LCDRI Research Seminar: Empower Active Ageing through Meaningful Volunteering
by Prof. Vivian W.Q. Lou
24 October 2025
Join Prof. Vivian Lou, a leading expert in healthy ageing, as she tackles a critical question: How can we empower older adults beyond basic care?
Learn how meaningful volunteering is being transformed into a powerful engine for community, dignity, and active ageing.
| Date: | Friday, 24 October 2025 |
| Time: | 09:15 – 10:15 am |
| Venue: | WLB103, The Wing Lung Bank Building for Business Studies, Shaw Campus, HKBU |
| Format: | Hybrid (in person and via Zoom) |
| Language: | English |
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Abstract
As global populations age, innovative approaches are urgently needed to address the dual challenges of elderly care and social inclusion. This is particularly critical in Hong Kong, where over 21% of the population is aged 65 or older. Aligned with the World Health Organization’s Active Ageing Framework - which emphasizes health, participation, and security - this presentation highlights how active ageing could be empowered among middle to old adults through meaningful volunteering. A volunteer-partnered service model under the “Stand-by U” Project funded by Jockey Club Charity Trust is a pioneering in-home respite volunteering initiative designed to bridge gaps in formal care systems and address the unmet needs of homebound older adults and their caregivers. The project operationalizes active ageing principles through a structured framework encompassing Capacity Building, Needs Identification, Service Matching, Service Delivery, and Evaluation & Improvement. By delivering tailored, home-based support via trained community volunteers and reframing volunteering as a empowerment tool for active ageing, the “Stand-by U” Project offers a scalable model for fostering social connectedness and dignity in later life for sustainable active ageing.
Speaker: Prof. Vivian W.Q. Lou
Professor Lou is a Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at The University of Hong Kong, serving as the Director of the Sau Po Centre on Ageing and the Master of Social Sciences (Gerontology) program. Her research interests focus on family gerontology, in particular family caregiving for dementia, stroke, end-of-life older adults, and social adaptation and mental health of Chinese older adults and family caregivers. She is now teaching social gerontology, comprehensive geriatric assessments, and human development for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
She has committed to cross-sector collaboration with community partners, social enterprises, and the market. Prof. Lou has been appointed as a member of Statistics Advisory Board, Community Investment and Inclusion Fund, Senior Police Call Central Advisory Board, and Elderly Academy Development Foundation of the HKSAR Government. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and a Council member of Hong Kong Association of Gerontology and Consortium of Institutes of Family Limited (CIFA). Professor Lou is recognized as Smart Ageing Gold Award – Social & Community Engagement, Golden Age Foundation (2021); Senior Fellowship of Advance HE (2022); Healthy Ageing 50 leaders transforming the world to be a better place in which to grow older in 2022; Woman Change Maker in STEM in 2023; and Smart Ageing Champion (Academic) of the Smart Ageing Leader Award 2024.
