A critical exploration of forces impacting mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of conflict-induced displaced persons in Hong Kong

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malabika Misty Das
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 550-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tai Pong Lam ◽  
Kai Sing Sun ◽  
Leon Piterman ◽  
Kwok Fai Lam ◽  
Man Kay Poon ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Ben Y. F. Fong ◽  
Martin C. S. Wong ◽  
Vincent T. S. Law ◽  
Man Fung Lo ◽  
Tommy K. C. Ng ◽  
...  

In Hong Kong, social distancing has been adopted in order to minimise the spread of COVID-19. This study aims to examine the changes in physical health, mental health, and social well-being experienced by local residents who were homebound during the pandemic. An online questionnaire in both Chinese and English versions was completed by 590 eligible participants from 24 April to 13 May 2020. The questionnaire found that individuals aged 18 to 25 years spent more time resting and relaxing but experienced more physical strain. Working status was associated with social contact, with participants working full-time jobs scoring higher in “maintaining social communication via electronic means” and “avoiding social activities outside the home”. Additionally, approximately one third of the participants (29.7%) had moderate to severe depression, and participants aged 18 to 25 were found to have higher scores in PHQ-9. Changes in physical health and social contact were significantly associated with developing depressive symptoms. From the results, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to exert a negative impact on the mental health status of individuals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 436-436
Author(s):  
Daniel R Y Gan ◽  
Grand H-L Cheng ◽  
Tze Pin Ng ◽  
John Chye Fung ◽  
Im Sik Cho

Abstract Given reduced life spaces, the neighborhood often functions as a social venue for older adults. Yet how these everyday social spaces affect older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing remains largely unknown. Drawing on the GRP-CARE Survey data, this paper examined the relation between neighborhood experiences and positive mental health. Participants were 601 community-dwelling Singaporeans aged 50+ who lived in public housing neighborhoods. Neighborhood experiences were measured using the four-factorial, 16-item OpenX scale (Gan, Fung, Cho, 2019); positive mental health was measured using a six-factorial, 19-item scale (Vaingankar et al., 2011). Both scales have good psychometric properties and had been validated. Path analysis between relevant factors of both scales was conducted using Stata, within a theorized model of causation from neighborhood environment to social factors to psychosocial health. Age, education, ethnicity and sex were controlled for. Multiple linear regression analysis showed a strong, positive association between neighborhood experiences and mental health (p=0.000) even after controlling for personal traits (operationalized as depressive symptoms, GDS) in addition to sociodemographic variables. Path analysis showed that two distinct neighborhood health processes mediated this association. These were (1) the potential for a sense of community in the neighborhood improved emotional support, and (2) having better neighborly friendships improved interpersonal skills. These neighborhood health processes provide us with new lenses to understand older adults’ everyday experiences of their neighborhoods. Community-based interventions to improve older adults’ psychosocial wellbeing may be developed to facilitate these processes. Spatial and programmatic implications will be discussed in relation to age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC).


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chee Hong Ng ◽  
Hong Ma ◽  
Xin Yu ◽  
Helen Chiu ◽  
Julia Fraser ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick Silove

AbstractThe majority of refugees and communities exposed to warfare and oppression live in low-income countries with few resources or special skills. Yet, epidemiological studies have identified high levels of traumatic stress reactions in such populations. These stress reactions can be intensified by harsh policies aimed at deterring survivors from seeking refuge in technologically advanced societies. The scale of the problem of mass violence and displacement creates formidable challenges for mental health professionals in their efforts to develop practical frameworks for responding to the extensive needs of displaced persons. In this article, a model is proposed for low-income, post-conflict countries, based on a two-tiered formulation. At the eco-social level, mental health professionals can play a supportive, but not a lead, role in facilitating recovery of core adaptive systems that hasten natural recovery from stress for the majority of the population. Where small-scale, community mental health services are established, the emphasis should be on assisting persons and their families who are at greatest survival and adaptive risk. Training and promotion of local workers to assume leadership in such programs are essential. In technologically advanced societies in which refugees are in a minority, torture and trauma services can focus more specifically on traumatic stress reactions, acculturation, and resettlement. In a historical epoch in which displaced persons are facing particularly harsh treatment, there is a pressing need for consensus amongst mental health professionals in advocating for their needs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 5055-5073
Author(s):  
Dong Yile

In recent years, more and more young people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have come to universities in Chinese Mainland for higher education. However, due to the differences in political, economic and cultural environment between Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions and Chinese Mainland, these young people have encountered psychological problems such as examination anxiety, interpersonal loneliness and lack of sense of meaning in life due to the related learning and life difficulties in Chinese mainland universities, which affect their growth and success. Many of the students originally thought that smoking was used in a more secluded environment to relieve stress, psychological counseling and energy recovery, but in fact smoking brings more harm. In the creation of a smoke-free campus, a variety of measures are adopted to give full play to the positive emotions of students to promote their mental health, which will help to achieve the creation of a smoke-free campus and share a healthy life on the campus. Based on the survey of a total of 658 undergraduates from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in H University on their positive affect and mental health, the following conclusions are drawn through data analysis: undergraduates from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in Chinese Mainland have positive affect at the upper-middle level, negative affect and overall affect at the lower-middle level; some undergraduates from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in Chinese mainland universities have middle-level mental health status and significant differences in grade and family relationship satisfaction; family relationship satisfaction has an important impact on students' emotional and mental health; the negative emotional performance and mental health of senior students, science students and students with low family relationship satisfaction need more attention from educators. Correlation analysis shows that positive affect is positively correlated with health concerns, energy status, satisfaction and interest in life, mood status, control of emotions and behaviors, relaxation and tension, and total score of mental health (P < 0.01). Regression analysis shows that positive affect has significant positive predictive effects on six factors in mental health, such as "health concerns", "satisfaction and interest in life", "energy", "mental state", "control of emotions and behaviors", "relaxation and tension" and mental health. The enlightenment of this study lies in the suggestions that actions should be taken from the two levels of school education and home-school combination to strengthen the cultivation of positive affect of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan undergraduates in Chinese mainland universities, so as to improve their mental health level.


2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 451-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. F. Chung ◽  
M. C. Wong

Aims and MethodThe study was intended to rectify the lack of data on how Chinese people experience the stigma of mental illness. A questionnaire on perceived stigmatisation, experiences of rejection and ways of coping with stigma was completed by 193 persons attending a psychiatric out-patient clinic in Hong Kong.ResultsMost of the participants were aware of the stigma associated with mental illness, but experiences of rejection were relatively less frequent. Eleven per cent of the respondents indicated that they were neglected by health care professionals and 8% had been avoided by family members. The most frequently reported coping method was maintaining secrecy about the illness.Clinical ImplicationsIn China, people with mental health problems experience stigma in various degrees. However, some of the people surveyed expressed feelings of relief that others were supportive and sympathetic towards their illness. Mental health professionals should maintain optimism in helping their patients to cope with the stigma.


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