The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures and many adults working from home. This meant increased contact among household members but, at the same time, limited interaction with other family members due to social distancing measures. Unprecedented changes to daily life could bring about physical and mental pressures, as well as family problems. Thus, the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project team conducted a survey on the “Impacts of the COVID-19 Outbreak & Information and Communications Technology on Family” and released the survey results at the event.
This press conference was jointly attended by guest speakers, Professor Lam Tai-hing, BBS, JP, Principal Investigator of the Project and Sir Robert Kotewall Professor in Public Health, Chair Professor of Community Medicine of School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU, as well as Professor Ricky Kwok Yu-kwong, the Project’s Co-Investigator and Professor of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, HKU. They discussed the family communication pattern changes and the challenges in interacting with family members using information and communications technology (ICT) in times of the pandemic. Practical tips on how to stay in touch with family members and show care during such difficult times were also shared. Together with many partners, the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project has long been devoted to providing a wide variety of ICT resources, including but not limited to family-friendly mobile game applications, gamified ICT tools, and e-messages, with the aim of helping social welfare organisations and members of the public promote family harmony.The Project Team also encourages a positive attitude while tackling all the pandemic-related challenges ahead of oneself and the family – when in need, both online and offline professional advice and aid from Integrated Family Service Centres (IFSCs) and Integrated Service Centres (ISCs) can be sought to help us cope with such uncertainties.
Representatives of frontline social service workers were also invited to share how they have benefited from the Project Team’s assistance when rendering family service fused with ICT elements, which has largely uplifted the quality of family service provision. The Project and NGO Partners shall continue to work hand-in-hand together for the sake of strengthening healthy family functioning and enhancing family well-being.
