Social workers' adaptation in times of pandemic crisis: A Hong Kong case.

Through the lens of the theory of planned behavior, this article explores how social workers adapt to a new situation due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three focus group sessions were conducted with 23 social workers from child and youth, family, and elderly services in Hong Kong. Three major themes were generated: (1) repositioning the social work profession, (2) renegotiating contracts with funders, and (3) exploring novel intervention methods. Implications of the findings are discussed. To ensure social workers can respond effectively in crises, an evolving nature of the profession is advocated to enshrine its spirit to serve.

Issues behind the Utilization of Community Mental Health Services by Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong.

This study collected data on the utilization rates of community mental health services among ethnic minorities and explained the results from the frontline social workers' perspective. Information about users' ethnicity was collected from 11 community mental health service providers from 2015 to 2018. This was followed by two sessions of focus groups conducted with 10 frontline social workers from six community mental health centers in Hong Kong. A hybrid analysis model was employed to analyze the qualitative data. The average utilization rates of community mental health services by ethnic minorities were 0.49%, 0.58%, and 0.68% in the years 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18, respectively, showing that ethnic minorities who comprised 8% of the population were significantly underrepresented. It is worth noting that supply-side and demand-side factors are interrelated, suggesting the low utilization rate may be overcome by implementing a proactive social work service strategy.

Safeguarding health equality for the disadvantaged during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned for the social work profession.

An evaluation of the role played by the social work profession during the outbreak of COVID-19 is necessary. Although social workers have made efforts to address people's needs during the pandemic, it is worth examining the role they have played in safeguarding health equality. Focusing on the case of Hong Kong, we found that the profession was generally ill-prepared for the outbreak, and in particular, for confronting the attendant social inequalities. We identified three possible reasons for these findings: 1) non-governmental organizations were caught off-guard by the outbreak, 2) there was no clearly articulated intervention agenda to inform practitioners of the roles they should play in such a large-scale crisis, and 3) having become more formalized and standardized, social work services may have become less flexible in responding to emerging community needs. We conclude this article by suggesting three directions that could allow the profession to better pursue its mission during large-scale crises.

Helping People with Disabilities in the Workplace: Mezzo-Level Interventions Targeting Corporate Culture.

This article explores the relevance of mezzo-level interventions to help people with disabilities improve their employability. It begins with an overview of the micro-mezzo-macro spectrum in the context of vocational rehabilitation services and shows that corporate culture plays a critical role in determining the employment outcomes of people with disabilities. This case study, a collaborative project of two business enterprises in Hong Kong, illustrates the benefits brought by a mezzo-level intervention for people with disabilities. Feedback collected from eight participating staff members from the two companies revealed that such collaboration can facilitate disability-friendly work environments. By promoting workplace inclusion through three main factors-attitudes, skills, and knowledge-social workers helped support the participating staff members who worked with people with disabilities. The staff participants gained a more accurate understanding of the characteristics of people with disabilities, and better workplace accommodations were provided for employees with special needs. The experiences reported by the participants in this project suggest that social workers' scope of practice should be expanded to mezzo-level interventions to target corporate culture.

A Qualitative Inquiry into the Human Library Approach: Facilitating Social Inclusion and Promoting Recovery.

The key to the successful social inclusion of people recovering from mental illness is mutual understanding with other community members. To promote such social inclusion, the human library approach has been adopted by a group of practitioners based in Hong Kong. Through a review of this community mental health initiative, this study explores the relevance and usefulness of this approach in a mental health setting. A collaborative inquiry-based research method was adopted to explore the human library approach in practice. A practitioner inquiry group was conducted with four social workers and three peer support workers to examine their experience of running the human library. Thematic analysis and member checks were used to identify important themes. The practitioners' reports of their experiences showed that the human library is well suited to facilitating social inclusion and promoting mental health recovery. Community members and people in recovery can benefit from participating in a human library, and the two sides can become connected through mutual understanding. However, possible risks for people in recovery were also identified. This study argues that the human library deserves consideration as an approach to facilitating social inclusion and promoting recovery. Its effectiveness and benefits are evident, especially compared with large-scale one-way intervention approaches. A clinical practice manual should be developed to inform future practitioners of the value of the human library approach in mental health settings.

Enhancing the stability of oil-in-water emulsion using pectin-lactoferrin complexes.

The present study investigated on the emulsifying properties of natural low-methoxyl pectin (LMP) extracted from Green Jelly Leaf (GJLP) in stabilising lactoferrin stabilised oil-in-water emulsions. The emulsion stability of GJLP was compared to commercial pectins with different degree of esterification (DE) i.e. high-methoxyl pectin (HMP) and LMP. The influence of pH, pectin types and concentration on the stability and physical properties of emulsions were evaluated by determining zeta potential value, particle size, microstructure, rheological properties and creaming stability. Different types of pectin exhibited different mechanisms in providing the emulsion stability and the pectin effective charge was strongly dependent on its DE and pH of the continuous phase. The mechanism of actions of pectin and lactoferrin in the system were pH dependent for low molecular weight pectin, however not for high molecular pectin such as GJLP. The results showed that the complexes formed by pectin and lactoferrin at the interface were not sufficient to maintain the emulsion stability. This study also showed the important of unabsorbed pectin molecules in continuous phase in providing the physical stability of emulsion. These molecules formed a thick multilayers surround oil droplets. In addition, the incorporation of 0.2% w/w of GJLP could produce a stable emulsion, suggesting the potential use of GJLP to improve the stability of lactoferrin stabilised oil-in-water emulsions.