Joyful Parenting Pilot Project RCT Study

Aims: To enhance mental well-being of adolescents, adults and their families by creating a positive, happy and joyful environment in the community.

Targets: Parents aged 12-59 and their family members in Hong Kong.

Methods: Joyful Parenting Pilot Project will adopt the public health and family-focused approach, under the brand name of "Joyful@HK Campaign". Evidence-based and Evidence Generating approach with vigorous study design, both qualitative (e.g. focus groups) and quantitative (e.g. randomised controlled trial), will be used to evaluate the overall programme effectiveness including follow-up of at least one month ("best science"). To ensure the practicability and sustainability of the CBEP, we will engage community partners with strong track records of "best practice" to design, plan, and implement the intervention. This project will use innovative and integrated positive psychology and public health theories and methods to plan brief, simple, and cost-effective intervention.

Significance: By using "best science" in the design and evaluation of intervention programme, and the "best practice" of the partners' skills, experience and strong connection with service targets in the community, the intervention, if proven to be effective, for promoting sharing, mind and enjoyment and enhancing mental wellbeing can be further developed and widely disseminated to and adopted by the practitioners in the health and social service sectors for replication and improvement to benefit the whole population.

Joyful Parenting Pilot Project is part of the Community-based Mental Wellness Project for Adolescents and Adults, which aims at enhancing mental well-being of adolescents, adults and their families by creating a positive, happy and joyful environment in the community. The Project is funded by Health Care and Promotion Fund of Food and Health Bureau.

Joyful Parenting Pilot Project is organized by the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society and led by the School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). The project will organize two-session interactive talks for parents to promote praise and appreciation, positive thinking, enjoyable parenting and knowledge of adult mental health problem (in particular the mixed anxiety and depressive disorder) and mental well-being; and one family gathering activity to promote and practice quality family communication. One wisdom sharing session will be organized for social workers and service practitioners to promote best practice of community mental wellness project.

The major subjects of the Joyful Parenting Pilot Project RCT Study are 120 parents and at least 240 family members. 4 family service units of Hong Kong Family Welfare Society will either be assigned into intervention groups or wait-list control groups. Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention programme.

In the study, parents and their family members will be invited to complete questionnaires to measure the behavioral indicators of sharing, mind and enjoyment, and mental well-being and/or invited to attend the focus group to understand the participants' experience during the programme while community partners will be invited to individual in-depth interviews. HKU team will conduct evaluation during the programme implementation stage. The effectiveness of the intervention, as well as the level of participation and ratings for the intervention will also be evaluated.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Parents (major subjects):

   * Parents aged 18-59 (including single parents)
   * Chinese speaking
   * Able to complete questionnaires/ focus groups
2. Their family members:

   * Family members of those parents who have already participated in the Joyful Parenting Pilot Project (Their family members could be children/ adolescents)
   * Chinese speaking
   * Able to complete questionnaires/ focus groups
3. Community partners

   * Staff of Integrated Family Service Units, under Hong Kong Family Welfare Society in partnership with HKU research team, who organize, plan or implement the project
   * Adults aged 18 or above
   * Chinese speaking
   * Able to complete questionnaires/ individual in-depth interviews

Exclusion Criteria:

* Those who cannot read Chinese
* Those who suffered from severe mental illness