Jockey Club Early Psychosis Project fills service gap while enhancing public awareness

31 August 2009

According to the World Health Organisation, psychotic disorders - which include delusions, paranoia, speech and thought disorders - rank third globally amongst the leading causes of years lived with disability.  Substantial long-term burdens can be incurred by the patients, their families and society. Despite common misconceptions, psychosis is a treatable mental illness and recovery is possible with timely and effective intervention, thus greater public awareness of the illness is vital. In Hong Kong, young psychotic patients aged 15-25 are now offered dedicated support. However, there is keen demand among patients aged over 25 for more specialised services. To fill this service gap, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has donated around HK$69 million to The University of Hong Kong (HKU) to launch a five-year "Jockey Club Early Psychosis Project" (JCEP).

Today (31 August), Club Steward Dr Donald K T Li joined Secretary for Food and Health Dr York Chow and Vice-Chancellor and President of HKU Prof Lap-chee Tsui as officiating guests at the launch ceremony of JCEP.  Dr Li noted that although many people might have heard of the term "early psychosis", they generally lacked sufficient knowledge of the condition.  For example, they might not be aware that through early identification and proper treatment, full recovery could be achieved, which also helped minimise the chance of developing more serious mental illness.

"According to the World Health Organisation, patients who suffer from early psychosis can be a heavy burden to the family, exceeded only by quadriplegia and dementia," Dr Li said.  "We hope this project can help enhance public awareness and professional knowledge of early psychosis, thus helping patients to have the problem detected earlier and receive more timely and proper treatment."

Led by the Psychiatry Department of HKU, JCEP is a five-year project in collaboration with Hospital Authority, Caritas-Hong Kong and the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong.  A multi-disciplinary team, comprising social workers, nurses, occupational therapists and researchers, has been set up to serve early psychosis patients aged over 25.  It is expected that about 1,000 patients will receive individualised, phase-specific intervention services in the first two to four years after their first episode of psychosis.  The team will provide specialised case management and psycho-social interventions by engaging the patients through home visits, phone contact, web-based communication and tracking system.  Support for affected families will also be offered to help patients attain a full functional recovery.

Public education is one of the key components of JCEP.  A series of open seminars, public talks and exhibitions will be held, with the aim of increasing social acceptance of psychotic patients and helping them reintegrate into the community.  Some 13,000 front-line professionals including social workers, counsellors, psychologists and police, teachers will also be trained as part of the project, equipping them with sufficient knowledge to identify and refer cases for treatment at an early stage.

To assess the project's efficacy and effectiveness, evidence-based research will be carried out on 450 patients over a period of four years.  The results will form part of a major longitudinal study in Asia, and serve as reference to the Hospital Authority in its future service planning.

For more information about the JCEP Project and psychosis, please visit the website: www.jcep.hk.