Newlife - Global Networking

The Association is devoted not only on advancing the work of psychiatric rehabilitation in Hong Kong, but also building a strong global network to connect international organisations with local entities, in an effort to foster sharing of good practices and cross-cultural experiences among overseas and mainland counterparts.

Study Visits and Exchange Programmes

The Association has established close relationship with the Mainland psychiatric practitioners for more than ten years, during which study visits, academic researches and exchange programmes were frequently held. Some of the key partners include The China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) and the Federation in various Chinese provinces, the departments for prevention and treatment of mental illness as well as psychiatric hospitals under the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Chinese Government. With regard to overseas partners, we have regular exchanges with the psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation associations and governmental departments of countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Britain, America and Australia. Currently, the Association organises around 40 study visits and exchange programmes and receives 500 mainland and overseas visitors yearly. These include government officials, executives and administrators of rehabilitation agencies and hospitals, doctors, nurses, social workers and occupational therapists from rehabilitation associations. At the same time, the Association is invited to give talks and provide training courses for mainland and overseas psychiatric organisations, hospitals and universities on a frequent basis.

In 1998, the Association signed the exchange agreement with the China Disabled Persons’ Federation - a milestone and prelude to a series of exchange and collaboration work with our mainland counterparts that followed. In 2001, the Association’s Executive Committee members went with the Hong Kong government officials to Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai to study the local mental health prevention and rehabilitation work, which has shed some light on the development of Hong Kong’s psychiatric rehabilitation services. A Seminar on “Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Re-integration into the Community” co-organised in 2002 with the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, on the other hand, helped broaden communications between psychiatric rehabilitation professionals on both the Mainland and Hong Kong. In 2004, the Deputy Mayor of Wuxi led a team of government officials and executives of psychiatric rehabilitation institutions to visit the Association. In 2006, the Association signed the exchange agreement with the Shanghai Social Welfare Centre under the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Shanghai. In 2008, the Association signed with the China Disabled Persons’ Federation again for another collaboration agreement.

As for overseas collaborations, in 2008 the Association was invited by the Department of Mental Health, Thailand to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), confirming our collaboration in relation to mental health and psychiatric rehabilitation through study visits and exchange programmes covering a period of 5 years time. The signing ceremony was hosted by Director General and attended by Deputy Directors General and senior officials of the Department, signifying the value the Thai government attached to the collaboration. In fact, it was a well-earned result of years of mutual exchange with their doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers from various psychiatric hospitals in Thailand.

Years of exchange programmes organised in collaboration with mainland and overseas associations have born some very fruitful results: the “community-based” and “individualized” psychiatric rehabilitation services have earned the acclaims of Chinese counterparts; while new initiatives like New Life Farm and Day Programme Center offered them good references for their future development. Two psychiatric hospitals of Thailand also modeled their services on ours to establish their Day Programme Center and start their own convenience stores and car beauty project.

Conference Participation

The Association has participated in numerous international conferences during the past years, including the Biennial World Conference of World Federation for Mental Health on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders cum post-conference study visit, the annual National Congress on Mental Health in China, the Annual Conference on Mental Health in Thailand, and symposiums and forums in relation to mental health issues held in different countries around the globe. Our CEO and professional staff have been invited on many occasions as guest speakers to share experience with and deliver talks to professionals in the industry. The presentations covered topics such as the development and policy of Hong Kong psychiatric rehabilitation services, the job training and employment of the disabled, community and vocational rehabilitation work, development of social enterprises, and the empowerment and social participation of disabled persons.

Apart from participating in conferences, the Association also held or co-organised different regional and international congresses. That included: the first International Symposium on Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation in 1997, the 11th Rehabilitation International Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference cum Campaign ’98 for the Asian & Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons held in 1998 in Hong Kong, the Regional Seminar on “Overcoming the Challenges of Job Stress and its Impact in the Workplace” jointly organised with the International Labor Office and World Federation for Mental Health and the Seminar on “Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Re-integration into the Community” co-organised with The China Disabled Persons’ Federation in 2002, “Untapped Potential: Corporation and NGO Partnership Forum on Disability and Employment” and the 5th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health in 2006. In the Asia & Pacific Network for Work Centers of People with Disability and Trade Fair in Otsu City held in 2002 in Japan, the Association displayed the handicrafts made by our service users. It was the first time the Association showcasing the work abilities of Hong Kong people with mental illness to the participants in an international event.

2007 World Mental Health Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health

The 2007 World Mental Health Congress of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), which was held from 19-23, August, 2007 in Hong Kong, was jointly organised by WFMH, Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists and the Association. The congress provided an opportunity for service providers from all over the world to discuss current mental health issues and learn about the efforts and progress of psychiatric rehabilitation services made in Hong Kong. This congress also helped to expand our global network and further paved the way for Chinese psychiatric practitioners to connect with the world.

The congress was honored to have Mr Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of HKSAR, and Mr Deng Pu Fang, President of China Disabled Persons’ Federation, as the Patrons. “East meets West: Impact of Culture on Mental Health” was picked as the theme of the congress and further developed around the sub-themes of the relationship between environment, culture and mental health, care for mental health, treatment and promotion, and the self-help and support for consumers and family caregivers. Around 900 participants from 52 countries attended the congress in which over 240 presentations had been delivered by 82 speakers.

International Recognition and Acclaim

The Association’s community-based psychiatric rehabilitation services have always been acclaimed as one of the topnotch work from our fellow counterparts around the world. In 2002, the Association submitted a paper for the United Nations ESCAP Human Resources Development Award and was awarded honorable mention. It was then chosen to be published in the UN publication that contained a collection of the innovative approaches submitted for the Award. In 2004-05, the Association’s Report on “Work and Mental Health” Programme was selected as one of the 35 distinguished worldwide projects and published in “Mental Health Promotion – Case Studies from Countries” which is jointly-published by the World Federation for Mental Health and the World Health Organisation. During the same period, our supported employment services was also mentioned in the “Moving Forward: Toward Decent Work for People with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific Area, a collection of good practices” which was published by the International Labor Office.