Mind HK provides early intervention to address citizen’s urgent need for psychological support
Over 70% of the service users’ depression or anxiety symptoms have been significantly improved by iACT®
Nearly 65% of those who seek help recover after two sessions or more
30 Wellbeing Practitioners Successfully trained to help people in Hong Kong to regain their mental health
(Hong Kong, 20 November 2024) – Mental health has always been a societal concern in Hong Kong. Mind HK is a local mental health charity that strives to promote mental wellbeing and provides early evidence-based psychological support. In 2022, Mind HK launched their Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) programme which offered professional, one-on-one and low-intensity psychological support to alleviate emotional distress for those in need. This year, the organisation expanded this service to adults. The effectiveness assessment shows that over 70% of individuals with symptoms of depression or anxiety significantly improved after receiving treatment; nearly 65% of those with more severe symptoms recovered after two or more sessions.
Since the start of the programme in 2022, Mind HK has trained 127 Wellbeing Practitioners and provided free psychological support to 2,791 individuals in need. The organisation will continue to expand the programme to address the service gap of the public mental health support service in Hong Kong and enable more people experiencing emotional distress to receive timely assistance.
High demand for mental health support, but the local medical system struggles to respond
The mental health situation in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly alarming. For five consecutive years, from 2017 to 2022, the mental health index for the population failed to meet satisfactory levels. Earlier this year, a survey revealed that over half of the people in Hong Kong showed mild to severe depressive symptoms, and the problem of depression continues to rise. The number of individuals with clinical levels of depression reached new highs in six similar surveys conducted since 2012. These figures indicate an escalating need for psychological support at various levels.
Many individuals tend to seek treatment directly from clinical psychologists or psychiatrists. However, as of the end of September this year, the waiting time for new cases at Psychiatry Specialist Out-patient Clinics could be up to two years (104 weeks), which clearly reflects the strain on Hong Kong’s public healthcare resources—the long waiting times for public medical services and the relatively high cost of private services. Therefore, many people with mental health difficulties struggle to receive timely and proper treatment, potentially leading to a worsening of their conditions.
Stepped Care Model – The potential way out for Hong Kong’s mental health issues
Aside from psychiatric and clinical psychological services, many countries have recently adopted the Stepped Care Model, which matches the appropriate intensity of mental health service to the severity of the mental health condition, ensuring the best use of resources. For example, according to this model those with mild to moderate symptoms can receive low-intensity psychological support provided by trained Wellbeing Practitioners, while those facing more severe mental health problems may visit a highly trained psychiatrist for more high intensity support The low intensity approach is more flexible and shorter in duration compared to traditional psychological support, enabling individuals to develop emotional management skills and improve their mental health.
The introduction of Wellbeing Practitioners can increase the resources available to the public and provide early intervention for people with mild symptoms, thus preventing their deterioration. This also enables psychiatric specialists to focus on the individuals with more severe symptoms, which potentially reduces waiting times and streamlines mental health services, thus enhancing the accessibility and efficiency of overall mental health support within the community.
iACT programme trained 30 Wellbeing Practitioners to provide services for adults
In view of this, Mind HK launched a low-intensity mental health service—iACT programme in 2022. Since then, Wellbeing Practitioners have been trained to provide assessment and early interventions of around six to eight sessions of low-intensity psychological support to offer a free and timely professional service for the public. Each Wellbeing Practitioner from Mind HK has undergone around 140 hours of intensive training and completed a minimum of 120 hours of supervised clinical practice within nine months to ensure a high-quality service.
With the support of the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation and the Hemera Foundation, Mind HK successfully trained 30 Wellbeing Practitioners between 2023 and 2024, who specialise in providing treatment to adults aged 18 to 65. During the eight-month programme, each Wellbeing Practitioner delivered psychological support to a median of 15 to 16 individuals, with a median waiting time of 13 days for services.
Near 65% of those with depression and anxiety symptoms showed improvement after joining iACT
Mind HK collaborated with a local cross-university research team which included Professor Patrick Leung Wing Leung from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Paul Wong Wai Ching from the University of Hong Kong, Dr Amanda Cheung King Sze and clinical psychologist Mr Henry Wong Cheuk Yin, to evaluate the effectiveness of the iACT programme from Sept 2023 to April 2024.
During the period, 493 individuals underwent intake assessments, with an average age of 32.6 years, and over 80% were female. The survey revealed that 65.5% of those seeking help exhibited mild to moderate depressive symptoms, and an equal percentage showed mild to moderate anxiety symptoms. Among them, 39.6% experienced both depression and anxiety symptoms simultaneously.
Dr Jeffy Ho, the iACT Lead Clinical Advisor, stated that, “Among the 269 individuals who reached clinical levels of depression and anxiety, over 80% completed the entire low-intensity psychological treatment. Around 65% recovered after at least two sessions or above, and 72.9% displayed significant reduction in their depressive and anxiety symptoms. Many of them also reported significant improvement in health, work, social abilities, and cognitive flexibility, along with reduced emotional avoidance.
