Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan YHJ (1), Lee CK (1), Leung YY (1), Choi YCS (1), Cheung WL (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Occupational Therapy Department, Kowloon Hospital
Introduction :
Mental health crises were emerging under the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent researches in public sampling had revealed that the prevalence of anxiety and depression have increased significantly. Life under pandemic was brimming with quarantine and isolation with unfamiliar and unpleasable experience. In response to the crisis, resilience has become imperative to prevent personal or systemic collapses. However, resilience often requires nourishing before it could function in everyday context; especially among vulnerable individuals with mental illnesses. The project of “Anti-pandemic 3000s (AP3000s)” was developed by Occupational Therapy Department (OTD) to facilitate participants’ learning & recognizing on the application of resilience-oriented activity strategies during pandemic of COVID-19 through Zoom Class.
Objectives :
To evaluate the effectiveness and user's feedback on a new telecare program, aiming at improving behavioral coping of people with mental health conditions
Methodology :
AP3000s was a protocol-driven telecare program with totally five sessions, each lasted for fifty minutes (3000 seconds). It incorporated one session of psychoeducation on resilience, and four sessions of activity-based intervention on 1) Optimal Physical Activity, 2) Reframing adversity through art, 3) Self-compassion through tea tasting and 4) Re-connecting with community. Therapist performed as a coach in AP3000s, facilitating participants to explore different behavioral coping strategies to develop essential qualities of resilience, including 1) physical health, 2) Realistic optimism, 3) composure and 4) collaboration. A package of group materials was provided to each participant prior to the start of the program.
Outpatients of OTD with emotional disturbance under the influence of COVID-19 pandemic were recruited in the program. Treatment effectiveness was measured by Hope scale(HS), General self-efficacy scale(GSS), Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale(SWEMWS), Satisfaction Questionnaire on the AP3000s and Post group one-month telephone follow-up was arranged as evaluations.
Result & Outcome :
From March to April 2021, eight participants were recruited in the pilot program of AP3000s with the average age of forty-nine. Seven of them were diagnosed of mood disorder (depression, anxiety or adjustment disorder), and one was diagnosed of schizophrenia. All participants had good motivation and treatment compliance with an overall attendance of 80%. Non-parametric analysis (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) was performed to compare the pre-and-post standardized assessment results, while no statistically significant difference was revealed on the HS, GSS and SWEMWS.
According to the satisfaction questionnaire, participants reported positive and satisfactory experience not only on improving knowledge and understanding on resilience (average 4.3 out of 5); but also on the new mode of group telecare Zoom Class (average 3.8 out of 5). Almost half of the participants gave credit and appreciation to sessions about physical exercise and art, regarding them as a good choice in coping with quarantine and home-staying in the future. According to post group one-month telephone follow-up, most participants were able to integrate the learnt strategies into their daily life in different extent from daily to weekly application.
Findings from satisfactory questionnaire and post-group telephone follow-up had revealed participants’ positive perception over the content of AP3000s, as well as the feasibility of application of resilience-orientated strategies into everyday living; however, its effect on mental wellbeing and sense of competency reserved our curiosity for future examination through larger scale of subject recruitment and data collection. Besides, AP3000s also proved that telecare via Zoom Class provided a promising alternative choice to group intervention during pandemic of COVID-19.
