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Background and Purpose In order to be truly effective, a psychosocial intervention for cancer patients must have a positive impact that lasts for a significant time. While brief interventions have many benefits (feasibility, limiting... more
Background and Purpose In order to be truly effective, a psychosocial intervention for cancer patients must have a positive impact that lasts for a significant time. While brief interventions have many benefits (feasibility, limiting attrition, allowing patients to return to their usual lives) they may lack long-term efficacy. This study addresses the question of the sustainability of brief interventions with known effectiveness in the short term. The aim is also to consider survivors' views on how these brief interventions impact them over an extended period of time. Adopting a mixed methods design, the quantitative findings are discussed in the light of participants' subjective perspectives of change, as well as other issues encountered in long-term survivorship. Methods Chinese breast cancer patients were randomized into 5 to 8-week psychosocial group interventions (i) Eastern Body-mind-spirit intervention, (ii) Supportive-expressive group therapy, (iii) Non-facilitated p...
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ABSTRACT This study aimed to validate a self-report assessment instrument developed based on the affliction-equanimity model of holistic well-being. An expert panel developed a pool of items, which were tested through an online... more
ABSTRACT This study aimed to validate a self-report assessment instrument developed based on the affliction-equanimity model of holistic well-being. An expert panel developed a pool of items, which were tested through an online questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were conducted. The analyses revealed seven factors related to affliction and equanimity and showed an adequate fit for the first-order seven-factor structure. The factors correlated in expected directions with measures of quality of life, mood, meaning of life, mindfulness, and hope. Results showed the 30-item Holistic Well-Being Scale had good psychometric properties and validity, and suggested its usefulness in future studies of holistic well-being.
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Recent natural disasters have led to massive losses. Surviving populations are traumatised and many find life meaningless because of the disrupted social order. Clinical interventions with grief and loss mostly focus on removal of... more
Recent natural disasters have led to massive losses. Surviving populations are traumatised and many find life meaningless because of the disrupted social order. Clinical interventions with grief and loss mostly focus on removal of symptoms of pain. This article focuses on mechanisms for inspiring hope and transforming grief through Eastern approaches of a body-mind-spirit SMART intervention approach. SMART being Strength-oriented, Meaning-focused, Approach to Resilience and Transformation. The community capacity building SMART intervention, using a case study from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, will focus on empowerment to enable survivors of the disaster to a dignified living.
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Background Stroke causes lasting brain damage that has numerous impacts on the survivor’s physical, psychosocial, and spiritual well-being. Young survivors (< 65 years old) tend to suffer more because of their longer overall survival... more
Background Stroke causes lasting brain damage that has numerous impacts on the survivor’s physical, psychosocial, and spiritual well-being. Young survivors (< 65 years old) tend to suffer more because of their longer overall survival time. Expressive arts-based intervention is considered a holistic approach for stroke rehabilitation because it allows participants to express their thoughts and emotions through the arts. The group environment also promotes mutual support among participants. The creative art-making process helps expand participants’ creativity and imagination as well as promote a sense of aesthetic appreciation. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of the arts-based intervention in managing stroke and its psychosocial-spiritual comorbidities. Nevertheless, a systematic study has not been conducted, including in young survivors. This trial plans to investigate the effectiveness of an expressive arts-based intervention on bio-psychosocial-spiritual outcomes i...
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Studies have shown individuals with chronic illnesses tend to experience poorer mental health compared to their counterparts without a chronic illness under the COVID-19 pandemic. The pervasive disruption on daily lifestyles due to social... more
Studies have shown individuals with chronic illnesses tend to experience poorer mental health compared to their counterparts without a chronic illness under the COVID-19 pandemic. The pervasive disruption on daily lifestyles due to social distancing could be a contributing factor. In this study, we collaborated with local patient support groups to explore the psychological adjustment among a group of community-dwelling individuals with chronic illnesses under the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. We collected responses from 408 adults with one or more chronic illnesses using an online survey. Results show that about one in four participants experienced moderate to high levels of depression (26.0%), anxiety (26.2%) and stress (20.1%) symptoms measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and the World Health Organisation-Five Well-Being Index. While 62.3% (gatherings) to 91.9% (contact with others) of participants reported changes in their daily lifestyles, these changes—both an...
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Objectives Families facing end-stage nonmalignant chronic diseases (NMCDs) are presented with similar symptom burdens and need for psycho-social–spiritual support as their counterparts with advanced cancers. However, NMCD patients tend to... more
Objectives Families facing end-stage nonmalignant chronic diseases (NMCDs) are presented with similar symptom burdens and need for psycho-social–spiritual support as their counterparts with advanced cancers. However, NMCD patients tend to face more variable disease trajectories, and thus may require different anticipatory supports, delivered in familiar environments. The Life Rainbow Programme (LRP) provides holistic, transdisciplinary, community-based end-of-life care for patients with NMCDs and their caregivers. This paper reports on the 3-month outcomes using a single-group, pre–post comparison. Method Patients with end-stage NMCDs were screened for eligibility by a medical team before being referred to the LRP. Patients were assessed at baseline (T0), 1 month (T1), and 3 months (T2) using the Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale (IPOS). Their hospital use in the previous month was also measured by presentations at accident and emergency services, admissions to intensive care unit...
