Mr Bryan Wong, Head of Charities (Positive Ageing & Elderly Care), The Hong Kong Jockey Club (2nd from left), Professor Kelvin Wang, Principal Investigator of the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project; Assistant Dean (Professional Development in Health Sciences), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, and Professor, School of Nursing, HKU (2nd from right), together with Ms Yiu Sin Ming, a front-line social worker (1st from left) and Ms Lo, a service user (1st from right) from the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch, encouraged the public to take a step forward to improve Family Xingfu.

Initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Project aims to leverage advanced Information and Communication Technologies ("ICTs") to support more effective and innovative service delivery provided by NGO-operated Integrated Family Service Centres ("IFSCs") and Integrated Services Centres ("ISCs"). It also aims to enhance the sector's capacity to use technology and data for family service innovations that can respond to emerging service needs to promote family well-being.

Mr Bryan Wong, Head of Charities (Positive Ageing & Elderly Care) of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, said, "Families are the cornerstones of society. We hope that through the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project, the professional knowledge and strength of the welfare sector and academia can be combined to support IFSCs and ISCs in providing innovative family services with ICT to enhance family well-being. The public has increasingly relied on digital platforms for communication after the pandemic, emphasising the vital role technology plays in improving family relationships."

The findings are summarised as follows:

Nearly sixty percent of respondents rated their Family Xingfu score as high

• 58.0% of respondents reported a high Family Xingfu score (7-10).

• Females (60.4%) and older people (55 or above: 64.2%) were more likely to report a high Family Xingfu score.
• Respondents with tertiary education (63.0%), family monthly income of HK$60,000 or above (73.7%) and those owning property (63.2%) were more likely to report a high Family Xingfu score.

• Respondents who often had fun with family (79.8%), praised their family members (75.7%), or accompanied their family members (67.3%) were more likely to report a high Family Xingfu score. Furthermore, the more actions respondents engaged in with family, the more likely they were to report a high Family Xingfu score.
• Respondents with better family communication quality (86.1%), more face-to-face communication with family members (73.1%) and those who were less lonely (74.4%) were more likely to report a high Family Xingfu score.

• Compared to face-to-face family services (30.9%), respondents were more willing to participate in online activities organised by IFSCs/ISCs (40.0%) to enhance family relationships.
• The top three reasons for preferring online participation included flexible service hours (64.3%), professional assistance provided by experts (51.3%) and the services being free of charge (46.5%).

• Xingfu comes from the companionship and care of family members.
• Xingfu is a happy, harmonious and healthy family.
• Xingfu is having more communication, conversations and meals with family members.

Professor Kelvin Wang shared some suggestions to promote Family Xingfu based on the survey results:

• Increase the quality and frequency of communication with family members.
• Endeavour to have fun with, praise and accompany family members. The more such actions the better.
• Employ information technology to strengthen family ties by leveraging online family services.

Hashtag: #JockeyClub #SMARTFamiliyLink

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References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach Newswire (www.media-outreach.com)