These results indicate that the mental health support provided through iACT had a generally positive effect and helped people improve their mental health and wellbeing, especially those who completed all six sessions. Data analysis also showed no significant difference in recovery rates among services provided by different Wellbeing Practitioners. This demonstrated that with appropriate training and regular clinical supervision, Wellbeing Practitioners can provide consistent and high-quality services.”
Better understanding of people’s emotional needs by self-experienced professionals
Most iACT Wellbeing Practitioners hold degrees in psychology or related fields, and some of them have personally experienced emotional distress themselves. This has motivated them to undergo training and use their professional knowledge and personal experiences to assist those in need.
Joby, a Wellbeing Practitioner who previously worked in the insurance industry, and struggled with depression shared, “I’ve lacked self-confidence and often doubted myself since childhood. Over a decade ago, a severe back injury left me unable to work, leading to depression. Initially, I consulted a doctor and took medication, which initially helped me recover. But when the medication dosage was reduced, my condition got worse. One night, in an attempt to end my overwhelming feelings of despair and pain, I tried to end my life.
“It was this life-changing moment that prompted me to seek help and undergo treatments. It took me around three years to recover. Afterwards, I became dedicated to mental health support, and when I learned about iACT, I immediately joined without hesitation. The training is comprehensive and professionally designed, which boosted my confidence in helping others”.
The iACT programme has offered life-changing opportunities for many who previously couldn’t access timely and affordable mental health support. Coco, a social work graduate and now a project officer at Mind HK after being a service user of iACT and becoming motivated to work in mental health herself, overcame her emotional struggles with the programme’s help during a time of uncertainty about her future. She recounted, “After graduating, I felt lost and worried about my future. I could no longer access on-campus counselling services and private counselling is too expensive, leaving me feeling helpless and frustrated.
“Then, I came across the iACT programme and it became a turning point in my life. After completing six sessions of therapy, I gained new insights into managing my emotions, understanding the importance of emotional acceptance, and recognising the value of my life. Through the programme, I truly understand the difficulty of many Hongkongers in accessing proper psychological support and I hope this programme can become widespread”.
Expanding the reach of the iACT programme to enhance Hong Kong people’s mental health
Dr Candice Powell, CEO of Mind HK, said, “Programme evaluations and feedback from service users have shown that the Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) programme is a cost-effective and evidence-based psychological support. It offers a solution which not only improves the mental health of people seeking help, but also helps alleviate shortages in the professional mental health workforce. The Wellbeing Practitioner training model is an effective way to meet the high demand for mental health services by increasing workforce available.
“Including the training focused on youth service users last year, the programme has so far trained 127 Wellbeing Practitioners, providing psychological support to those in need. We aim to continue expanding the iACT programme, with a goal of training at least 180 Wellbeing Practitioners by 2026. Our vision is to ensure that no one has to face a mental health problem alone. This programme will help improve the accessibility to low-intensity psychological support, allowing more individuals to overcome emotional distress and improve the overall mental health of the community”.
The Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) programme is dedicated to training mental health paraprofessionals and enhancing the accessibility of mental health support. It aims to provide free short-term psychological support to individuals of all age groups in Hong Kong. Mind HK believes that as psychological support becomes more widespread, the mental health of Hong Kong people will gradually improve. For more information, please visit www.iact.hk. To register to use the iACT service: https://esurvey.psy.cuhk.edu.hk/jfe/form/SV_bplwsIJx67ypUp0 .
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Mind HK
Clara Kwok, Acting Head of Communications, Mind HK
About Mind HK
Mind HK (Mind Mental Health Hong Kong Limited) is a section 88 registered mental health charity (91/16471), which was launched in 2017. The organisation’s vision is to ensure that no one in Hong Kong has to face a mental health problem alone. Through resources, training, and outreach campaigns and programmes, the work of Mind HK helps to raise awareness of mental health and reduce the associated stigma to help achieve the best mental health for all in Hong Kong. With existing collaboration and research efforts, Mind HK is here to support Hong Kong in becoming a global leader and regional model for public mental health. For more on their work, vision, and mission, please visit www.mind.org.hk/.
Mind HK’s Social Media Platforms:
Mind HK’s Facebook: @hongkongmind
Mind HK’s Instagram: @mindhongkong
More Than a Label Instagram: @morethanalabelhk
Photo Caption
| Photo | Content | |
| 1 | |
Group Photo, the Press Conference on Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) Service Research Data 2024. |
| 2 |  |
Dr Candice Powell, CEO of Mind HK said that the Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) programme is a cost-effective and evidence-based psychological support. |
| 3 |  |
Dr. Jeffy Ho, iACT Lead Clinical Advisor, shared the iACT Service Research Data for 2024, highlighting that 30 Wellbeing Practitioners have been successfully trained to help people in Hong Kong regain their mental health. |
| 4 |  |
Coco (center), service user of iACT, and Joby (right), Wellbeing Practitioner, share their experiences of participating in the iACT. |
Appendix
Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) Service Research Data 2024
| Background information |
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Programme duration: September 2023 – April 2024 (8 months) Background of participants:
Research team:
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| Results |
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Total number of participants assessed: 493 Distribution of symptoms:
Treatment details:
Analysis of the iACT programme effectiveness:
Summary of effectiveness:
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