MDWs in HK are at a particular risk for developing mental health problems. While mental health services in Hong Kong do exist, they are not enough to cater to the increasing demand amongst MDW communities. Moreover, complex access barriers to help-seeking exist amongst MDWs, including but not being limited to financial constraints, lack of knowledge of services, cultural differences (e.g., preference of religious approaches or peer support in addressing emotional distress, perceived stigma of mental issues and seeking help from professionals), language barriers, and long working hours leading to difficulties contacting formal services during regular office hours. Despite the contributions of online peer-support groups in working through these circumstances, peer-leaders who moderate those online groups are also challenged by their limited capacity, knowledge, and skills to handle high demanding mental health issues.

Informed by focus group meetings with MDW peer-leaders, developing a mobile-friendly website to integrate mental health resources and community tips in a user-friendly manner will reduce those peer leaders’ burden and improve their efficiency largely. They can archive useful information and easily refer their peers to the website when needed. In co-creating a video series with MDWs, we hope to effectively engage people who undergo similar challenges, raise their awareness of mental health issues, inspire the viewers to disclose their emotional burdens and seek help. In addition, a training programme will be offered to enhance peer-leaders’ knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to provide support to their peers, and connect those in need with appropriate online resources when those peers cannot access to offline professional services.

Through our website, video series, and training programme, we hope to enhance the awareness of and access to social service resources amongst the members of the online peer-support group, and through their networks, other MDW communities. Our video series would contribute to the destigmatization of mental health and help-seeking issues. Moreover, through our training programme we hope to nurture the peer leaders, who will not only provide mental health support but also become major contributors to the newly developed website. They will play a significant role to manage and sustain the website and further expand the project’s impacts.

- Training programme: 40 active members of online peer-support groups 

- Website and video series: primary beneficiaries: 2000 ~ 6000 Members of online peer-support groups; secondary beneficiaries: general MDW audience in Hong Kong (20,000 ~ 60,000)

- Producing video series: 12 MDW Storytellers, 12 student journalists

2022

Ethnic Minorities, Mental Health