Community Education and Support Service

Service Philosophy and Goal

Community education and support service is aimed at raising the local community’s awareness of the integrated services provided by the Centre, and its understanding of the disabled persons and mentally incapitated persons.The Service also facilitates the service users to integrate into the local community through mutual understanding and mutual respect, and ultimately to attain the goal of “Building a Harmonious Community through Integration”. Meanwhile, the Service also provide support and consultation services and advices to families of the disabled person who are in need support to assist them to solve out problems or to make referral for them.

Scope of Service

• Community education and publicity: exhibitions, organising seminars for local schools, etc.
• Workshops: volunteer training, stress management, etc.
• Resources library: Lending books and magazines, audio-visual teaching materials, etc.
• Self-help groups: Support groups for carers, groups for personal growth.
• Learning courses.
• Volunteer groups: "The Evergreen  Team" and The "Buddies Club" (which are formed by service users and members of the local community)
• Large-scaled recreational activities taking in physically handicapped and able-bodied participants: Tours, Christmas parties, etc.

Format and Contents of Community Education

• Seminars: Inviting psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, healthcare professionals or social workers to conduct seminars for members of the local community and school, so as to enhance the local community’s awareness on the needs of disabled persons or mentally incapacitated persons.
• Workshops: Arranging specialists to deliver workshops on mental health, health management, drug knowledge, stress management, intervention on behavioural problems, taking care of disabled persons and so on.
• Publicity and exhibition: The Service regularly would organise outdoor publicity activities in residential estates, shopping malls and schools to distribute leaflet and publicity materials on mental health to members of the local community for the purpose of educating the public on mental health. In addition, The Service would hire different exhibition and display venues regularly so as to showcase the creative works made by the service users, with the aim of promoting awareness on mental health and community integration.

Resources Library

• Various publications: Allowing users to gain access to Newspapers, magazines, and books onmental health for free.
• The latest news: The latest news about the local community andthe Centre would be shown on the notice board in the resources library.
• Membership: Simply registered as the Centre’s community member paid for the annual subscription fee, you may borrow books and publication materials from the lending counter of the Resources Library during opening hours.

Support for Service Users and Their Families

Support groups are formed.

• Allowing the family members to get to know each other and to offer mutual support and encouragement through the support group.
• In the group process, we would try to explore problems faced by the families and would offer assistance to them as early as possible.
• Referrals to suitable services will be made, if necessary.