Press Releases
Applications for Health Care and Promotion Fund invited
The Food and Health Bureau is inviting non-profit-making organisations to
submit grant applications for Non-Research Health Promotion Projects and the
Seed Funding Scheme under the Health Care and Promotion Fund (HCPF).
Non-Research Health Promotion Projects should aim to help people adopt
healthier lifestyles by enhancing awareness, changing behaviour or creating
an environment that supports good health practices, while the Seed Funding
Scheme is to foster the development of innovative, effective and sustainable
health promotion programmes in the community. The Seed Funding Scheme also
offers non-recurrent funding opportunities to facilitate mobilisation of
local resources through building partnerships among public, private and
non-governmental organisations to promote health in the community.
"Priority for funding is given to projects targeting underprivileged groups
who are at risk of ill health, and health promotion programmes carried out
in primary care settings.
"For health promotion interventions to achieve sustainable effects,
multidisciplinary approaches and cross-sectoral collaborations to engage the
community to create supportive environments and to empower individuals to
take ownership of their health are the keys to success," a spokesman for the
bureau said today (April 28).
In addition, higher funding priorities will be accorded to the following
thematic areas:
I. Tobacco control
While smoking is well known as the causative agent of many fatal diseases
and cancers, continuous effort is required to put "what we know" into action
to prevent and reduce tobacco exposure by:
* Helping youth, women or high-pressure career workers to abstain from
tobacco use and connecting them with proven evidence of its damage to
health; and
* Motivating smokers, in particular adult males, to cease smoking and
empowering them to re-learn life without cigarettes during the times of day
when they face their toughest smoking triggers and peers.
II. Lifestyle, nutrition and physical activity
Adopting a healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and regular physical exercise are
important to reduce the risks for many chronic diseases. Community
involvement to enhance government initiatives in active living, healthy
eating, tackling overweight problems and promoting a healthy workplace will
benefit specific groups by:
* Encouraging optimal young child feeding practices such as increasing
consumption of fruits and vegetables, and reducing intake of sugar-sweetened
snacks and beverages;
* Promoting the availability of affordable healthy food and beverages to
families and decision-makers of schools;
* Equipping the younger generation to adopt healthy lifestyle practices, for
example, avoiding unhealthy habits, high-risk sexual activities, alcohol and
drug misuse, and maintaining a balanced diet and healthy body mass index;
* Motivating employers to create a safe and healthy working environment that
supports the working population, who are in general at risk of
lifestyle-related diseases. Actions include modification of the physical
environment, enhancement of organisational policies and provision of
personal health skills to the workforce; and
* Increasing physical activity participation and limiting sedentary
lifestyle in the general population.
III. Mental well-being
Mental health problems are one of the major health concerns in urban life.
Strategic actions are required to maintain and enhance mental well-being by:
* Strengthening community capacity in promoting positive mental health.
Youth, families, schools and communities benefit when working in partnership
to support the younger generation and to collaborate with families and
schools to address their needs such as the emotional and behavioural
aspects;
* Enhancing the development of individual skills to acquire positive mental
health, manage stress and cope with difficulties in different stages of
life;
* Raising awareness and supporting early detection of mental diseases
through effective channels such as the Internet;
* Supporting treatment and facilitating people with mental problems to
return to the community; and
* Reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues and including
people with and recovering from poor mental health and their family carers
to build more cohesive communities.
IV. Injury prevention
Injury causes significant mortality and morbidity in the community. Emphasis
is placed on injury prevention which covers domestic injury, falls, traffic
accidents and unintentional injuries in children by:
* Encouraging community key stakeholders to take the lead in co-ordinating
actions to prevent or reduce injuries;
* Identifying environmental and behavioural aspects of target populations at
risk of various injuries; and
* Facilitating effective communication of injury data, development and
implementation of prevention programmes that involve a more extensive scope
of collaboration among the public and private sectors, academics,
professional groups and non-governmental organisations.
V. Reducing alcohol-related problems
Excessive alcohol consumption, in the form of heavy drinking and/or binge
drinking, is a risk factor for many health and societal problems. Special
attention is paid to the increasing trend of underage drinking and related
harms. Effective measures are through:
* Increasing awareness and knowledge of immediate and long-term harmful
effects such as traffic accidents and damage to the liver and nervous
system;
* Promoting responsible behaviours of adults to practise sensible drinking;
* Preventing binge drinking, in particular among young adults;
* Equipping the younger generation with the knowledge and coping skills to
resist peer pressure to drink; and
* Empowering parents to communicate with their children on alcohol-related
issues.
VI. Promoting the family doctor concept
The family doctor concept, which emphasises continuity of care, holistic
care and preventive care, is an important component in enhancing primary
care initiatives for better health. At present, the family doctor concept is
not widely adopted among the general public. The required activities
include:
* Promoting the benefits of having a family doctor as the first point of
contact in the healthcare system for continuous, co-ordinated and person-centred
care; and
* Empowering the public to improve their own health and that of their family
members by establishing a partnership with their family doctors and adopting
a preventive approach in improving health.
The assessment criteria for projects include:
* Effectiveness and sustainability of the programme;
* Potential in building community capacity in health promotion;
* Relevance to local health promotion and feasibility of the proposal;
* Justification of requested budget;
* Effectiveness of evaluation plan; and
* Track record of the administering institution and applicants.
The closing date of applications is July 29, 2011. All applications will be
subject to rigorous review by the Health Care and Promotion Fund Committee
and its Promotion Sub-committee, which comprises healthcare professionals
and experts, individuals closely involved in community affairs and
government representatives.
Principal applicants must represent a non-profit-making organisation, a
registered community group or a group formed under a registered
non-profit-making body. Successful applicants may be awarded full or partial
support normally not exceeding $300,000 on a one-off basis for Non-Research
Health Promotion Projects and $500,000 for the Seed Funding Scheme.
Established by the Government in 1995, the purpose of the HCPF is to
strengthen health promotion and disease prevention work. To date, over 200
health promotion projects have been supported.
Guidance notes and application forms can be obtained from the Research Fund
Secretariat, Food and Health Bureau, 18/F, Murray Building, Garden Road,
Central, or the website at
www.fhb.gov.hk/grants . Enquiries can be made by fax at 2102 2444 or by
email to rfs@fhb.gov.hk.
Ends/Thursday, April 28, 2011
Issued at HKT 12:01
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