Dr. Anna Ng

Students in higher education are in the developmental stage of late adolescence or emerging adulthood, which is marked by an increase in prevalence in anxiety, depression, and affective disorders.  It is in this age cohort that the prevalence rate of psychiatric disorder is higher than any other age cohorts.  Students in higher education are going through a transition process from secondary to tertiary level in which more vulnerabilities are revealed. The primary objective of this project is to promote holistic health of students and to strengthen their resilience to cope with the academic stress and challenges in higher education. 

  
Holistic health refers to a harmonious equilibrium that exists in the interplay of physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being. The Body-Mind-Spirit (BMS) intervention which adopts Eastern and Western philosophy and integrates physical, psychological, and spiritual experience is one of the most prominent intervention modalities in promoting holistic health.  Its efficacy in helping individuals to overcome various clinical problems (e.g., depression, marital discord, distress resulted from severe illness) is well documented.  This research project extends the BMS model from treatment of clinical problems of patients to the promotion of holistic health of students in higher education. 

    
Other prominent intervention modalities (e.g., Mindfulness-based Dance Therapy, Experiential somatic-emotion regulation, management of lifestyles, Art therapy, intervention from the perspective of Chinese medicine, etc.) are also included in this research project for the promotion of students' holistic health.  Relative efficacy of these different intervention modalities would be empirically evaluated.  A set of standardized outcome measures would be cross-validated for the evaluation study.  Besides, an evaluation of the holistic health and its associated factors (e.g., life styles, religiosity, and spirituality) is also examined.  Based on the results obtained, suggestions for managing healthy lifestyle would be recommended.  Through promotion of physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being and fostering a healthy lifestyle, students shall strengthen their resilience in coping with the academic stress and challenges in higher education as well as in tackling various stresses in daily life.