Importance of emotional competence in designing an antidrug education curriculum for junior secondary school students in Hong Kong

Adolescent substance abuse is a serious problem in Hong Kong. Antidrug education campaigns should aim at enhancing students' understanding of the effects of illegal drugs to themselves. Moreover, life skill training is important in helping adolescents face life's challenges without attempting to do drugs. A major component of life skill training is the promotion of emotional competence. The present study outlines the importance of emotional competence and adolescent development. For an antidrug education campaign to be effective, adolescents should be able to identify their emotions and understand their own emotion regulation mechanism. Likewise, they should be made aware of the consequences of their emotions and emotion-driven behaviors. Finally, the use of an inspirational story with a strong message against substance abuse to trigger emotions is recommended for designing an antidrug education curriculum. All these components are integrated in the newly developed curriculum of the P.A.T.H.S. Project in Hong Kong. © 2011 Ben M. F. Law and Tak Yan Lee.published_or_final_versio

An evaluation of the carcass quality of male Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus), a non-conventional source of meat protein in mauritius

The tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus; Order : Insectivora; Class : Tenrecinae) is consumed by a small section of the population, and constitutes a non-conventional  source of animal protein. Male tenrecs were hunted in early October and in late November, and a comparison in carcass composition was made between the two periods. The carcasses of males hunted early in the hunting season showed a higher fat content (P<0.05), compared to males hunted in late November. Adipose fat was dissected in similar depots (subcutaneous, suprarenal and mesenteric fat) at both periods, but the total weight of adipose fat was significantly higher in males hunted in early October, compared to late November (36.16g vs 7.89g; P<0.01). There were no fat depots around the heart at both periods. The total weight of edible meat yield was significantly greater in male tenrecs hunted in early October (P<0.05).Keywords : Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus), male, carcass quality, non-conventional meat protein

Secondary 1 training program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong: an evaluation based on program participants

A total of 1744 participants comprising 44 groups participated in a 3-day Secondary 1 Training Program of Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong. At the end of the training program, the participants were invited to respond to a subjective outcome evaluation. Results showed that the assessment tools are internally consistent. Descriptive statistics revealed that evaluations of the respondents are positive in terms of the training program content, interaction, trainers' performance, self-performance, administrative arrangement, and overall satisfaction. Overall satisfaction was predicted by training content, trainers' performance, self-performance, and interaction. Training content and trainers' performance explain half of the total variance. The present findings reiterate other studies regarding the effectiveness of the training program of Project P.A.T.H.S. in promoting the participants' knowledge, attitude, and skills in delivering the program.published_or_final_versio

Using positive youth development constructs to design a money management curriculum for junior secondary school students in Hong Kong

This paper aims to discuss the relationships between the selected positive youth development constructs and the enhancement of Hong Kong junior secondary school students' money management skills, values, and attitudes. Various issues of money management of adolescents are reviewed. These issues include the need for money management programs for adolescents, the content and coverage of an appropriate money management program, and its relationships with the selected positive youth development constructs. The curriculum units for secondary 3 students are taken as examples to illustrate the design of the program. It is believed that promoting cognitive competence, self-efficacy, and spirituality could be an effective way to enhance students' money management skills, values, and attitudes, thus preparing them better for facing the finance-related issues in life. © 2011 Patrick S. Y. Lau et al.published_or_final_versio

Non-operative Treatment of Advanced Limb Ischaemia: the Decision for Palliative Care

AbstractObjectives: to identify and describe patients with advanced limb ischaemia who were selected for palliative care, rather than surgical intervention. Design: case-note review of patients identified from a prospective register. Materials and methods: thirty patients (22 female; median age 87 years) were identified during 1993–1998, for whom a clearly documented decision was made for palliative care, rather than major amputation or possible revascularisation.Results: two-thirds of the patients had limiting cardiac problems, two-thirds were immobile, and 47% had suffered a stroke. Half had three or more important co-morbidities. Twelve (40%) had unsalvageable acute ischaemia. There were clear records of the decision about non-intervention being made by a consultant in 87%; being discussed with the patient in 43%; and with known relatives in 90%. Survival after this decision ranged from <24 hours to 42 days (median 3.5 days). Conclusion: there is a small subgroup of patients with advanced ischaemia who are best treated palliatively, and who have not been well described before. Recognising these patients, recording discussions about their management, and a high standard of terminal care are all important

Validation of the cultural influence on helping scale among Chinese adolescents

2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Validation of the beliefs against volunteering scale among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Psychosocial factors influencing individual well-being in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

Conference Theme: The Future of Quality of LifeConsistent with some previous literature, adolescents' life satisfaction exhibits a decreasing trend[8-10], while their hopelessness level is increasing. Adolescents’ decreased life satisfaction and increased hopelessness could be explained by the confusions and developmental challenges they face during transitional process, notably the increase of studying pressure/future career decisions and problems engendered by peers or dating. This study has developed an integrated perspective for measuring different levels of factors that associated with adolescent life satisfaction and hopelessnesspostprin