Strengthening family relationship to increase family health, happiness and harmony: Findings from a Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) project under FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society Project in Hong Kong

Abstract

Sham Shui Po (SSP) district is one of the districts with high population density and lowest median household income. A CBPR project “Enhancing Family Well-being Project” was conducted by SSP District Social Welfare Office and School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong from February 2012 to May 2013. (1) To promote family health, happiness and harmony (3Hs) by building capacity for families to enhance family relationship; (2) To investigate the effectiveness of CBPR programmes in improving family relationship and 3Hs. After training, based on positive psychology, social service workers in 30 participating organizations designed and organized their own programmes (one 2-hour session; one 1-hour booster) on one self-selected theme (“Gratitude”, “Hope/Resilience” and “Open-mindedness”) for people aged 6+ recruited by the organization. Participants were assessed four times (T1, pre-intervention; T2, immediately post-intervention; T3, 6 weeks and T4, 3 months after T2) primarily on family relationship and family 3Hs using Family Relationship Scale and family 3H indicators respectively. 1586 individuals aged 12+ from 1031 families participated in 29 programmes. Most (89.5%) were aged 18+, 69.0% were female, 65.9% had secondary or above education level and 69.5% were married. The mean score of overall family relationship increased from 75.6 (T1) to 76.0 (T4) (effect size, ES=0.06, p=0.03). The mean scores of family expressiveness increased (ES=0.10, p<0.001) and family conflict decreased from T1 to T4 (ES=-0.05, p=0.04). Family health, happiness and harmony scores all significantly increased from T1 to T4: ES = 0.14 (p<0.001), 0.10 (p<0.001) and 0.10 (p<0.001) respectively. All changes above indicated improvements after the programmes. This CBPR brief intervention was effective in enhancing family relationship and 3Hs. The effects were small but sustained up to 3 months. The main limitation was the lack of a control group, which was not feasible in a large CBPR project.