Authors (including presenting author) :
Lau L(1), Shek TL(1), Tsui KW(1), Wong SM(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Occupational Therapy, Tung Wah Eastern Hospital
Keyword 1: :
People-centred Care
Keyword 2: :
Stroke Rehabilitation
Keyword 3: :
Caregiver Support
Keyword 4: :
Occupational Therapy
Keyword 5: :
Weekend Service
Keyword 6: :
HA Core Values
Introduction :
Stroke caregivers often experience high stress and face service accessibility barriers due to inflexible weekday schedules, conflicting with the Hospital Authority’s core value of “People-centred Care”. To address this, we developed a novel Saturday Occupational Therapy (OT) education program, demonstrating “Committed Staff” and “Teamwork” in redesigning service delivery to better support families.
Objectives :
To evaluate a Saturday OT education program that embodies “Professional Service” by providing structured, evidence-based knowledge transfer to time-constrained stroke caregivers, and to assess its impact on caregiver stress, confidence, and knowledge gain.
Methodology :
A pilot Saturday OT education group was conducted from January to July 2025 at Tung Wah Eastern Hospital for caregivers unavailable on weekdays (n=20). The program covered stroke-related functional impacts, complication prevention, and home safety. Caregivers completed post-intervention surveys assessing stress levels, confidence, and knowledge gains. Patient function (MBI, FTHUE-HK) and cognition (HK-MoCA) were evaluated for correlations with caregiver outcomes using Kendall’s and Spearman’s tests.
Result & Outcome :
Caregivers reported high baseline stress (80% extreme/very stressed) and limited confidence (70% somewhat confident). No significant correlations were found between patient function/cognition and caregiver stress or confidence (all p>0.05), underscoring that caregiver preparedness modifiable through professional education — is key to well-being.
The program successfully aligned with HA values:
•People-centred Care: 55% of caregivers reported reduced stress; 90% endorsed Saturday timing as highly convenient.
•Professional Service: 80% showed improved home safety knowledge; 95% rated OT facilitation as very helpful.
•Committed Staff: OTs dedicated weekend time to deliver consistent, compassionate support.
•Teamwork: Effective coordination ensured seamless knowledge transfer and follow-up care. Conclusion
This Saturday OT program operationalizes HA’s core values by delivering flexible, professional, and collaborative education that meaningfully reduces caregiver stress. It provides a scalable model for embedding value-based, person-centred care within resource-conscious rehabilitation services.
