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District Highlights 2020-21

Promotion of Positive Thinking, Early Identification and Networking of Hidden and Needy Individuals and Families as Well as Support to Frontline Staff

  • The Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung District Social Welfare Office (“District Social Welfare Office”) mobilised local stakeholders to plan, produce and promote the message of “Great Life”. With funding support from Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung District Council to the community education/publicity project of “Happy Living in the Community”, the District Social Welfare Office promoted positive thinking and life values in the community through production and distribution of 5 000 “GREAT Life” pocket books, hosting of 5 training workshops for 188 trainers as well as 6 public talks for 550 participants, and production of 7 educational videos and 5 promotion films for the public. Besides, the District Social Welfare Office continued to strengthen collaboration among local stakeholders including social service units, local organisations, business organisations, education and medical sectors, etc. to implement district collaborative projects for early identification and networking of hidden and needy individuals and families, so as to encourage them to seek assistance and strengthen their support network.
  • The District Social Welfare Office has been actively echoing the “Dementia Friendly Community Campaign” (the Campaign) and the “Support for Carers” Project through lining up 3 DECCs and the Housing Department to deliver a talk cum “Dementia Friends” Information Session for staff of the Housing Department in November 2020. 34 out of the 79 attendees registered as “Dementia Friends”. As at March 2021, 61 “Dementia Friends” Information Sessions were organised in Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung whereby 1 477 local stakeholders registered as “Dementia Friends”. Under the “Support for Carers” Project, as at March 2021, 1 702 frontline staff of property management companies in the districts received training to identify needy elders and their carers. The District Social Welfare Office also provided funding to 7 elderly centres in the Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung districts to render support to demented elders and caregivers with reference to the profile and characteristics of elderly population and their service needs in respective service areas. Among 3 000 beneficiaries, 101 were assessed to have service needs and appropriate services were arranged for.
  • The District Social Welfare Office continued to convey the message of child protection and family harmony. Over 250 groups and public education programmes with over 4 600 participants were organised in 2020-21. To enhance frontline workers’ understanding on youth internet culture, to address safety concerns of children and youth in using internet and to increase the awareness on online sexual exploitation, the District Social Welfare Office organised “Net Surfing with Fun Together” online seminar for 93 district stakeholders in February 2021. To show care and support for residents living in rural areas, Sai Kung Integrated Family Service Centre established volunteer teams to render visits to hidden elders and families in rural areas through liaison and networking with village leaders. Since November 2020, the Chinese Medicine Mobile Clinic run by a NGO has been mobilised to serve the needy in Sai Kung rural areas.
  • With the participation of 13 secondary school social work services units and youth service units, the Protocol for Student Emotion Management Programme was implemented to provide a safety space for over 2 000 youths to share their views and express their pressure or emotions arising from the epidemic. The District Social Welfare Office also set up a platform for the frontline staff of various youth services in the districts to exchange views on youth issues and share community resources, so as to facilitate service exchange and enhance support for frontline youth workers on coping with drastically-changing youth problems and their emotional needs. The first platform meeting was held in February 2021 with attendance of over 25 frontline staff..
  • The District Social Welfare Office funded the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council - Wong Tai Sin Wellness Support Centre and Haven of Hope Christian Service - Tseung Kwan O and Sai Kung District Support Centre to implement district-based multi-disciplinary integration projects in Wong Tai Sin District and Sai Kung District between August 2020 and March 2021. The message of social inclusion was disseminated by training volunteers, conducting home visits, talks on positive thinking, and hosting competitions on comics drawing and photography etc. A total of 2 662 PWDs, parents/caregivers and community members benefitted. Under the auspices of District Social Welfare Office, Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung District Co-ordinating Committee on Rehabilitation Services published the first and second issues of Rehabilitation Service Newsletters (“The Newsletters”) in November 2020 and March 2021, which were uploaded onto the Department’s webpage. The Newsletters not only provided the latest information on various rehabilitation services, but also established a platform for service users and caregivers to share their experiences and feelings in face of challenges. The themes of the 2 Newsletters were “Support for People with Disabilities and Carers during the Epidemic” and “Vocational Rehabilitation Services”.

Setting Up Different Collaborative Platforms to Strengthen Inter-disciplinary and Cross-sector Communication and Co-operation

  • Since October 2018, the District Social Welfare Office collaborated with Sik Sik Yuen and Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital (OLMH) to organise a three-year district project. A total of 12 elderly centres in the districts participated in the project. With health management as an intervention strategy, 91 young elders were trained to serve as “Health Ambassadors” by acquiring knowledge and skills on health management. The “Health Ambassadors” were arranged to conduct concern visits to households of frail and low-motivated elders in the districts, with an aim to provide regular health surveillance and disseminate health information. During the epidemic, the “Health Ambassadors” reached out to 71 needy elders regularly and provided them with the latest anti-epidemic information via phone contact. In order to enhance the knowledge and understanding on common geriatric diseases, health and emotional management among frontline social workers and care workers of elderly service units, health professionals from OLMH and other medical services agencies were engaged to provide 6 online training sessions, attracting 240 attendees.
  • The Youth Service Collaborative Platform set up in Sai Kung by the District Social Welfare Office with participation of 14 youth service units acquired funding from the District Council to implement a youth collaborative project namely “Youth Maker 2.0”. By providing training on multi-media, Youtuber mentorship scheme, etc., the participating youths were encouraged to produce videos and upload them onto a designated YouTube channel, so that they could express their views and showcase their creativity while responding to community needs. A total of 14 teams comprising of more than 80 youths produced over 40 films with over 12 000 click rates in the year.

Promotion of District Collaboration and Volunteer Service to Establish a Harmonious and Inclusive Community

  • In August 2020, the District Social Welfare Office collected information on the needs of different service units during the epidemic and their implementation of volunteer services via a questionnaire survey. In November 2020, the District Social Welfare Office matched some service units in the Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung districts to implement 4 inter-generational volunteer projects to support the elderly, families and children in need. A total of 164 volunteers participated in the 4 projects with 565 beneficiaries. To enhance volunteers’ emotion management and team development capacities as well as their sense of belonging, the District Social Welfare Office conducted 2 “Volunteer Leadership Training Workshops” in the Wong Tai Sin and Sai Kung districts respectively in November 2020. A total of 70 participants, mainly from social service units, local organisations and schools of the 2 districts joined the workshops
  • The District Social Welfare Office and Tseung Kwan O (South) Community Collaboration Network produced a set of greeting cards in 2020-21 for members’ distribution in order to disseminate the Network’s service information and positive messages. The District Social Welfare Office and the Network also launched the “Recognition Scheme of Good Persons & Good Deeds” to commend good deeds. A total of 14 nominees were awarded. As the Scheme entered its tenth anniversary, the Network continued to promote the message of “Good Persons & Good Deeds” through “taking one step more” through the publication of a sharing booklet..

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