DOES THE COMMUNITY LIVING ROOM PROGRAMME IMPROVE PHYSICAL HEALTH AMONG SUBDIVIDED UNIT RESIDENTS? A LONGITUDINAL OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN HONG KONG
Author(s)
Crystal Ying Chan, PhD, Essa Yingxu Chen, BSc, Yanghua Huang, PhD, Daniel Yiu Hei Lai, BSc, Flora Cheuk Wing Lam, MSc, Joyce Ho Yi Chan, MSc, Edwin Shun Kit Chung, MSN, Henry Ho Fai Sin, MSW, Henry Wing Hang Yu, MSc, Eliza LY Wong, PhD.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
OBJECTIVES: The Hong Kong government established the Community Living Rooms (CLR) as a policy initiative to extend communal spaces and improve quality of life for subdivided unit (SDUs) residents. Yet evidence on the health implications of CLR remain limited.
METHODS: This longitudinal study analysed 363 Chinese SDU residents (follow-up: 272.3 person-years) with obesity or pre-/diabetes recruited July 2023 - June 2026 through community outreaches. We collected CLR service utilisation, anthropometric measures (weight, waist circumference), blood-based biomarkers (blood pressures, HbA1c, lipid panel), and sociodemographic information (age, sex, household income, education, occupation) at three-month intervals. We applied linear regression to assess differences in biomarkers between CLR users and non-users, and across utilisation (communal facility use, social activities, or both), adjusting for baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, with 95% confidence intervals estimated via 5,000 bootstrap resamples.
RESULTS: This analysis included 130 CLR users and 233 non-user group (71.6% female; mean age 53.4 [SD: 14.5]]. Compared to non-users, CLR users who joined social activities achieved better improvements in anthropometric biomarkers across 9-month follow-up, including weight (−3.63kg [95%CI:−6.95, −0.19], p=0.054), body fat (−2.54%, [−4.71,−0.48], p=0.044), and waist circumference c(−3.94cm [−7.35,−0.72], p=0.030). Facility-only users tended toward higher systolic blood pressure (6.55mmHg, [0.34, 11.42], p=0.032). Participants who combined facility use with social activities improved their lipid profiles, including total cholesterol (−0.36mmol/L, [95%CI: −0.76, 0.02], p=0.035), LDL (−0.28mmol/L, [−0.61,0.04], p=0.054), and non-HDL cholesterol (−0.35mmol/L, [−0.70, −0.01], p=0.026). HbA1c, HDL, and triglycerides showed downward trends but did not reach statistical significance.
CONCLUSIONS: SDU residents who joined CLR social activities reduced their adiposity, while those who combined facility use with social participation further improved their cardiovascular risk markers. These findings call for CLR programme designs that actively integrate social participation alongside physical infrastructure, and offer actionable evidence to advance health equity among Hong Kong's most housing-deprived residents.
METHODS: This longitudinal study analysed 363 Chinese SDU residents (follow-up: 272.3 person-years) with obesity or pre-/diabetes recruited July 2023 - June 2026 through community outreaches. We collected CLR service utilisation, anthropometric measures (weight, waist circumference), blood-based biomarkers (blood pressures, HbA1c, lipid panel), and sociodemographic information (age, sex, household income, education, occupation) at three-month intervals. We applied linear regression to assess differences in biomarkers between CLR users and non-users, and across utilisation (communal facility use, social activities, or both), adjusting for baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, with 95% confidence intervals estimated via 5,000 bootstrap resamples.
RESULTS: This analysis included 130 CLR users and 233 non-user group (71.6% female; mean age 53.4 [SD: 14.5]]. Compared to non-users, CLR users who joined social activities achieved better improvements in anthropometric biomarkers across 9-month follow-up, including weight (−3.63kg [95%CI:−6.95, −0.19], p=0.054), body fat (−2.54%, [−4.71,−0.48], p=0.044), and waist circumference c(−3.94cm [−7.35,−0.72], p=0.030). Facility-only users tended toward higher systolic blood pressure (6.55mmHg, [0.34, 11.42], p=0.032). Participants who combined facility use with social activities improved their lipid profiles, including total cholesterol (−0.36mmol/L, [95%CI: −0.76, 0.02], p=0.035), LDL (−0.28mmol/L, [−0.61,0.04], p=0.054), and non-HDL cholesterol (−0.35mmol/L, [−0.70, −0.01], p=0.026). HbA1c, HDL, and triglycerides showed downward trends but did not reach statistical significance.
CONCLUSIONS: SDU residents who joined CLR social activities reduced their adiposity, while those who combined facility use with social participation further improved their cardiovascular risk markers. These findings call for CLR programme designs that actively integrate social participation alongside physical infrastructure, and offer actionable evidence to advance health equity among Hong Kong's most housing-deprived residents.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
EPH105
Topic
Epidemiology & Public Health, Health Policy & Regulatory, Health Service Delivery & Process of Care
Topic Subcategory
Public Health
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas