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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (180)
Purpose: To evaluate the factor structure and psychometric properties of the 10-item Family Communication Scale (FCS) in the Chinese population.
Methods: Study 1 was a population-based survey [N = 687, 61.1% female; mean age (SD) 56.6 (19.1)]. Study 2 was a community-based intervention (N = 1983, 76.7% female; 57.8% aged 20–59 years). We conducted...
Aim
To understand the risk perceptions, behaviour, attitudes and experiences related to smoking among hospitalized Chinese smokers.
Background
Understanding hospitalized smokers’ perceptions of risks associated with smoking, along with their behaviour, attitudes and smoking‐related experiences are essential prerequisites to design effective interv...
Background
Females are less willing than males to seek help from smoking cessation services; the present study examined how the use of these services by females could be enhanced by training young female ambassadors to deliver a brief intervention.
Methods
We collaborated with the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association. Fifty of the association’s Girl...
This qualitative study describes participants' experiences with a community-based family intervention. Guided by a positive psychology framework, the brief intervention was designed to enhance positive communication among family members using cooking and dining as a platform. Our interest was in understanding perceptions of benefits and barriers, w...
Health information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly used but little is known about routine exposure to health information from ICTs and its associations with health behaviors. A territory-wide population-based dual landline and mobile telephone survey was conducted in 2016 in Hong Kong, where smartphone ownership and Internet...
Background and challenges to implementation
Studies found that actively referring smokers to smoking cessation (SC) services increased quitting. We compared 2 different intensities of SC active referral for community smokers in Hong Kong.
Intervention or response
A single-blinded, parallel three-armed cluster randomized controlled trial was conduc...
This randomized controlled trial aimed to examine the effectiveness of a smoking cessation intervention using a risk communication approach. A total of 528 smoking cancer patients were randomly allocated either into an intervention group (n = 268) to receive brief advice based on risk communication by a nurse counselor or a control group (n = 260)...
Background
Recruitment is central to any research project, and recruitment itself should be well documented and researched. We describe our recruitment efforts for a community-based research project—entitled the Learning Families Project—conducted in Hong Kong.
Methods
In collaboration with community stakeholders, residents from a public housing e...
Objectives:
To compare the effectiveness of quitting immediately and cutting down to quit in promoting smoking abstinence among smokers in an outpatient clinic.
Methods:
A total of 100 subjects were randomized into two groups, 50 in the quit immediately group, who received an intervention on abruptly quitting, and 50 in the cut down to quit grou...
Background:
The Internet has become an established source for health information. The number of individuals using the Internet to search for health information, ranging from healthy lifestyle advice to treatment and diseases, continues to grow. Scholars have emphasized the need to give greater voice and influence to health consumers. Hong Kong, be...
Background
Workplace smoking cessation (SC) intervention is effective in increasing quit rate but little was known about the factors associated with voluntary SC promotion. Comprehensive smoke-free legislation, including banning smoking in all indoor area of workplaces, has been enforced in Hong Kong. This survey investigated the prevalence of comp...
Background:
The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for information sharing among family members is increasing dramatically. However, little is known about the associated factors and the influence on family well-being.
Objective:
The authors investigated the pattern and social determinants of family life information sharing...
Importance
Most smoking cessation (SC) clinics are costly, passive, and underused.
Objective
To compare the SC effect of a combined intervention involving brief, model-guided SC advice plus active referral to SC services (active referral group) with those of brief, model-guided SC advice only (brief advice group) and general SC advice only (contro...
Positive psychology interventions commonly involve behavioral exercises to improve psychosocial well-being. Intervention effect on behavior is unclear. The Happy Family Kitchen project, one of the community-based brief intervention projects under The FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society, was conducted in Hong Kong to develop an...
Background
Family communication is important to maintain family relationships and family well-being. To enhance family communication and family well-being, a community-based “Learning Families Project,” based on the social ecological model was developed in Kwun Tong in Hong Kong, a district with high prevalence of family problems.Methods
This quasi...
