Mental wellness of Hong Kong people has become a public health concern in recent years. A local survey conducted in March 2022 found that nearly 50% of Hong Kong residents experienced moderate to severe anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. Healthcare Professionals and Educators are exceptionally vulnerable to fatigue, burnout, mental exhaustion, poor staff morale, lower quality of life and poor job satisfaction.   A study conducted by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in 2019 revealed that over 70% of local young doctors reported personal or work-related burnout, with a high prevalence of 21% had depression issues. During the Pandemic, frontline healthcare workers who work in high-risk clinical settings are required to isolate themselves after their long work shifts. This isolation has increased the feeling of their loneliness and sadness.

Teachers are also affected by the epidemic. Schools undergo prolonged suspension of classes. Teachers have to develop new online teaching model to meet the new learning needs of students. This unexpected changes in routine and heavier workload, along with a considerable degree of fear and worry pose a threat to teachers’ mental health. According to a local survey conducted in November 2021, it is found that more than 80% of the 1,200 kindergarten, primary and secondary school teachers felt exhausted at work.

We are now launching the subsidized counselling service program for healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses and medical students) and educators, as to express our gratitude to them by supporting their mental health wellness. Through timely, professional and affordable counselling service, we aim to help healthcare professionals and teachers to deal with job burnout and any mental health issues, and to regain their inner strength at workplace. We further extend our current service to online and to odd-hours, in order to increase service accessibility and flexibility to alleviate constraint due to busy or shift work schedule.

Target Beneficiaries: Doctors, Nurses, Medical Students and Teachers

Scope of services: 

• Individual counselling
• Marital, and relationship, Family counselling
• Trauma, Grief & Bereavement
• Expressive Arts & Play therapy
• Employee Assistance Program

Duration of each session: 50 – 60 minutes.
Mode of counselling:  Online (Zoom, Skype, Face Time, Google Meet) or face-to-face service