"Your Joyful Record" videos recognised for sending out positive energy (with photos)
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As one of the key initiatives of the Joyful@HK and Joyful@School Campaigns, the "Your Joyful Record" Video Competition aims to increase public engagement in promoting mental wellbeing and knowledge about mental health. The Competition opened for submissions in January this year and nearly 100 entries were received in the three categories, namely Junior Secondary Category, Senior Secondary Category and Open Category.
The Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan; the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection of the DH, Dr Wong Ka-hing; and the Principal Assistant Secretary for Education (Kindergarten Education), Mr Woo Chun-sing, officiated at the ceremony. More than 20 prizes were presented to the Champion, first runner-up, second runner-up, Outstanding Performance Award and Most Liked Award in each category. Two Most Active Participating School Awards were also presented in the Junior Secondary Category and Senior Secondary Category.
According to the World Health Organization, mental health is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. According to the Mental Health and Well-being Survey of the Joyful@HK Campaign conducted by the DH in 2015, about 40 per cent (40.8 per cent) of the respondents rated their mental health status as fair or worse in the past six months, while almost 6 per cent (5.5 per cent) of respondents had experienced severe psychological distress in the previous month. However, over 15 per cent of respondents did not conduct any activities that can enhance mental wellbeing, such as engaging in aerobic physical activity, sharing feelings or participating in group activities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Chan said that mental health problems can happen in all age groups. A local study found that one out of six adolescents (16.4 per cent) had mental health problems. According to figures from the Student Health Service of the DH, over 5 000 primary and secondary school students required further assessment for psychosocial problems in the school year 2015/16. About one out of seven adults (13.3 per cent) in Hong Kong suffered from common mental health problems, including mixed anxiety and depressive disorder and depression. Among elderly people, another research study found that one out of 10 elderly persons had depressive symptoms and around 100 000 elderly people suffered from dementia.
Dr Chan added, "By organising the 'Your Joyful Record' Video Competition, we hope that the three key elements advocated by the Joyful@HK Campaign – 'Sharing', 'Mind' and 'Enjoyment' can be interpreted by the participants coming from different age groups and backgrounds. Members of the public can feel the positive energy spread by the videos and learn to practise the key elements in their daily lives, so as to promote a help-seeking culture and supportive environment in schools, the workplace and the community, contributing to the destigmatisation of common mental health problems."
Also speaking at today's ceremony, Mr Woo said that the Education Bureau has all along been implementing various mental health programmes and encouraging schools to cultivate a caring and harmonious school culture. Schools have participated in the Joyful@School Campaign actively since its launch in the 2016/17 school year. In the "Your Joyful Record" Video Competition, nearly 70 videos were from schools.
For more information on the Joyful@HK Campaign, the public may visit the thematic website (www.joyfulathk.hk) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/joyfulathk).
Ends/Friday, July 14, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:40
Issued at HKT 17:40
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