Introduction:
The Chinese government's implementation of the MPOWER policies and compliance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requirements has been slow. We used the 'foot-in-the-door' approach to promote tobacco control advocacy through capacity building of healthcare leaders, and establishment of smoking cessation clinics in G...
Questionnaire for the training workshop of Learning Families Project.
(DOC)
Trainees’ perceived knowledge, self-efficacy, attitude and practice on each component of Learning Families Project: Per-protocol analysis.
(DOC)
Demographic characteristic of the trainees completed the one-year assessment and those who did not; and trainees participated in the focus group interviews and those who did not.
(DOC)
Background
Neighborhood cohesion, which refers to the extent of the connectedness and solidarity among residents in a community or neighborhood, is an important determinant of human health. To enhance neighborhood cohesion, the “Learning Families Project” was developed with a series of intervention programs in Kwun Tong in Hong Kong, a district wit...
The coefficients at individual, family and block levels and the fraction of total variance due to the variation at the family and block levels.
(DOCX)
Smoking cessation counseling by healthcare professionals is effective, but very few healthcare professionals can deliver these interventions in the busy clinical settings. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief smoking cessation advice delivered by briefly-trained youth counselors at the enrolment of an incentive-based smoking ce...
Introduction:
To motivate smokers to quit, there is a need for enhanced smoking cessation (SC) recruitment and for innovative and proactive approaches to SC. This study evaluated the feasibility, efficacy and cost of promoting SC in public outdoor areas where smokers gather to smoke (smoking hotspots).
Methods:
We selected 14 smoking hotspots in...
Background
Health apps are increasingly used with important implications for health. Hong Kong is one of the most technologically advanced and connected cities—smartphone ownership and Internet access rates are among the highest in the world.
Objective
We investigated the prevalence of health app possession and related sociodemographic factors and...
Introduction
Evaluation studies on train-the-trainer workshops (TTTs) to develop family well-being interventions are limited in the literature. The Logic Model offers a framework to place some important concepts and tools of intervention science in the hands of frontline service providers. This paper reports on the evaluation of a TTT for a large c...
Background
Community engagement is a powerful tool in bringing about positive social and community change. Community stakeholders possess critical experience and knowledge that are needed to inform the development of community-based projects. However, limited literature is available on the practical experience involved with planning and implementin...
Background
There is a need for population-based smoking cessation interventions targeting female smokers in Hong Kong. This study describes the development of a community-based network to promote smoking cessation among female smokers in Hong Kong.
Methods
Local women’s organizations collaborated to launch a project to provide gender-specific smok...
The aim of the study was to examine the effects of a brief stage-matched smoking cessation intervention group compared with a control group (with usual care) in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who smoked by randomized controlled trial. There were 557 patients, randomized either into the intervention group (n = 283) who received brief (20- minute)...
Background:
To investigate the association between electronic cigarette (e-cig) use and smoking cessation among smokers who called the Youth Quitline in Hong Kong.
Methods:
This longitudinal study collected data on youth smokers' (N=189) use and perception of e-cigs, conventional cigarette smoking behavior and socio-demographic characteristics a...
We evaluated the first workplace intervention to help smokers quit in Hong Kong. Smoking employees (N = 642) received a 26-page self-help booklet and 15 fix SMS within 3 months and chose to receive cognitive behavioral workshop (N = 76), or face-to-face counseling (N = 11), or group health talk (N = 516), or telephone counseling (N = 39). Twenty pa...
SIGNIFICANCE: We investigated active referral of smokers to smoking cessation (SC) services, predictors of successful SC service use and the effects on quitting in participants of 2015 COSH “Quit to Win” Contest in Hong Kong. METHODS: In a cluster randomised controlled trial on brief advice and active referral on quitting (N=1226), 402 smokers (78....
