In Hong Kong, with an increasing number of children experiencing mental health issues, there is a need to not only develop innovative interventions but also develop comprehensive prevention ...interventions so as to reduce their anxiety symptoms and enhance their emotional management and interpersonal relationships.
The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration model of the cognitive-behavioral approach and positive psychology by using digital game-based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention to magnify the social and emotional health and well-being of the school children in Hong Kong aged 9 to 11 years.
A quasi-experimental design method was used to evaluate this digital game and school-based intervention. The Adventures of DoReMiFa was piloted in 4 primary schools where students were allocated to either an intervention or a control group. The participants were assessed at pre- and postintervention with a 6-month follow-up measuring their mental health knowledge, levels of anxiety symptoms, positive and negative thinking, perspective-taking, and self-esteem.
A total of 459 primary school students from 4 primary schools participated in the study. The response rate on the questionnaires answered on the Web was up to 85.1% (391/459). Compared with the control group, the intervention group was found to have significant association with improved mental health knowledge at the time immediately after the intervention (beta=.46; P=.01) and in the 6-month postintervention period (beta=.66; P<.001); for perspective-taking, the intervention group had exhibited a significant improvement 6 months after the completion of the universal program (beta=1.50; P=.03). The intervention, however, was found not to be effective in reducing the rates of anxiety symptoms and negative thinking among the participating students.
The Adventures of DoReMiFa, an integration of a digital game-based and school-based mental health enhancement intervention, was shown to be effective in elevating the knowledge of mental health and promoting perspective-taking in the primary school students of Hong Kong. Although there was insufficient evidence to support a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and negative automatic thoughts, the overall results were still encouraging in that a preventive effect was found, indicating that the program has the potential to enhance the mental well-being of schoolchildren. It also suggests that knowledge enhancement may not necessarily lead to behavior change, and more focused effort may be needed to achieve the translation. The implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were also discussed.
This article explores the impact of defamilisation and familisation measures for women with caring responsibilities and their implications for access to pensions in later life in Hong Kong and the UK ...in the context of pro-market pension reforms. The first part of the article discusses pro-market pension reforms and their effects on women, the second discusses the potential role of defamilisation and familisation measures in reducing the adverse effects of pro-market pension reforms, and the third focuses on pension policies and examples of defamilisation and familisation measures in Hong Kong and the UK. Finally, on the basis of the discussion of the link between defamilisation and familisation measures and pension measures for women, we assert that both Hong Kong and the UK still have much to do in developing multi-option measures throughout the life course, measures that could limit future inequalities in retirement between men and women.
This paper examines the relevance of two interpretations of defamilisation ("freedom of the family" and "freedom of women from the family") to the search for effective measures for strengthening ...women's participation in the paid labour market. Based on these two interpretations, two types of defamilisation measures (care-focused and women's economic) are identified. Two defamilisation indices are developed respectively covering twelve countries. The importance of the two types of defamilisation measures in assisting women to access employment are discussed from two angles. The input angle refers to the extent to which countries are committed to the provision of these defamilisation measures. The output angle is about the relationship between these defamilisation measures and the degree of women's participation in the paid labour market. Through conducting these analytical tasks, this paper also contributes to the examination of the relationship between types of welfare regimes and the provision of defamilisation measures.
Digital game-based learning (DGBL) makes use of the entertaining power of digital games for educational purposes. Effectiveness assessment of DGBL programs has been underexplored and no attempt has ...been made to simultaneously model both important components of DGBL: learning attainment (ie, educational purposes of DGBL) and engagement of users (ie, entertaining power of DGBL) in evaluating program effectiveness.
This study aimed to describe and evaluate an Internet-based DGBL program, Professor Gooley and the Flame of Mind, which promotes mental health to adolescents in a positive youth development approach. In particular, we investigated whether user engagement in the DGBL program could enhance their attainment on each of the learning constructs per DGBL module and subsequently enhance their mental health as measured by psychological well-being.
Users were assessed on their attainment on each learning construct, psychological well-being, and engagement in each of the modules. One structural equation model was constructed for each DGBL module to model the effect of users' engagement and attainment on the learning construct on their psychological well-being.
