A Delegation of Pusan National University from Korea Visited AU and Signed an Exchange MOU

   The research group from Pusan National University (PNU) of the Republic of Korea, “Cultivation Group Of Psychological Designers For Well-Aging And Happiness In Preparation For Upcoming Aging Society” led by Prof. Young-Sook Chong, visited Asia University (AU) and participated in the “Successful Aging and Happiness Workshop” held by Professor Hui-Chuan Hsu of the Department of Health Care Administration at AU on January 3 & 4, 2018. Professor Hsu and all of the students and faculty members of PNU witnessed the signing ceremony for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on academic collaborations between the Department of Psychology at PNU and the Department of Health Care Administration at AU and an MOU between Prof. Chong and Prof. Hsu (Please see Figure 1 and Figure 2).
 

Prof. Hui-Chuan Hsu has been working with Pusan National University for several years. PNU invited Prof. Hsu twice to participate in an international conference and to give a talk to the colleagues and students there. This time PNU asked Prof. Hsu to hold a workshop for the master and doctoral students of the Department of Psychology at PNU on the topic of “successful aging,” which is the research specialty of Prof. Hsu. This is a great opportunity to promote a bilateral collaboration in teaching and research between the two universities. Prof. Hsu also invited many Asia University students to join the workshop. They also attended the signing ceremony. On the first day of the workshop, Prof. Hsu gave lectures about the concepts, theories, and intervention designs pertaining to “successful aging and happiness” (please see Figure 3). After the lecture, Prof. Hsu guided the visitors from PNU through a tour to the Asian Museum of Modern Art. The faculty members and students of PNU also visited the Display Room for Long-term Care at the Department of Health Care Administration, where one of our graduate students gave a brief introduction to the visiting group in English about the usefulness of the long-term care assistance devices shown there.

  On the second day of the workshop, the guests from PNU visited the Hsin-Fu Community Care Center managed by the Chinese E-Tough Community Service Association, a research collaboration site with Prof. Hsu. They had a close look on the status of the community activity of promoting successful aging for older adults in Taichung. The Hsin-Fu Community Center not just introduced their services and activities for the older people, but also invited the workshop participants to join them in the warm-up dance, exercise, and intergenerational activities. The on-site visit helped the PNU group to see the energy and active aging of the older adults in Taiwan and learned how Taiwan promoted successful aging in the communities (please see Figures 4 & 5). Prof. Chong and her students from Korea found the design and service of the community care centers in Taiwan very impressive.

At last, Prof. Hsu chaired a round-table discussion session for the workshop participants. Prof. Chong of PNU, Dr. Ho-Jui- Tung of the Department of Health Care Administration, and Dr. Hui-Wen Chien of the Department of Nursing also joined the session. The round-table discussion was enthusiastic. All the participants from PNU and AU had lots of discussions on successful aging and happiness, and many research issues have been raised for future studies (please see Figure 6).

This workshop has been successful and abundant. The workshop contributed to the interaction, research discussion, and future collaboration for the participants of two universities. Both parties were satisfied about this fantastic experience.

Figure 3. The group photo of the workshop participants of the PNU and the Department of Health Care administration at AU after the fist-day lecture.

Figure 6. The round table discussion of research issues was enthusiastic.

Figure 5. The workshop participants made local deserts with the older adults at Hsin-Fu Community Care Center.