Union chief says more staff and support could reduce the murder-suicide rate by managing family problems before the 'critical' stage
Providing more resources and staff to improve support and counselling for families is the best way to reduce the number of murder-suicides in the city, according to the leader of a social workers' union.
Peter Cheung Kwok-che, chairman of the Social Workers' General Union, was responding to a University of Hong Kong study on murder-suicide.
The university's team suggested setting up a special 'intensive care unit' team for difficult family cases and conducting fatality reviews.
The team interviewed six caseworkers from the Social Welfare Department who had handled murder-suicide cases, either before the tragedies or by providing bereavement services afterwards.
The workers told the team they found it difficult to detect depression or suicidal intentions and that resources for children with special needs were limited. They also faced heavy workloads, which could reduce the sensitivity of workers to clients and manifest as 'compassion fatigue'.