Abstract
Public housing, a set of mass housing programmes through which the government provides affordable housing for lower-income residents, has existed in Hong Kong for six decades. Each housing estate is a self-contained satellite town, residing over 10,000 households. With the development of the urbanization, young adults moved away from aged housing estates, whereas seniors, especially women who are mostly homemakers, stayed behind. It has been found that urban planning and population structure may affect the mental health of residents in terms of accessibility of resources, lifestyle, social support, etc. The purpose of this study was to identify the mental health profiles of women residing in an aged public estate, which was built after WWII in Hong Kong, and to examine the relationship between stress-coping strategies, health-promoting lifestyle, and mental wellbeing. A cross-sectional review was conducted among 630 female respondents. Overall distribution of moderate to extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress among the participants were 17%, 29% and 12%, respectively. Further, lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress were significantly associated with greater use of adaptive coping (e.g. exercising) and lower use of maladaptive coping (e.g. smoking and drinking). Moreover, engagement in health-promoting lifestyles (e.g. having balanced diet and adequate rest) significantly lowered participants’ depression, anxiety and stress levels. These findings shed light on factors influencing mental health and inform policy decisions concerning urban design. Healthcare professionals who work with residents in public estates are encouraged to comprehensively assess their approach in facilitating residents’ accessibility of resources supporting mental health.
Presenters
Sin Ying ChauResearch Assistant, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Celia Hoi Yan Chan
Associate Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Mental Heath, Stress-coping Strategy, Health-promoting Lifestyle, Urbanization, Hong Kong
