Brainpower expert advocates primary care

  

Professor David Shum is a neuropsychologist who has over 30 years of experience in the assessment and rehabilitation of higher‑level cognitive functions (e.g. attention, memory and executive function) in normal and brain‑injured children and adults.

He returned to Hong Kong in July 2018, hopes, in his new role as an HA Board member, to draw on the strengths of the Australian public healthcare system to help Hong Kong public healthcare services scale new heights.

Previously Dean of Research of Griffith Health, the health group of Griffith University in Australia, Prof Shum has lived in Australia for more than 30 years before returning to Hong Kong. He is now the Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

He says diversification of the Australian healthcare services eases mounting pressure on public healthcare system caused by ageing population and is a good example for Hong Kong. “The Australian Government values primary care. Family doctors are important links with citizens and follow up on their health and chronic conditions,” he says. “Only when patients are seriously ill or require specialist treatment do they visit hospital. That is why day surgery service, which has better treatment outcome, is well developed in local public hospitals.”

As a neuropsychologist, his speciality is the human brain. A brain weighs 1.3 to 1.4kg, which is only 2% of our body weight. Yet amazingly it has 100 billion neurons and connections which are responsible for important functions and human behaviours. Prof Shum compares the HA to the ‘brain’ of Hong Kong’s healthcare service, playing a critical role in planning and delivering healthcare services.

Prof Shum hopes that the overall public health of Hong Kong will improve by further promoting primary care. Along with better disease prevention and management, every Hong Kong citizen can benefit from a comprehensive and coordinated medical service. He will offer his opinions to the Board on early prevention of chronic disease, mental health and health promotion through interdisciplinary collaboration.