IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i15p9691-d881836.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leaving No One behind in Healthy Ageing: A Unique Sub-Group, the “Cardboard Grannies of Hong Kong”

Author

Listed:
  • Crystal Kwan

    (Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Ho-Chung Tam

    (Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

The older adult population in Hong Kong is large and diverse. The “Cardboard Grannies” in Hong Kong are informal waste pickers (IWPs) who represent a unique sub-group that is often forgotten in society. This group has unique social and economic conditions and contributions that are not monitored and recognized. Leaving no one behind in healthy ageing requires an understanding of the needs and contributions of those on the margins of society, like older adult IWPs. This study answers two main research questions: (i) what are the service needs of the older adult IWPs and (ii) what are their contributions (social impact)? Qualitative methods were used to collect data from the older adult IWPs and key informants. Thematic analysis and word clouds were used to analyse the data. Nine themes were identified, providing relevant and significant insight into the service needs of the older adult IWPs. Two themes were identified, providing insight into the contributions (social impact) of the older adult IWPs. These themes inform recommendations that cover a range of individual, family, and community service responses to address healthy ageing of this unique sub-group.

Suggested Citation

  • Crystal Kwan & Ho-Chung Tam, 2022. "Leaving No One behind in Healthy Ageing: A Unique Sub-Group, the “Cardboard Grannies of Hong Kong”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-22, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9691-:d:881836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9691/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9691/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Navarrete-Hernández, Pablo & Navarrete-Hernandez, Nicolas, 2018. "Unleashing waste-pickers potential: supporting recycling cooperatives in Santiago de Chile," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85730, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Navarrete-Hernandez, Pablo & Navarrete-Hernandez, Nicolas, 2018. "Unleashing Waste-Pickers’ Potential: Supporting Recycling Cooperatives in Santiago de Chile," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 293-310.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Barford & Saffy Rose Ahmad, 2021. "A Call for a Socially Restorative Circular Economy: Waste Pickers in the Recycled Plastics Supply Chain," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    2. Jean Pierre Doussoulin & Cristian Colther, 2022. "Evaluating the Efficiency of Municipal Solid Waste Collection Services in Developing Countries: The Case of Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Granados, Maria L. & Rosli, Ainurul & Gotsi, Manto, 2022. "Staying poor: Unpacking the process of barefoot institutional entrepreneurship failure," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3).
    4. María José Zapata Campos & Sebastián Carenzo & Goodluck Charles & Jutta Gutberlet & Jaan-Henrik Kain & Michael O Oloko & Jessica Pérez Reynosa & Patrik Zapata, 2023. "Grassroots innovations in ‘extreme’ urban environments. The inclusive recycling movement," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(2), pages 351-374, March.
    5. Juliette F. Bermudez & Ana M. Montoya-Ruiz & Juan F. Saldarriaga, 2019. "Assessment of the Current Situation of Informal Recyclers and Recycling: Case Study Bogotá," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-18, November.
    6. Cidrick Kasinja & Elizabeth Tilley, 2018. "Formalization of Informal Waste Pickers’ Cooperatives in Blantyre, Malawi: A Feasibility Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9691-:d:881836. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.