Of the 498 secondary school students that registered and participated from the first module of the DGBL program, 192 completed all 8 modules of the program. Results from structural equation modeling suggested that a higher extent of engagement in the program activities facilitated users' attainment on the learning constructs on most of the modules and in turn enhanced their psychological well-being after controlling for users' initial psychological well-being and initial attainment on the constructs.
This study provided evidence that Internet intervention for mental health, implemented with the technologies and digital innovations of DGBL, could enhance youth mental health. Structural equation modeling is a promising approach in evaluating the effectiveness of DGBL programs.
This article aims to examine the challenges of developing culturally sensitive health care services for Chinese people in Britain. It argues that Chinese people have heterogeneous backgrounds and ...migration experiences. However, they share a common cultural heritage and are still influenced by traditional beliefs to various extents, especially in their understanding and handling of health issues. Therefore, in providing culturally sensitive services, health care providers should understand Chinese people's diverse preferences, but not overlook the similarities among them, and between them and people of other cultural groups.
English
With the focus on how Chinese older people in the UK use health and social care services, this article demonstrates how these services’ sensitivity is undermined by mistaken assumptions about ...whether ethnic-minority groups organize health and care according to their cultural principles, and the unity of these principles.
French
Centré sur la façon dont les Chinois âgés utilisent les services de santé et d’accompagnement social en Grande Bretagne, cet article démontre comment la perception de ces services est biaisée par des représentations erronées selon lesquelles les groupes des minorités ethniques organisent la santé et l’accompagnement social selon leurs principes culturels et en vertu de l’unité de ces principes.
Spanish
Este artículo se centra en cómo las personas chinas de tercera edad usan los servicios sociales y de salud en Gran Bretaña. Hay suposiciones erróneas acerca de la unidad de principios culturales, y acerca de cómo los grupos étnicos organ izan el cuidado social y el cuidado de la salud. Estas suposiciones debilitan la sensibilidad cultural hacia estos grupos.
• Summary: This article aims to examine the diverse health needs of Chinese people in Britain and explore how the understanding of this diversity contributes to the development of culturally ...sensitive services. Two arguments are highlighted. First, it is undoubtedly insensitive to impose mainstream health services on ethnic minority groups, such as Chinese people in Britain, as it neglects to accommodate the heritage that they want to uphold. Second, it may be equally insensitive to take for granted the fact that all members of ethnic minority groups prefer to organize their health according to their heritage.
• Findings: A better understanding of the diverse preferences for health services of ethnic minority groups in general and Chinese people’s in particular would help health professionals to organize and deliver their services in a more culturally sensitive manner. The article has three main parts. The first part examines the importance of cultural sensitivity practices in health services. The second part explores the diverse health needs of Chinese people in Britain. The last part introduces two analytical tools, namely the culturagram and Titterton’s paradigm for welfare.
• Applications: By applying these tools to four cases, the discussion shows how they contribute to the understanding of the diverse health needs of Chinese people and the development of culturally sensitive services.
This paper discusses the main ideas of the Diversity Based approach to culturally sensitive practices in health and social care services.This approach is important in emphasizing the fluid nature of ...culture, the diversity in cultural groups and the impact of inegalitarian and racist power relations on their life. Chinese people in the UK are used as an example to demonstrate how exploration of the diversity of ethnic minority groups could strengthen cultural sensitivity. Some methods for the realization of the Diversity Based approach, such as the culturagram and user involvement, have also been highlighted.
The aim of this paper is to study the Hong Kong government's attempt to promote residualism and market principles in medical services through changing its fee and charge policy, strengthening the ...principle of selectivity at the expense of the universalist principle and proposing compulsory saving measures. It is argued that these reform measures are related to the government's mixed attitude towards medical services – that is, whilst providing medical services in response to political demands and the requirements of capitalism, the government wants to reduce the challenges these services pose to capitalism and its financial policy.
Circulating Epstein–Barr virus DNA was measured in 20,174 asymptomatic participants in Hong Kong; 34 of 309 with positive results had nasopharyngeal cancer. Stage distribution and progression-free ...survival were better in the 34 participants than in a historical cohort.
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