Authors (including presenting author) :
Lau KSC(1), Lam HMH(1), Yeung KY(1), Chan KS(1), Fung KH(1), Kwok KC(1), Chiu LPR(1), Chu HWM(1), Poon YCM(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Occupational Therapy Department, Kwai Chung Hospital
Introduction :
Attending in-person group therapy was the mainstream in Hong Kong psychiatric rehabilitation service before the COVID-19 pandemic. When the city-wide social distancing measures becomes an obstacle to group therapy, the application of tele-technology is therefore in a rising trend under the new normal. However, there is insufficient local evidence explaining whether such means is as effective as the traditional service delivery mode for people with mental illness.
Objectives :
This pilot study aims at investigating the effectiveness in applying tele-technology in delivering group activities to people with mental illness by peer support workers.
Methodology :
A questionnaire was designed to gauge the quality of and the extent of group activities in promoting recovery in reference to a scientific recovery model. All items were rated on an ordinal scale of 1 to 6. 79 responses with 37 respondents in the traditional face-to-face group and 42 respondents in the tele-technology(Zoom) group were collected. All groups were conducted in a HA registered self-help group, Peer Support (Job) Club, by trained peer support workers. Data was then analyzed by SPSS Statistics with Mann-Whitney U Test to compare the differences between independent groups, as well as Spearman's rho to measure the strength of correlation between the questionnaire items.
Result & Outcome :
The statistically significant differences in recovery items such as ‘Finding goals and purposeful life’ (Z=-3.56, p=0.000), ‘Having a positive connection with others’ (Z=-2.41, p=0.0160), ‘Having hope that recovery is possible’ (Z=-2.41, p=0.0160), ‘Regaining a positive sense of self and identity’ (Z=-2.20, p=0.0280) and ‘Using my personal strengths and taking personal responsibility’ (Z=-2.12, p=0.0340) suggests that the traditional face-to-face delivery mode might be comparatively more effective than the tele-technology in a group context.
When it comes to quality items, there was no significant difference in the usefulness of content (Z=-1.18, p=0.239), the congruence between the topic and the content (Z=-1.10, p=0.273), the activity logistics and flow (Z=-1.57, p=0.116). However, a statistically significant difference in the perceived presentation skill of peer support workers (Z=-2.30, p=0.0310) between groups was found. The presentation skill of face-to-face group (mean=5.30) was out-performed than that of tele-technology group (mean=4.86). Despite no difference in the perceived attitude of peer support workers between delivery modes (Z=-1.89, p=0.0590), the high positive correlation (Ys =0.810, p=0.000) between the presentation skill and the attitude might suggest attitude could be an underlying area of concern. In conclusion, the preliminary result shows that speakers have to take their presentation skill and attitude into account to achieve a similar effect as in-person group while using tele-technology.