SIGNIFICANCE: We investigated the pattern and factors associated with 3-year changes in home SHS exposure among mothers and young children in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in China but with one of the lowest smoking prevalence in the world. METHODS: 771 non-smoking mothers and their children aged ≤18 months were recruited in 4 of the 3...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although most smokers are aware of smoking cessation (SC) services, many have never used SC services. We aimed to develop simple, practical and substainable interventions to increase SC service use in the 2015 COSH “Quit to Win” Contest. METHODS: A single-blinded, parallel three-armed cluster randomized controlled trial r...
Aims:
To compare the efficacy of brief advice about cut-down-to-quit (CDTQ) with that of brief advice about quit immediately (QI), as delivered by trained volunteers, without the use of pharmacological therapy, to outreach-recruited Chinese smokers in Hong Kong who intend to quit smoking.
Methods:
Smokers (N = 1077) who enrolled in the Quit and...
Purpose:
The psychological and social factors associated with smoking initiation and continuation are different for young and adult smokers. Before 2005, there were no population-based smoking cessation interventions targeting young smokers in Hong Kong, China. This study describes the processes and outcomes of an individualized "Youth Quitline" s...
Objective:
To examine whether a family-based intervention targeting both smoking fathers and nonsmoking mothers in well-child health clinics is effective in increasing fathers' abstinence from cigarette smoking.
Study design:
This parallel 2-arm randomized controlled trial recruited a total of 1158 families with a daily-smoking father, a nonsmok...
Background:
Large amount of financial incentive was effective to increase tobacco abstinence, but the effect of small amount is unknown.
Purpose:
We evaluated if a small amount of cash incentive (HK$500/US$64) increased abstinence, quit attempt, and use of cessation aids.
Methods:
A three-armed, block randomized controlled trial recruited 1143...
Background
Despite compelling evidence demonstrating the negative impact of poverty and income disparity on children’s psychological well-being, there has been a lack of qualitative information which addresses its contributing factors. This study aimed to shed light on this area by comparing the experiences toward daily life between children living...
Introduction
To investigate the associations of cigarette smoking and secondhand (SHS) exposure at home with family well-being among Chinese adults in Hong Kong.
Methods
Telephone surveys were conducted among 3043 randomly selected adults (response rate 70%) in 2010 and 2012 to monitor family health information and tobacco use in Hong Kong. Family...
Urban families worldwide are often characterized by busy working lives which leave little time for family gatherings and communication. The Happy Family Kitchen project, which emphasized cooking and dining with family members, was conducted in a deprived district in Hong Kong. We hypothesized that the community-based family intervention, derived fr...
Increased outdoor smoking is a common phenomenon after indoor smoking bans were in place. A series of observational studies were conducted to evaluate a novel, proactive, and brief smoking cessation intervention at outdoor smoking “hotspots,” i.e., outdoor public areas where ashtrays were available and smokers clustered to smoke. The number of smok...
Long working hours and stressful urban lifestyles pose major challenges to family communication and well-being in Hong Kong. A community-based family intervention derived from a positive psychology framework, by using cooking and dining as a platform, was developed for improving family communication and well-being. Social workers and teachers from...
Background Different smoking cessation programs have been developed in the last decade but utilization by the elderly is low. We evaluated a pilot mobile smoking cessation service for the Chinese elderly in Hong Kong and identified predictors of quitting. Methods The Mobile Smoking Cessation Programme (MSCP) targeted elderly smokers (aged 60 or abo...
Evidence-based practice and capacity-building approaches are essential for large-scale health promotion interventions. However, there are few models in the literature to guide and evaluate training of social service workers in community settings. This paper presents the development and evaluation of the "train-the-trainer" workshop (TTT) for the fi...
Questionnaire for the train-the-trainer workshop.
(DOCX)
Background:
No previous studies have investigated whether additional telephone follow-up counseling sessions after face-to-face counseling can increase quitting in China, and whether this strategy is feasible and effective for promoting smoking cessation is still unclear.