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Objective: This randomized controlled trial examined the effect of an intensive experiential workshop based on the Satir growth model (SGM) that aims at cultivating self-transformation. Method: Ninety-six adult participants were randomly... more
Objective: This randomized controlled trial examined the effect of an intensive experiential workshop based on the Satir growth model (SGM) that aims at cultivating self-transformation. Method: Ninety-six adult participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (52 participants) or the wait-list control group. The role of self-transformation, measured by the Perceived Self-Transformation Scale, in the relationship between affects and mental health problems was examined using mediation analyses. Results: After the workshop, the intervention group demonstrated higher levels of self-transformation (η2 = .308, p < .001), as well as significant improvement ( p < .001) in positive (η2 = .557) and negative (η2 = .293) affects, self-esteem (η2 = .538), spirituality (η2 = .473), and mental health problems (η2 = .386). Importantly, increased self-transformation after the workshop partially mediated the relationship between reduced negative affect and mental health problems in...
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Traditionally, death is a taboo subject in Chinese culture. However, very few studies examine the effects of death education program on the psycho-spiritual outcomes among Chinese patients. This article reports on a quasi-experimental... more
Traditionally, death is a taboo subject in Chinese culture. However, very few studies examine the effects of death education program on the psycho-spiritual outcomes among Chinese patients. This article reports on a quasi-experimental study on Chinese patients with chronic diseases who participated in a psycho-education group on positive death preparation. Findings revealed that participants in the intervention group (n=81) reported significantly greater reduction in fear of death, death avoidance, greater increase in death acceptance, death preparation, tranquility and spiritual well-being at immediate post-intervention than the control group (n=79). It is also found that levels of death-related fear and avoidance in the intervention group were significantly lower at one-month follow-up when compared with baseline. This study challenges the assumption that Chinese people are not receptive to intervention that addresses issues of death and dying. Implications of conducting death edu...
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Background and Purpose: Adjustment after trauma and loss has long been a topic of interest to researchers and practitioners. In psycho-oncology, most studies have focused on identifying negative adjustment; relatively few address the... more
Background and Purpose: Adjustment after trauma and loss has long been a topic of interest to researchers and practitioners. In psycho-oncology, most studies have focused on identifying negative adjustment; relatively few address the potentials for positive growth experienced by cancer survivors. Research on patients' subjective experiences is also very limited, particularly in the Chinese context. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of breast cancer on Chinese women's lives and their adjustment experiences, both positive and negative. Factors identified with positive adjustment are reported. Method: Taking a constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2003), theoretical sampling was used to recruit twenty-six Chinese women aged 25 to 69. An innovative method integrating an in-depth interview with drawing an autobiographical timeline (Leung & Chan, 2008) was used in data collection. It generated data in the form of narratives and sketches of autobiogr...
Background and Purpose: Spirituality has been increasingly recognized as a central component of holistic well-being at the end of life. Yet, most studies on spirituality in palliative care have focused on the experience of people from a... more
Background and Purpose: Spirituality has been increasingly recognized as a central component of holistic well-being at the end of life. Yet, most studies on spirituality in palliative care have focused on the experience of people from a Judeo-Christian tradition; there is very little information on the perspective of patients from other backgrounds. Given that spirituality encompasses both the religious and non-religious meaning and values of an individual, understanding how people in different cultures find peace and make sense of life and death becomes of paramount importance for culturally respectful practice. The purpose of this study is to understand the spiritual experience of Chinese patients at the end of life. Corresponding themes across the spectrum of spiritual despair to well-being and how patients achieve spiritual well-being are reported. Method: Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach, purposive sampling was used to recruit twenty cancer patients from the p...
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REASON FOR THE STUDY: This study aims to understand patients&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; views on failing to gain expected beneficial outcomes from palliative medicine clinical trials. This is a qualitative... more
REASON FOR THE STUDY: This study aims to understand patients&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; views on failing to gain expected beneficial outcomes from palliative medicine clinical trials. This is a qualitative study involving semistructured interviews. Seven patients were interviewed. Despite loss of initial hope in benefiting themselves in terms of better disease or symptom control, patients interviewed still found joining clinical trials meaningful experience in terms of benefiting future patients and being valuable life experience. Experience in interacting with research staff partly formulated final impressions on clinical trial participation experience. Joining well-designed clinical trials unlikely causes harm to patients. Caring attitudes of researchers and maintaining good researcher-patient relationships can help patients in meaning-finding process, especially if they have failed to gain anticipated clinical benefits.
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Research Interests: Palliative Care, Aging, Personhood, Hong Kong, Medicine, and 15 moreHumans, Female, Male, Awareness, Clinical Sciences, Family Relations, Aged, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Age Factors, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, Cost of Illness, Health services for the aged, cultural characteristics, and Interviews as topic
The Satir model greatly impacts the thinking and practice of therapists in the field of family therapy. This two-phase study aimed to validate a self-report instrument, the Perceived Self-Transformation Scale, which measures the... more
The Satir model greatly impacts the thinking and practice of therapists in the field of family therapy. This two-phase study aimed to validate a self-report instrument, the Perceived Self-Transformation Scale, which measures the self-transformation proposed by the Satir model. A panel of expert reviewers evaluated the content validity of the items developed by the authors. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses with 500 Chinese subjects yielded a 17-item scale with four factors, namely, self-connectedness, self-doubt, others-oriented, and openness to share. Concurrent validity of the scale was supported in the second phase of the study where 96 Chinese subjects participated. Results indicated that the scale is a reliable and valid outcome measure for the Satir model. The study can contribute to transforming Virginia Satir’s work into an evidence-based practice.