{"id":1812,"date":"2021-01-16T19:00:21","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alumni.hku.hk\/hkuaaont\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2021-02-15T22:26:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T03:26:49","slug":"january-16-2021-summary-of-hkuaao-mental-health-and-the-pandemic-webinar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alumni.hku.hk\/hkuaaont\/january-16-2021-summary-of-hkuaao-mental-health-and-the-pandemic-webinar\/","title":{"rendered":"January 16, 2021 HKUAAO Mental Health and the Pandemic Webinar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\nwebinar event on \u201cMental Health and the Pandemic\u201d presented by our alumni\nmembers Dr. Peter Chang and Dr. Ted Lo, well known psychiatrists to Asian\nCanadians in Ontario, and moderated by Dr. King Fun Siu, another alumnus\npracticing family medicine in Ontario, took place on January 16, 2021, 7 \u2013 8 30\np.m.  using the ZOOM platform.   The agenda included the three areas: impact of COVID: bio psychosocial aspects of the pandemic; Coping\nwith the Pandemic and getting ready for the new-normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nwas a well-attended event, with 95 registered and 87 attending, with\nparticipants from HKUAAO members, families and their friends as well as members\nfrom the HK Joint Universities Alumni members, in Ontario as well as other\nparts of Canada such as B.C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nevent began with a welcome to all and introduction of the presenters by the\nHKUAAO President, Lilian Ma.   Moderator Dr.\nKF Siu then took over the proceedings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npresentation was in three parts: the impact, the coping and preparing for the\nfuture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.\nPeter Chang started with the \u201cbiology\u201d part of the subject, citing that the\nCOVID virus can affect the body in many ways \u2013 including the mind \u2013 by\naffecting our nervous system.    Body and\nmind are interrelated and work as one. \nThere is a lot of psychological impact due to the pandemic, some due to\nprolonged stress, which can also lead to other physical symptoms such as\nincreased hypertension.   At times these\nmay be reversible but there is no cut and dry answer to each case.    Negative stress has been shown to shorten\ntelomeres in our DNA which regulate how long a cell can keep dividing \u2013 thus\nits life longevity.  Epigenetics also\ncome into effect in deciding on the expression of genes. In other words,\nenvironment is an important factor in affecting our overall health.   Doctors are expecting a pandemic on mental\nhealth issues following the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ted\nLo followed up on giving examples that he encountered during the pandemic.  He talked about how we can deal with the\nproblems.   The participants also shared\ntheir experiences during the pandemic, such as some reporting having a lot of\ndreams and disturbed\/interrupted sleep. \nOne should not hesitate to seek mental help support  if one feels onset of anxiety, depression and\na sense of hopelessness. These can be triggered and compounded by economic\nhardship, necessity to learn new ways of doing things, and lack of social\ninteraction\/support felt by many during the lock downs. One can call\norganizations such as Hong Fook which specializes in helping Chinese Canadians\nin their mental health issues in the language of their choice.   One important factor is to keep a schedule\nof activities every day \u2013 particularly important if we are doing working from\nhome.  With a schedule we can keep\nourselves busy. Also we must include exercise in our schedule \u2013 exercise is\ncrucial to keep ourselves not just physically fit but also mentally fit.    A daily walk, with a family pet if any, will\ndo anyone good \u2013 the fresh air and sight of nature can be most beneficial. Dr.\nLo also shared his tool kits with the audience. \nDr. Lo also explored the future as a result of the pandemic.  While this topic was not fully elaborated due\nto time, he suggested that there\nwill be a new normal, which we have to adapt to with the learnings we derive\nfrom the pandemic. We need to prepare by looking for changes that would help\nour communities as well as our personal lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout,\nthe presenters were happy to answer questions. The webinar and discussion\nlasted 1 \u00bd hours.  The HKUAAO would like\nto thank the presenters for donating their time and expertise to us all so we\nare better informed to take care of ourselves and our families during these\ndifficult times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reported by Lilian Ma<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

——————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenters<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

DR. PETER PAI-TAK CHANG
Dr. Peter Chang graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of HKU (1968), trained in Castle Peak Hospital and in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He obtained his specialist qualifications in Toronto, Canada and in London, U.K. In 1992, he graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and started a law practice here in 1994.
Around forty years ago, Dr. Chang joined Dr. Lo and others in starting Hong Fook Mental Health Association because they discovered in their own psychiatric practices that there was a general lack of awareness of mental health needs within the Chinese and Southeast Asian communities, and that there were serious barriers to getting mental health services in these populations.
Dr. Chang changed jobs several times in his career, worked in about three provincial psychiatric hospitals and several general hospitals since he moved to Ontario from Hong Kong. In his administrative roles, he was drawn into the legal issues pertaining to mental health reform and the patients\u2019 rights movement in the 1980\u2019s, which might have induced him to join the legal profession about 26 years ago. <\/p>


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

DR. TED HUNG-TAT LO
Dr. Ted Lo graduated from the uFaculty of Medicine of HKU (1971), trained in Castle Peak Hospital and in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He obtained his specialist qualifications in London, U.K., and in Toronto, Canada.
Along with Dr. Peter Chang, Raymond Chung (both HKU alumni) and others, they founded the Hong Fook Mental Health Association (hereinafter referred to as \u201cHong Fook\u201d) between the late 1970\u2019s and early 1980\u2019s for the purposes of promoting mental health among the Chinese and Southeast Asian communities in the Greater Toronto Area, and improving access to mental health services in general. Both of them have continued to work within Hong Fook in various capacities as called upon. Recently Dr. Lo organized a series of webinars on mental health in the pandemic called \u201cTogether We Thrive\u201d for the Asian communities.
Dr. Lo has also joined the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto to design training in cultural competence for the psychiatric residents, and to further develop the field of cultural psychiatry in Canada.
<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

——————-<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The webinar event on \u201cMental Health and the Pandemic\u201d presented by our alumni members Dr. Peter Chang and Dr. Ted Lo, well known psychiatrists to Asian Canadians in Ontario, and moderated by Dr. King Fun Siu, another alumnus practicing family medicine in Ontario, took place on January 16, 2021, 7 \u2013 8 30 p.m.  using … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastevents2021"],"yoast_head":"\nJanuary 16, 2021 HKUAAO Mental Health and the Pandemic Webinar - \u9999\u6e2f\u5927\u5b78\u5b89\u7701\u6821\u53cb\u6703<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alumni.hku.hk\/hkuaaont\/january-16-2021-summary-of-hkuaao-mental-health-and-the-pandemic-webinar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"January 16, 2021 HKUAAO Mental Health and the Pandemic Webinar - 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