Counselling Service for Low-income EM in Hong Kong

The Effectiveness of Counselling on Mood Symptoms of Low-income Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong: a Wait-list Randomised Controlled Trial

This study will recruit 120 ethnic minorities in Hong Kong from the Zubin Foundation (TZF) at the Ethnic Minority Well-being Centre (EMWBC), which is a service provider of EM mental health support in Hong Kong. This service provides counselling service and referrals to HA via the Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness (ICCMW) to psychiatrists. The service covers the South Asians population of approximately eighty-four thousands people in Hong Kong. Participants will be recruited by the Zubin Foundation through outreach activities screening and counselling will be conducted in partnering schools and NGOs (e.g., Yan Oi Tong in Tuen Mun and Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education in Aberdeen).

The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of counselling service for improving mood symptoms in EM, also to assess the effectiveness of counselling service in improving psychological functioning (i.e. resilience and rumination, self-compassion, self-efficacy and life satisfaction), social functioning and quality of life and to assess whether the counselling service is cost-effective and offers good value for money.

The study is a wait-list RCT. Participants will be randomly assigned into either the intervention group (n = 60) or the wait-list control group (n = 60) in a 1:1 ratio. Each participant in the intervention group will be paired up with a participant from the control group, the number of sessions and duration of waiting period varies depending on the severity of mood symptoms. Participants with mild to moderate mood symptoms will receive a maximum of 6 counselling sessions and will be assessed at baseline (T0, W1), at post

-treatment for counselling group (T1, W8), and after 2 booster sessions. Participants in the waiting list control group will receive the same counselling service after the counselling group completed the intervention. Participants with severe mood symptoms will receive a maximum of 10 counselling sessions and will be assessed at baseline (T0, W1), at post-treatment for counselling group (T1, W12), and after 2 booster sessions. Participants in the waiting list control group will receive the same counselling service after the counselling group completed the intervention.

This evaluation study will provide data to inform the government in mental health policy review and development.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Depression, Anxiety
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Counselling

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Yi Nam Suen, PhD; Phone Number: 39179579; Email: suenyn@hku.hk

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    • Recruiting
    • University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 15 years to 64 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• South Asian ethnic minorities (except domestic helper) in Hong Kong;
• 15 - 64 years
• reach at least the mild level of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales - 21 Items in at least one of the following scores: the Depression Score (DASS-D), Anxiety Score (DASS-A) or Stress Score (DASS-S), or low Quality of Life score
• have sufficient proficiency in English, Hindi or Urdu to understand verbal instructions and give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• from high-income family (cut off ranges from HK$15K for single person family to HK$45K of 6 or more people family)
• mental conditions that require other treatment priorities (e.g., suicidal risk, substance abuse, current or past episodes of psychotic disorder, personality disorders)
• medical conditions that severely limit participation, comprehension, or adherence to treatment (e.g., epilepsy, dementia, terminal medical illness) and,
• current usage of antidepressant or mood stabilizers.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Counselling group; Counselling sessions will be conducted at the designated centers operated by the Zubin foundation. According to the level of the DASS score, 6 to 10 sessions (based on the algorithm) of counselling service will be provided to the participants by three registered counsellors. A lead counsellor will oversee all cases and services. The counselling program consists of 6-10 60-minute sessions, and the sessions can be flexibly delivered over 1 to 2 weeks, ranging from one 60-minute session biweekly or weekly.	Other: Counselling; Participants with mild to moderate mood symptoms will receive a maximum of 6 counselling sessions and will be assessed at baseline (T0, W1), at post-treatment for counselling group (T1, W8), and after 2 booster sessions. Participants in the waiting list control group will receive the same counselling service after the counselling group completed the intervention. Participants with severe mood symptoms will receive a maximum of 10 counselling sessions and will be assessed at baseline (T0, W1), at post-treatment for counselling group (T1, W12), and after 2 booster sessions. Participants in the waiting list control group will receive the same counselling service after the counselling group completed the intervention.
Other: Waiting group; For participants in the waiting list control group, they will receive monitoring service over phone calls during the 8-12 weeks wait period. Counselling service will be offered after the post-treatment assessment.	Other: Counselling; Participants with mild to moderate mood symptoms will receive a maximum of 6 counselling sessions and will be assessed at baseline (T0, W1), at post-treatment for counselling group (T1, W8), and after 2 booster sessions. Participants in the waiting list control group will receive the same counselling service after the counselling group completed the intervention. Participants with severe mood symptoms will receive a maximum of 10 counselling sessions and will be assessed at baseline (T0, W1), at post-treatment for counselling group (T1, W12), and after 2 booster sessions. Participants in the waiting list control group will receive the same counselling service after the counselling group completed the intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The change of the level of depressive symptoms	Measured by the Depression sub-scale of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21-item version. The subscale has 7 items, each rated from 0 to 3, the total score will be doubled for interpretation of its severity. The higher score indicates the more severe depressive symptoms.	From Time 0 (baseline) to Time 1 (at week 8 or 12)
The change of the level of anxiety symptoms	Measured by the Anxiety sub-scale of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21-item version. The subscale has 7 items, each rated from 0 to 3, the total score will be doubled for interpretation of its severity. The higher score indicates the more severe depressive symptoms.	From Time 0 (baseline) to Time 1 (at week 8 or 12)
The change of the level of stress symptoms	Measured by the Stress sub-scale of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21-item version. The subscale has 7 items, each rated from 0 to 3, the total score will be doubled for interpretation of its severity. The higher score indicates the more severe depressive symptoms.	From Time 0 (baseline) to Time 1 (at week 8 or 12)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The change of subjective quality of life	Measured by the Mental Component Summary (MCS) of Short Form 12 version 2. Min: 0, max:100. The higher score indicates better mental health related subjective quality of life.	From Time 0 (baseline) to Time 1 (at week 8 or 12)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
• Collaborators: The Zubin Foundation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Eric Yu Hai Chen, MD, The University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 22, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): January 31, 2023
• Study Completion (Anticipated): July 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 6, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): March 23, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 26, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 22, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Depression
• Other Study ID Numbers: EM RCT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No