Methods:
A non-randomized controlled study was conducted in Beijing. We co...
Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of varenicline for smoking cessation in Chinese smokers in a real world cessation clinic practice.
Design A prospective observational study.
Setting Beijing, China.
Participants A total of 924 smokers (883 men and 41 women) who attended a smoking cessation clinic of a large general hospital were assessed wit...
Objective:
We examined how quantity and trajectory of smoking reduction influence later abstinence in smokers without intention to quit and being prescribed free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
Method:
We conducted an a posteriori analysis from a data archive of adult smokers in a randomized controlled trial of smoking reduction using counse...
The numbers of women smoking have risen 72.5% since 1990 with the increasing population - from 56,100 to 96,800 in 2012, reflecting an alarming situation in Hong Kong. The study aimed to describe the smoking behaviour, attitudes and associated factors among women in Hong Kong.
A qualitative cross-sectional study involving semi-structured interview...
Objective:
To examine if there were changes in the proportion of hardcore smokers and factors associated with hardcore smoking before and after implementation of smoke-free legislation, and warning labels on cigarette packets in Hong Kong in January 2007.
Study design:
Repeated cross-sectional surveys of the general population in Hong Kong.
Met...
BackgroundA principal factor in maintaining positive family functioning and well-being, family communication time is decreasing in modern societies such as Hong Kong, where long working hours and indulgent use of information technology are typical.
Objective
The objective of this paper is to describe an innovative study protocol, “Happy Family Kitc...
Background:
Quit attempters often have episodes of smoking relapse before they eventually quit. Interactive text messaging through mobile phones has been shown to increase abstinence. This service can be potentially applied on the platform of a social networking service to help quitters maintain abstinence.
Objective:
Our aim was to determine if...
Background
There is a lack of population-based smoking cessation interventions targeting woman smokers in Hong Kong, and in Asia generally. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a gender-specific smoking cessation program for female smokers in Hong Kong.
Methods
To evaluate the effectiveness of the service, a total of 457 eligible smok...
The evidence on the effect of secondhand smoke (SHS) on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is limited. We examined the relation between SHS and HRQoL among Chinese in Hong Kong.
Adult never smokers from a probability sample of three cross-sectional waves (2010, 2012, 2013) of The Hong Kong Family and Health Information Trends Survey who complet...
Family communication is central to the family and its functioning. It is a mutual process in which family members create, share, and regulate meaning. Advancement and proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) continues to change methods of family communication. However, little is known about the use of different methods for...
Culture plays a role in mental health, partly by defining the characteristics that are indicative of positive adjustment. In Chinese cultures, positive family relationships are considered central to well-being. The culturally emphasized characteristic of family harmony may be an important factor associated with psychopathology. This article present...
Despite smoking cessation can largely improve cancer prognosis and quality of life, many patients continued smoking after the diagnosis of cancer. This study aims to test the effectiveness of a smoking cessation intervention using risk communication approach to help cancer patients quit smoking, and to improve their health related quality of life....
To investigate the smoking behaviours, perceptions about quitting smoking and factors associated with intention to quit in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Smoking causes type 2 diabetes mellitus. There has been limited research on the needs and concerns of smokers with type 2 diabetes mellitus about quitting smoking.
The study used a qualit...
The prevalence and correlates of hardcore smokers, who have high daily cigarette consumption, no quitting history and no intention to quit, have been studied in several western developed countries, but no previous trials of smoking cessation have tested intervention effectiveness for these smokers. The current study examined if hardcore smokers can...
Young smokers often report depressive symptoms while receiving smoking cessation counselling. This study examines time patterns in the quitting process among young smokers with or without notable depressive symptoms.
The quitting trajectories of young smokers aged 12 to 25 (n = 578) who called the Youth Quitline in Hong Kong between March 2006 and...
Manual for behavioral counseling of the intervention group A1 (smoking reduction + adherence counseling).