The findings of a survey conducted by the Richmond Fellowship of Macau with the help of a research team from Hong Kong Shue Yan University last year, which was released on Friday, show that the self-care and social skills of many rehabilitees have been “significantly” affected by their mental illness.
A statement by the fellowship said that the survey, in which 262 quantitative questionnaires were collected from rehabilitees, who developed a disease such as schizophrenia and delusional or dissociative disorders in adolescence or adulthood, through a mixed study model, with the participation of 22 rehabilitees, their family members and the fellowship’s staff members in the focus group, aimed to understand the living habits and health status of rehabilitees aged over 40.
According to the findings, when rehabilitees reach middle age, they face not only the effects of their mental illness, but also the long-term medical burden of health problems that come with ageing.
The findings indicate that, according to the statement, the overall health status, health awareness, willingness to seek medical care, social networking, quality of sleep, physical activity, and eating habits of those who have recovered aged over 40 are “on the low side”.
According to the survey’s data analysis, age, health perception, intention to seek medical care, social networking, and quality of sleep have been “significantly correlated” with their overall health status, while their overall health status is “significantly related” to the use of medical resources.
The research team suggested that the rehabilitees’ medical support for mental health services be strengthened by providing them with health education and health monitoring, as well as encouraging them to improve their lifestyle and engage in physical exercise, so as to improve their overall health and reduce the burden of medical care on the community.
Moreover, according to the findings of the survey, family members and caregivers of the rehabilitees are also ageing and, therefore, the research team called for more support for them.
The statement quoted Choi Ka Man, the fellowship’s chairwoman, as saying in a speech during a press conference about the survey held at the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) in Zape on Friday that the survey was expected to help her organisation respond “more effectively” in order to tackle the rehabilitees’ ageing issues in the future, thereby reducing future medical costs but also enabling the ageing rehabilitees to live “a better life”. She added that her fellowship will increase its resources to continue to provide quality services for rehabilitees.
Choi also said she expected the government to provide more resources for the rehabilitation services in support of the city’s ageing rehabilitees.
Steve Fong Fu-fai, who heads the Department of Social Work of Hong Kong Shue Yan University, presents the findings of a survey conducted by his research team, during Friday’s press conference at Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) in Zape. – MPDG
