Hong Kong social initiative uses art to battle senior loneliness and encourage creativity
- The Jockey Club Artistry Creative Ageing Project invites local artists to conduct workshops at care homes, hoping to empower the elderly population and help them deal with mental health challenges
Organised by the Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service of Hong Kong and ELCHK Essence Hub, the Jockey Club Artistry Creative Ageing Project invites local artists to conduct sessions for the elderly at care homes. Photo: Kelly FungBefore you read: The Jockey Club Artistry Creative Ageing Project aims to help Hong Kong’s elderly residents deal with loneliness and other mental health challenges by offering them a creative outlet and giving them a sense of autonomy.
Think about it: Do you believe that art can help ease the loneliness experienced by the city’s ageing population? Why or why not?
On a Friday afternoon, five elderly Hongkongers residing in a care home in Kwai Tsing gathered for a visual arts session. They used pastels and watercolours to draw on paper and then cut it into pieces to create a decorative curtain for their activity room.
This art workshop is part of a three-year initiative known as the Jockey Club Artistry Creative Ageing project. Launched in 2022, it aims to enhance the mental well-being of the city’s ageing population through art, alleviating loneliness and reigniting their creativity.
Organised by the Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service of Hong Kong and ELCHK Essence Hub, the project adopts an artist-in-residence approach, inviting local artists to conduct regular sessions at 14 different care homes for at least six months. The art forms range from dance to photography to ink painting and ceramics.
Visual artists Leung Kwong-yiu and Law Yat-man say these workshops empower care home residents by giving them a sense of autonomy.
“We want them to be able to make their own decisions in an environment where choices are often made for them … we wondered if they could have a say, even in small matters like the games they play or the lamps they have,” said Leung, 52.
“We hope to show them that they have the ability to change the space they are living in every day,” he added.
In addition to group activities, Leung and Law also work with bedridden residents, asking them to assemble pieces of colourful paper into frames and using a projector to display the frames on the ceiling for them to enjoy.
“People normally think: ‘I must paint beautifully, fill every space, [and] maintain perfect balance.’ But with a group of the elderly who don’t think about these things as much, it’s much more fun,” said Law, 30, who studied landscape architecture at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong.
Battling elderly loneliness
A recent survey from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Salvation Army interviewed 316 elderly residents aged 60 and above living in and outside care homes.
Researchers asked respondents to rate their loneliness on a scale of one to six. The average score was 3.56, a significant increase from the score of 2.0 in the 2018 survey. About 68.3 per cent of elderly residents experienced moderate to severe loneliness, nearly doubling from 35.3 per cent in 2018. The emigration wave and Hong Kong’s low fertility rate have been cited as key factors affecting the elderly population.
The 2024 survey indicated that seniors aged 60 to 70 without children or a spouse tend to experience higher levels of loneliness than those with them. It also found that a significant percentage of seniors – 71.8 per cent – lacked family support and care, while over half reported poor sleep quality.
Since many elderly individuals live alone or have physical disabilities, the project invited ceramic artist Casric Ip and an occupational therapist to conduct home visits over three months last year to teach them how to make ceramics.
“Some seniors give up socialising due to physical limitations, while others living alone find it troublesome to make new friends in their old age. Art helps seniors rebuild their confidence and realise there are still many possibilities for them,” said Ip.
“Initially, the elderly may fear pottery, worrying their bodies might not be up to the task. But as they become more adjusted to working with clay, they gradually open up and are willing to share their life stories, allowing their works to reflect their past and personality.”
Engaging in the present
In March, an exhibition in Sha Tin showcased the clay artworks crafted by 16 elderly residents aged 70 to 90. Ip shared that one memorable piece depicted the now-vanished Mei Foo swimming shed from the 1950s, using bamboo fibres to mimic the texture of the shed.
“This shows that seniors are capable of finding solutions based on their imagination, which is a crucial aspect of artistic creation,” Ip said. “I also observed that when the elderly have the motivation to create, they are able to set aside concerns about physical limitations and fully engage in the present.”
Fong Wan-chi, the project’s art consultant, said the project’s main goal is to provide the elderly, especially those who are bedridden, with opportunities to experience art. She highlighted the crucial role of art in addressing loneliness and isolation among the city’s ageing population.
“We hope that through the artistic process, these senior citizens could feel a sense of autonomy and embrace loneliness,” said Fong.