Suchergebnisse

Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed on holistic citizenship. Harnessing compassion, the arts can activate four component elements: narratives, actual stories and voices of members of a society; encounters, opportunities for dialogue among members of a society; reflection, values clarification and self-awareness and community, spaces that allow for creative engagement. This theoretical framework is demonstrated in an 18-month campaign designed to promote social inclusion by decreasing stigma and increasing public awareness of people living with mental illness in Hong Kong. The programme utilised an art exhibition created by people living with mental illness, guided relational viewing art-making workshops for the general public, and collaborative art-making opportunities. Integrating compassion and the arts into the citizenship framework provided participants with opportunities to engage with one another, clarify misconceptions and arrive at meaningful social policy programmatic initiatives.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of family-based mindfulness intervention (FBMI) to promote the stress management and early development of economically disadvantaged families. Method: Families receiving social security allowance and full textbook allowance and with children aged 5–7 were recruited. Participants were randomized to an FBMI with parallel programs for parents and children ( n = 51) and to a wait-list control condition ( n = 51). Results: Intent-to-treat analyses showed more significant improvements in child attention, self-regulation, and in parenting stress, in the intervention group than in the control group. At-risk group analyses showed that the high stress group benefited in small to moderate effect sizes in parenting stress and depression, and in moderate to large effect sizes in child behavioral problem and self-regulation. Conclusions: The results provide preliminary support that FBMI can alleviate the impact of economic disadvantage. FBMI should be applied in social work practice to support disadvantaged families.