|
  | |  |
Field Visit B
Entry 4 of 18 | show all | print this entry |
|
Today we made our second field visit to the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong. People here have absolutely rolled out the welcome wagon everywhere we go. There was a sign in the center specifically welcoming Washington University, Peking U, and Poly U. We were divided into two groups and I was in the group that saw the halfway house and the factories that are sheltered work centers for disabled people. The half way house is for people who are severely mentally ill (about 90% have schizophrenia) and they stay there for about 2 years. After that time, there are a number of options for them, depending on what their level of functioning is. The most common option is that they are placed in public housing and we were all really impressed to hear that public housing in Hong Kong is nothing like it is in the states. It is clean, well cared for, mixed in with private and middle class homes, obtaining it is less bureaucratic, and they have the option to buy it to pass on to their children. When we had asked if they had the same problem with drugs and prostitution in public housing neighborhoods that is common in American cities, we received blank stares!
We then visited the factories where disabled clients work to obtain job skills. In this program, social workers assess their level of skill and find out what they are interested in doing. That determines what job they will do. There were people doing everything from packaging tea (made in Germany - ironic isn't it?), making pacifiers, or designing greeting cards. These cards/pictures are for sale in the gift shop. The one I bought is shown here.
Under this program clients build job skills to prepare them to go into the workforce. These sheltered workhouses were focused on people with physical and mental disabilities (i.e. autism) rather than mental illnesses. In China there is a tremendous stigma around those with mental illness, so much so that it is more acceptable to have a disability like down syndrome than a "psychotic disorder". They believed that America has absolutely no stigma around this issue and were really surprised to here that there is. It felt a bit voyeristic to walk around staring at these clients as they did there work, but they were so friendly to us. They would come up to us and use a few English phrases like "welcome" or "hello". They seemed excited to have us there.
After that we were in class. Dr. Zhao was the professor visting from Tanji University in Shanghai. He talked about the emerging field of mental health, and once in awhile he would use a couple of Chinese phrases. Fortunately, I was sitting next to one of the students from Peking and she would translate for me when she thought I might not have understood (and she was correct, of course). There is actually two streams of treatment for mental illnesses in China, at least two that are officially recognized by the government. One is so-called western medicine, which is the Psychiatry and focused on physical side of mental illness (i.e. drugs). The other is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which many people in China still prefer to use due to stigma, poverty, and attitudes towards psychologists. I won't reproduce the lecture here, but I thought it was facinating.
Then we enjoyed a bit of borrowed wealth from a Wash U alum living in Hong Kong. He had heard that we would be here and had arranged for us to go on a boat out to Lama island for dinner. Tonya Edmond (the assistant dean of Wash U's social work school and one of the professors on this trip) had helped to arrange it. We were also very impressed with the yacht that took us over there (as well as the beer and nuts they had provided for us). As we are in monsoon season right now, it had been raining extremely hard when we got on the boat, but once the rain cleared a bit the view was amazing. Actually, it seems like every time I walk outside in this city I am blown away by some spectacular view of either water, mountainside, or just massive city skylines.
Dinner was enormous. They brought out 11 dishes for us to sample, and of course we filled up really fast. It was all so good, and we spent half the time taking pictures of the food as the presentation was flawless. I wondered if the waiters were watching in amuzment at the silly Americans that were impressed by absolutely everything. They were very gracious though, and the service was phenominal.
So far I think that Melisa, Tonya's partner, has summed up my feelings about this trip most effectively. She said, "Do you ever wake up in the morning and think, 'I'm in Hong Kong!'?" Yes, constantly.
So tomorrow we have the first day of the International Counseling Conference. I need to sleep sometime...bye for now.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Hong Kong or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
