Kenneth finds new recipe for
job satisfaction

After working as a medical laboratory technician at Princess Margaret Hospital for a year, Kenneth Yeung decided to follow his heart and retrain for a healthcare career that would provide more personal interactions with patients. With support from the Hospital Authority scholarship programme, he went to the UK in 1992 to train as a dietitian and returned to Hong Kong in 1993 to join Tuen Mun Hospital.

Since then, his vocation has brought him into contact with patients from departments ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics and surgery. He currently works with psychiatric patients at Castle Peak Hospital and is studying counseling with the aim of improving the nourishment of patients in both body and mind.

A healthy diet is an integral part of Yeung’s daily life. He focuses on the principles of ‘more vegetables, less meat and oil, and more home cooking’, but adds that certain individuals may have more specialised requirements. “Milk is good for elderly patients who often need extra calcium. Psychiatric patients who take a lot of prescription drugs may need help to manage their weight and blood lipid levels. Individuals dealing with depression not only do physical exercise to generate more happy hormone endorphins but also take in adequate amount of nuts, beans and meat which can generate serotonin and dopamine.”

The time he was asked to help care for a prematurely born baby is the moment that sticks most in his mind from his 25 years with HA. “I was very concerned about risks associated with neo-natal malnutrition,” he recalls. “I visited him almost every day to check his weight and monitor his condition. Eventually, he began to gain weight at a healthy rate. The day he could go home to his parents was a very happy one.”