Factors Affecting Trends in Societal Indicators of Ageing Well in Hong Kong: Policies, Politics and Pandemics

Personal Competence or Environmental Characteristics? Factors Influencing Happiness among Ageing Adults in Hong Kong Around the Period of COVID-19 Pandemic

Drawing upon person-environment fit perspective, this study examines the joint and interactive influences of personal competence and environmental characteristics on the happiness of ageing adults around the period of COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected in two rounds, before and during the pandemic, with 2,028 participants aged 55 years and older in Hong Kong. Personal competence encompassed financial status, physical health, and mental capital, while environmental characteristics included experiences of ageism, perceived social conditions, and age-friendly policies. Ordinary least squares regression was used to examine personal and environmental influences on happiness. Results indicated a significant decline in happiness following the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Mental capital was found to have the strongest positive influence on happiness, followed by physical health, financial status, and social conditions. Mental capital mitigated the negative relationship between experiences of ageism and happiness. Practical interventions are informed to improve the well-being of ageing adults during pandemic.

Social Outbreak in Chile, and Its Association with the Effects Biological, Psychological, Social, and Quality of Life

The World Health Organization has defined collective violence as the instrumental use of violence by people who identify themselves as members of a group against other individuals and have political, economic, or social objectives. In Chile, the "Social Outbreak" was used to describe an episode of collective violence, which began on October 18, 2019, triggered by a multitude of socioeconomic and political factors, with protests and mobilizations in the country's large and small cities; in central, commercial, and residential areas, that lasted for several months, affecting a large part of the population. The objective of the present study was to associate the social outbreak in Chile with its biological, psychological, and social effects on people's health and quality of life, as well as its characteristics in terms of exposure, proximity, type, and frequency. This was a cross-sectional study with non-probabilistic national-level sampling, conducted from 28 November 2019, to 3 March 2020. The instrument had four sections. A total of 2651 participants answered the survey; 70.8% were female, and the mean age was 35.2. The main disturbances perceived were protests (70.9%), alarm sounds (68.1%), shooting sounds (59.0%), and tear gas bombs (56.9%). When quantifying the magnitude of these associations, people who had a medium exposure have a higher probability (OR: 1.99, CI: 1.58; 2.50) of suffering three or more biological effects than people that have a low exposure, while people with higher exposition have a 4.09 times higher probability (CI: 3.11; 5.38). A similar pattern was observed regarding psychological effects, although social effects were primarily experienced by those with high exposure. Social networks, TV, and radio were the most used media among people who perceived a greater effect. People who lived, worked, or shopped near the disturbance's areas show a higher proportion negative effect.

Monitoring socioeconomic inequalities in health in Hong Kong: insights and lessons from the UK and Australia

In many developed countries such as the UK and Australia, addressing socioeconomic inequalities in health is a priority in their policy agenda, with well-established practices and authorities to collect and link selected health and social indicators for long-term monitoring. Nonetheless, the monitoring of socioeconomic inequalities in health in Hong Kong remains in a piecemeal manner. Also, the common international practice to monitor inequalities at area level appears to be unsuitable in Hong Kong due to its small, compact, and highly interconnected built environment that limits the variation of neighbourhood deprivation level. To enhance inequality monitoring in Hong Kong, we aim to draw reference and lesson from the UK and Australia to explore the feasible steps forward regarding collection of health indicators and contextually appropriate equity stratifiers with strong implication on policy actions, and discuss potential strategies to promote the public awareness and motivations for a more comprehensive inequality monitoring system.