More than 300 local and international health care professionals and scholars are gathering in Hong Kong from 25 to 29 July 2011 to attend the 16th Biennial School Nurses International (SNI) Conference 2011 hosted by the School of Nursing of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). It is the first time that this international conference is being held in Hong Kong and the second time in Asia.
Jointly organized by School Nurses International, Hong Kong School Nurses Association, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Community Health Services, PolyU's School of Nursing, and WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, the SNI conference aims at providing an inter-disciplinary platform for health care providers, policy makers, social workers and scholars to exchange insights on child and adolescent health across cultures and countries, especially Greater China and East Asia.
The five-day conference was opened today (26 July) at the Jockey Club Auditorium by Ms Sandra Lee, Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Health), Food and Health Bureau of the HKSAR Government; Ms Kathleen Fritsch, Regional Adviser in Nursing, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office; Ms Mary Henley, Founder of School Nurses International; and Professor Timothy W. Tong, PolyU President.
The theme of the conference is "The Role of School Nurse: Globalization, Policy Formulation and Evidence-based Practice". Some of the sub-themes to be covered in the conference include:
Adolescent-friendly health services
Building school nurse competencies
Advanced practice in school nursing
Risk assessment and crisis management for school children and adolescents
Outbreaks of influenza and other infectious diseases in school
Mental health issues in school children and adolescents
Adolescents and their families
Globalization in school health
Five distinguished scholars and industry practitioners have been invited to deliver keynote speeches during the conference. They are (in alphabetical order of last name):
Dr Chan Chok-wan, Immediate Past President, International Paediatric Association
Ms Kathleen Fritsch, Regional Adviser in Nursing, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office
Dr Mark Hayter, Reader in Nursing and Head of Taught Post Graduate Programmes, School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Sheffield, UK
Professor Albert Lee, Professor, School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Daniel Shek, Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, Department of Applied Social Sciences, PolyU
In addition to the conference, different seminars, workshops and school visits have been arranged for the participants to gain a more thorough understanding of the development of school nurses and health policy in Hong Kong.
For more details of the conference, please visit its official website: http://sn.polyu.edu.hk/whocc/SNI2011CONF
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Tel: (852) 3400 3973 / 9128 2034
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