(Policy Address 2024) Hong Kong to step up mental health support measures

John Lee stated on Wednesday that they will take various measures to promote mental health, such as improving the care model and raising awareness, among others.

He said the government will extend integrated services based on a medical-educational-social collaboration model to promote mental health.

They will formulate a stepped up care model for mental health by developing a multi-disciplinary framework with tiers, from dealing with general emotional problems on the frontline to handling cases requiring follow-up and more serious mental illness cases.

The framework will also set out the roles of different professionals, such as teaching staff, social workers and healthcare workers and their division of work in the provision of mental health services for cases in each tier, enabling them to work together and perform their respective roles smoothly.

They will also raise community awareness of mental health, and an annual promotional theme will be set for the Mental Health Workplace Charter, and recognition will be given to participating organizations for achieving targets.  The 4Rs Mental Health Charter will also be promoted in schools to support the mental health of students, teaching staff and parents in a more holistic manner.

Support for children and adolescents will be enhanced, extending and enhancing the Three-Tier School-based Emergency Mechanism, and launch the "Mental Health Literacy" resource packages for senior secondary and lower primary levels. A real-time, online youth-emotional-support platform will be set up in the second quarter of next year.

Lee stated that they will facilitate the integration of persons in mental recovery into the community and will set up Transitional Support Service Teams for Persons in Mental Recovery, offering support to discharged patients wait-listed for halfway house service. The Social Welfare Department (SWD) will also set up an additional Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness.

Teacher training and parent education will also be strengthened, as well as strengthen teachers' capacity in the early identification of and support for students with mental health needs and assist parents in acquiring the knowledge and skills in addressing children's mental health.