At present, it is estimated that there are over 6000 Deaf/Hard of Hearing people who use sign language in their daily communications in Hong Kong. As researches shows that deaf people are more likely to have mental health issues than hearing people, there is an imminent need in Hong Kong to promote sign language and deaf awareness among mental health service providers in order to make their service more accessible to the Deaf community.
However, most mental health professionals are unlikely to be equipped with those signing skills and Deaf awareness knowledge. Due to a lack of understanding and training, it is common for hearing mental health professionals to be anxious when meeting Deaf clients as they are unsure if they can communicate with them and handle their case properly.
In addition, Deaf signers have little access to mental health related information due to their limited Chinese literacy skills.

To address these needs, in the second phase of this project, we will:

Expanding the website of basic mental health related concepts.

Twenty new mental health constructs will be added to our website established in phase 1 of the project.




Constructing a Hong Kong Sign Language and Deaf Awareness online course

A 100-hour online course (including 40 hours of learning activities and quizzes, and 60 hours of self-study with materials provided) will be set up. The contents will be specifically designed for mental health professionals.




Lectures and learning materials based on recent literatures will be provided to enrich participants’ learning experience.


Through this online course, mental health professionals can acquire basic HKSL and communication methods with D/HH people, and develop a better understanding of the diverse needs of D/HH people in Hong Kong.

We believe that our proposed activities would create intended positive changes:
The expansion of our sign-bilingual website will offer accessible information to Deaf people on concepts related to mental wellbeing and psychotherapy.
The proposed online course will educate the mental health professionals on basic Hong Kong Sign Language, the unique needs of Deaf people in general, elements of Deaf culture, and techniques essential for working effectively with sign language interpreters.

• 500 deaf signers


• 500 family members of deaf signers


• 60 serving sign language interpreters


• 100 Mental Health Professionals (including psychologists, counsellors, social workers, etc.)


• A minimum of 1,000 general public individuals

2023

Mental Health, Sign Language, Social Impact