Provide Family Mental Health Service to Needy Families in Relieving Their Stress

In the face of the challenge of COVID-19, some of the programmes were organised online. Despite the pandemic, our Family Mental Health Service still strived for providing holistic support to the needy.

In 2020-2021, nine Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) groups were implemented in our six Integrated Family Service Centres (IFSCs), aiming at enhancing participants’ understanding of their sources of stress, positive thinking, interpersonal relationship and problem solving skills. Although the pandemic was not completely under control, the average attendance rate still exceeded 80%. Participants found the groups useful in terms of improvement in their emotional management and interpersonal relationships.

Different groups and activities have been organised in “Mental Health Enhancement Programme (MHEP)” so as to enhance participants’ mental wellness, such as slogan competition, Pastel Nagomi Art® workshop, Chinese medicine practitioners’ talks, Zentangle workshop and experience sharing by ex-CBT members. Participants have learnt how to relieve stress and stay positive under the pandemic.

Help Children in Underprivileged Families Explore Their Potentials through “KIDS” Our Love

With the funding support by BOC Group Life Assurance Company Limited, we organised a three-year project -“KIDS” Our Love from 1st October, 2019 to 30th September, 2022. However, completion of the project will be postponed to 2023 with the impact of the pandemic. The project aimed at subsidising kindergarten or primary school students from underprivileged families in our casework services from the IFSCs in Hong Kong. Students were eligible for one of the services: “Children's Dream Help” which provided cash subsidies to enable participants to enroll in non-academic interest classes to help them develop their potentials; or individual counselling service / therapeutic groups, which provided Child-centred Play Therapy counselling services or related therapeutic group services to children facing family adversities, such as death of family members, domestic violence or divorce of parents, with the help of professional assessment and recommendations by social workers to identify the children in need. Response from participants was satisfactorysince the launch of the project. We have conducted 120 play sessions for 12 cases and two eight-session therapeutic groups in the first year of the project which has received positive feedback. The service was effective in relieving the children’s emotional distresses and behavioural difficulties. We also received continuous referrals for “Children's Dream Help” to benefit more children from the cash subsidies in developing their potentials.

Assist Men in Reducing Stress in Work and Life

Though “HE MEN - Hear Men” Project completed in August, 2019, with the overwhelming support from men in the community, we continued offering men’s mutual support group and men's yoga class. Due to the pandemic in 2020, a number of groups and programmes were cancelled and put the men’s service to a standstill. As the pandemic has been under control in the mid of 2020, we resumed men's mutual support group and men’s yoga class. We have collaborated with SMART Family-Link Project to hold a live broadcast for a Chinese medicine seminar to support men in our community and relieve their stress. Over the past year, we offered two life rebuilding classes, two therapeutic groups and two mutual aid groups. The participants were able to learn different strategies to reduce stress and to apply them in daily life. We also offered three educational seminars and encouraged them to initiate outdoor activities so as to strengthen their relationships.

Implement Programmes Persistently to Achieve Zero Family Violence

With the support from Social Welfare Department, we have launched the project “Peace Campus – Support Programme for Enhancing Peaceable Relationship” since October, 2018, providing supportive services for families to handle intimate partner violence and children witnessing domestic violence. In 2020-2021, we have offered stopping intimate partner violence classes and children classes to 41 and 34 participants respectively. Four family programmes, seven community talks and 15 service promotions were launched. The effectiveness of the project was significant. Through these programmes, participants having intimate partner violence were able to learn non-violent ways to handle conflicts. Children were more capable to ventilate their negative emotions and acquired problem-solving skills in addressing family conflicts. The relationship and communication among the families could also be improved.

Provide Immediate Support to Families in Crisis

With the sponsorship of Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation since 2017, the Society has launched “Family in Crisis Support Project” to support families with young children who have lost their breadwinners due to sudden death or severe illness. The project supported 119 families with professional counselling offered by social workers, offering 60 times of monetary support to those families, eight family programmes and one child bereavement group in 2020-2021. It helped families in crisis enhance their resilience and facilitate their restoration of family functioning.