Page 63 - HA Convention 2016 [Abstracts (Day 2)]

Service Enhancement Presentations HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2016

F5.4 Healthcare Advances, Research and Innovations 09:00 Room 421

Cultivation of Self-compassion and Mindfulness through Mobile Applications for the Promotion of Mental Well-
being: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Lui WS 1 , Mak WWS 2
1Corporate Clinical Psychology Services, Hospital Authority Head Office, 2Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is defined as an essential part of health that contributes
to individuals’ overall well-being. In 2009, a telephone survey was conducted with 2,011 Hong Kong residents. Among them,
12.5% reported major depressive episode in the past 12 months and overall distress was at moderately severe level. Given
mental health problems cause tremendous burden to individuals, families, and society, mental health promotion and mental
illness prevention should be advocated. As suggested by the NICE guidelines, psychoeducation and active monitoring are two
important elements in the first step of the stepped care model for common mental health disorders. With the smartphones’
utilisation, mobile intervention maybe a viable option to monitor mood, educate individuals about mental health, and promote
well-being. It provides an immediate, effective, low-cost, convenient, and anonymous way to promote health that can reach
population who would otherwise not seek help due to cost, inconvenience, stigma, and other help-seeking barriers.

Objectives

To investigate the efficacy of a smartphone app “Living with Heart”, which provides three locally-developed mental
health training programmes: psychoeducation, self-compassion and mindfulness in promoting well-being and reducing
psychological distress.

Methodology Wednesday, 4 May

A randomised controlled design was used and participants were assigned to one of the app’s three training programmes.
Each programme provided 10-minute audio/video resources daily, exercises, reading materials and homework assignments
for four weeks. Well-being and distress level were measured at pre- and post-intervention, and three-month follow-up was
carried out using WHO Well-being index (WHO-5), Peace of Mind Scale (PoM) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6).

Results

A total of 236 participants were recruited. 84 were assigned to the mindfulness programme (average age: 32.82; SD =
12.2), 73 to self-compassion programme (average age: 33.63; SD = 12.11), and 79 to psychoeducation programme (average
age: 31.42; SD = 11.03). All three programmes showed statistical significant improvement on well-being and reduction of
psychological distress at post-intervention and three-month follow-up, WHO-5: (F(2,446)=23.92, p<0.01), PoM: (F(2,446)=17.72,
p<0.01), and K6: (F(2,446)=12.54, p<0.01). No statistically significant differences among three conditions were found on all
three outcomes. Mobile apps-based programmes demonstrated promising results and were a cost-effective alternative to
promote mental health and well-being.

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