Psychiatrist stands up for community rehab

Eva Dunn Lai-wah
Consultant (Psychiatry)
Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital

A good psychiatrist is like a detective, says Dr Eva Dunn. To help a patient with mental health needs, a psychiatrist has to dig deep into a patient’s background, explore the symptoms, and talk to them at length to understand their inner world.

Dr Dunn launched psychiatry outreach services in the late 1990s, inspired by her belief that psychiatric treatment depends not only on medicine, but also support from the community where the patient lives. She worked with community psychiatric nurses to identify hidden and potentially high-risk cases and has been instrumental in increasing support for patients in the community through cooperating with the Social Welfare Department’s Mental Health Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness. The initiatives led by Dr Dunn have seen the establishment of recovery-based schemes for in-patients to help them reintegrate into community.

Dr Dunn initially wished to pursue a career in medicine, but incidentally joined psychiatry and was attracted. Having been a psychiatrist for 35 years, she has held major positions including Chief of Service (Psychiatry) at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH), Service Director (Mental Health) of Hong Kong East Cluster and Chairperson of the HA’s Coordinating Committees (Psychiatry). She champions culture change such as optimising psychiatric service delivery, strengthening risk management, promoting medical-social collaboration, and working with community partners on the concept of recovery. She has led her team to a number of awards including PYNEH Outstanding Team in 2005, and HA’s Outstanding Staff and Teams Awards (Merit) in 2006 and 2010.

As she prepares for retirement, Dr Dunn says she has a simple wish – for Hong Kong to become a mental health-friendly society where people work together to eliminate discrimination and allow patients with mental health needs to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.