Mind HK and MINDSET launch a pioneering programme to widen Hong Kong young people’s access to basic mental health support
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Young people in Hong Kong face high levels of stress, whether over parents’ expectations, academic performance, or future career options. Most mental health problems emerge during adolescence and young adulthood, yet, young people who are experiencing these difficulties can struggle to access support. This is particularly true for those experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems, as they are below the threshold to access services, yet their problems threaten to seriously affect their academic performance, relationships, future prospects and overall well-being. Mind HK, in collaboration with MINDSET Hong Kong, has sought to make a difference with the groundbreaking “Mind HK and MINDSET Youth Wellbeing Practitioner Training Pilot Programme”.
Findings from recent research commissioned by Mind HK shows that 74 percent of youth surveyed believe that more low-cost mental health services are needed for local young people. Early intervention is imperative, so that mild to moderate mental health issues do not deteriorate further.
High school student and Mind HK Youth Ambassador, Natalie Lam, says youth mental health matters as it is essential to young people’s overall well-being. “It is detrimental to our health when we are constantly in a poor headspace. It would affect our daily functioning.” In today’s world, mental health problems are often stigmatised and neglected, Lam notes. “More support is needed to show care and support towards local youth with mental health issues and encourage them to seek help.”
Echoing Lam’s sentiment is Zuhaa Khan, another Mind HK Youth ambassador currently studying at university. “The current resources are not sufficient to meet the high demand,” Khan says. “There is misinformation on the types of services available and many therapies are expensive.”
The Youth Wellbeing Practitioner (YWP) pilot programme has been designed to address the shared concerns among local youth, including Lam and Khan, over the lack of accessibility to mental health services for the city’s young people. Under the programme, a cohort of 50 Youth Wellbeing Practitioners (YWPs) will be trained through a fully-funded course, which will equip them with the skills to provide interventions to young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems. Hong Kong Baptist University will be the programme’s academic partner and King’s College London will play a supporting role.
The pilot project is fully supported by MINDSET, a charity initiative of the Jardine Matheson Group. Andrew Wong, a Board Member of MINDSET, says the charity is committed to helping to develop a great platform for practitioners to gain insights and skills to support local young people. The programme is funded by Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land HOME FUND and HKEX Foundation.
In its first year of full operation, the pilot programme is expected to benefit over 1,300 young people in Hong Kong, by offering free evidence-based mental health support to all. The YWP training’s recruitment drive will end in January 2022.
Youth need more low-cost support
Research from the World Health Organization shows that 75 percent of mental problems develop before the age of 24 and 50 percent emerge by the age of 14, says Dr Hannah Reidy, CEO of Mind HK. “The YWP programme aims to encourage early intervention for mild to moderate difficulties and help prevent problems from deteriorating further. The pressures faced by young people in Hong Kong leave them at risk of developing mental health problems, but for many, there is no affordable, readily accessible support available. Many schools do not have adequate provision to support all of the young people who need help with their mental health, and those experiencing difficulties are not able to access support.”
Mind HK’s research, conducted in collaboration with Consumer Search Group (CSG), looks at the mental health of young locals and their accessibility to relevant services from the perspective of students themselves (aged 16 to 24), parents (with children from 14 to 24) and educators. The findings indicate that while 75 percent of the surveyed students claim they have good/very good mental health status, most state that they suffer from stress derived from academic performance, career and parental expectations. Fifty percent of the surveyed parents revealed that they have encountered difficulties in seeking mental health support due to a lack of knowledge and awareness of available services. Nearly 90 percent of students rely on in-school counsellors and social workers for mental health support. Meanwhile, 74 percent of youth surveyed believe that more low-cost mental health services are needed for local young people.
The research findings are consistent with government statistics, which indicate a growing mental health treatment gap in Hong Kong. Over 43,000 people are on the waiting list for psychiatric care and among them, over 1,200 are children and adolescents. The average waiting time in 2020 was around 60 weeks for child and adolescent outpatient psychiatric care. The low levels of help-seeking and shortages of care are partially attributed to the high cost of private therapy and shortage of accessible therapists for young people in Hong Kong, Mind HK says.
A programme tailored to local needs
The YWP programme is based on the Children and Young Person's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP-IAPT) initiative, an established public mental health care model implemented in the UK and adapted in other countries. The YWP curriculum adopts the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model, an evidence-based type of psychotherapy currently used for anxiety and depression treatment in many countries.
Dr Hannah Sugarman, the lead Clinical Advisor for the YWP Programme and a Clinical Psychologist, believes that many young people in Hong Kong are under enormous pressure to succeed and feel beholden to high standards that are reinforced by the education system, parents and others around them. “Rather than asking people to drop these standards, ACT teaches people how to adopt a more flexible stance towards them, becoming more aware of the standards they hold and evaluating them as helpful or unhelpful. The ability to do this can allow young people to better navigate some of the societal expectations and standards placed on them” says Dr Sugarman.
For people who would otherwise not receive any treatment because their difficulties are too mild, Dr Sugarman notes, this programme will train practitioners who will help them access support that can be instrumental to their ability to understand and manage the difficulties they are experiencing. “These interventions will be particularly useful for individuals experiencing problems, like mild-moderate depression or anxiety, low self-esteem and perfectionism. Providing support to these young people will help with capacity-building and take weight off existing mental health professionals who are equipped to handle more serious cases.”
The YWP programme will include over 100 hours of intensive theoretical training in the summer of 2022, featuring basic counselling skills, assessing ongoing clinical risk and delivering the manualised intervention. The training will be followed by nine months of supervised clinical placements at schools and community organisations. Upon completion of the course, the YWPs will be able to provide young people, aged 12-24, who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems, each with six free sessions of guided self-help.
The basic entry requirements for the YWP training programme stipulate that the applicants should have completed secondary education, some basic knowledge of mental health problems and prior exposure to individuals experiencing mental health problems, and must speak English and preferably one other language. “We encourage applications from individuals who are passionate about supporting young people who are struggling with their mental health,” Dr Sugarman says.
Mind HK and MINDSET also invite schools and community organisations to join the programme and host practitioners.
For more details on the YWP programme, applying, and becoming a host organisation, please visit: https://www.mind.org.hk/low-intensity-intervention-for-young-people-training-course/