve health effectively. We also believe that achieving health equity is just like social justice as both need the support from different sectors of our society.