Green Voice Senior
Sponsored by the Knowledge Exchange Fund of the University of Hong Kong
Aim
To enhance vocal hygiene and healthy voice use knowledge to prevent aging voice among local elderlies. To promote successful aging to lead a healthy and positive lifestyle. And to increase socializing opportunity thus quality of life of the elderlies.
Why Elderly?
Voice problems are common in older population that warrants attention. Laryngeal structures and phonatory mechanisms deteriorate with aging. The research team of the Voice Research Lab in HKU interviewed 101 older individuals aged 65 years or above from senior citizen community centres in Hong Kong and found that over one-fourth (27.7%) of the elderly perceived themselves as having voice problems (Wong & MA, 2020). Such voice problems led to significant negative impacts on the older adult’s voice-related quality of life in functional, physical and emotional domains. Voice care education is suggested to alleviate voice problems associated with aging. It is expected that older adults’ voice-related health literacy would be enhanced, together with promoting a healthy and positive aging.
Project Activities (on going)
Starting from 2022, elderly from elderly daycare centres sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen will be carried out a series of activities. Interested elderlies that volunteer will be the Green Voice Senior. The activities include:
- 2 education seminars for 60 elderlies by speech therapists and students from Speech and Hearing Science background to increase their awareness towards aging voice problem
- 6 sessions of training workshops for the Green Voice Seniors on basic voice science, vocal hygiene for elderly and vocal exercises to prevent aging voice
- Production of multimedia materials such as educational videos with the elderlies to promote the importance of preventing aging voice through social media
- A trip to the Voice Research Lab in the University of Hong Kong to visit the lab and talk with people with speech therapy background, thus understand how clinical work by speech therapists helps patients with aging voice
Reference
Wong, H. Y. K., & Ma, E. P. M. (2021). Self-Perceived voice problems in a nontreatment seeking older population in Hong Kong. Journal of Voice, 35(4), 597-603.
