using information and communication technologies and ... · family cohort – methods targets •...

19 January 2016

Using Information and Communication Technologies and

Family Well-Being in Hong Kong

Press Conference

Introduction

Professor Lam Tai Hing,

Principal Investigator, FAMILY Project;

and Chair Professor of School of Public Health,

Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine,

The University of Hong Kong

2

• FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society is a citywide

project launched by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust with

$250 million funding, in collaboration with the School of Public Health, Li

Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

• The project aims to identify the sources of family problems, devise suitable

preventive measures and promote FAMILY Health, Happiness and

Harmony (3Hs) through a territory-wide household survey, intervention

projects, and public education

• FAMILY Project Cohort Study and Hong Kong Family and Health

Information Trends Survey (HK-FHInTS) were conducted to investigate

the 3Hs of Hong Kong families

Background

3

Objectives

• This survey is to investigate the health, happiness and harmony status

of Hong Kong “family units”, with each “family unit” represented as a

group with a core family and families of its first degree relatives

Survey Period

• Baseline household survey was conducted from March 2009 to April

2011

• Second household survey was conducted from August 2011 to March

2014

FAMILY Cohort – Background and Objectives

4

FAMILY Cohort – Methods

Targets

• Hong Kong residents aged 15 or above who understand Cantonese

• 20,279 families (46,001 participants) were interviewed in the baseline

household survey

• Second household survey involved re-interviewing all participating

households in the baseline household survey

Methods

• Sampling was based on a random selection of residential addresses

provided by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department

• A family was eligible when all members aged 15 years or above, who

lived at the same address and could understand Cantonese, agreed to

participate

• FAMILY Project commissioned MOV Data Collection Center Limited

(MOV) to conduct the survey

• All eligible members were interviewed by trained interviewers using

tablet PCs with E-survey platform provided by Taylor Nelson Sofres

Hong Kong Limited (TNS)

5

Background

• At the end of 2013, a population-based survey was conducted entitled

Hong Kong Family and Health Information Trends Survey (HK-FHInTS)

• This survey explored a wide variety of topics related to family

communication patterns, family relationships, health behaviours, and the

indices of FAMILY Health, Happiness and Harmony (3Hs)

Objectives

• To describe communication patterns (traditional methods, and

Information Communication and Technologies (ICT)) and family

relationships among Hong Kong families

• To analyze the relationship between family communication methods and

FAMILY Health, Happiness and Harmony (3Hs)

HK-FHInTS – Background and Objectives

6

HK-FHInTS – Methods

• FAMILY Project commissioned Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The

University of Hong Kong to conduct the survey

• The survey was conducted during 16 October to 9 December 2013

• A random telephone survey was conducted by trained interviewers

• Upon successful contact with a target household, one qualified member of the

household (whose birthday was closest to the interview day) was selected for

interview

• Respondents were Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above who speak

Cantonese

• There were 1,502 successful cases

• In order to increase the representativeness, the raw data was weighted

according to the gender-age distribution of Hong Kong population in mid-2013

from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department

7

Research Findings






8

FAMILY Cohort Baseline Findings:

“On average how much time (minutes) you spend on

each of the following activities with your family

members each day?”

Chatting

Average minutes,

(standard deviation)

% in all family

activities

Having

meals

Average minutes


% in all family

activities

Watching TV

Average minutes


% in all family

activities

Exercise

(including

walking)

Average minutes


% in all family activities

Others

(e.g. playing

video game,

mahjong or

shopping)

Average minutes


% in all family activities

Male 39.4

(47.1)

22.0%

40.2

(37.0)

22.4%

66.1

(74.1)

36.9%

5.8

(20.0)

3.2%

27.8

(56.4)

15.5%

Female 43.4

(49.8)

22.1%

42.9

(38.5)

21.9%

69.0

(75.0)

35.2%

6.1

(20.9)

3.1%

35.2

(65.2)

17.9%

9

FAMILY Cohort Baseline Findings:

Time Spent on Family Activities and

Family Harmony Score (5-25)

Those who spent more time with their families on various

activities reported better family harmony (all P<.001)

10

Daily time (in minutes) spent on various family activities

HK-FHInTS – Communication Methods

• Face-to-face

– communication without any mediating technology

• Cell phone/ phone

– includes all forms of real-time verbal communication (e.g. telephone, mobile

phone call, Skype phone call)

• Instant messaging

– real-time texted-based communication (e.g. WhatsApp, WeChat)

• Social media

– allows people to create, share, or exchange information, pictures/ videos in virtual

communities and networks (e.g. Facebook, Weibo, Twitter)

• Email

– digital message via the internet

11

Prevalence of different methods to communicate with family, n (%)

Very often Sometimes Seldom Never

Face-to-face 1199 (80.8) 209 (14.1) 64 (4.3) 13 (0.9)

Cell phone/ phone 637 (42.9) 522 (35.2) 219 (14.7) 107 (7.2)

Instant messaging

(e.g. WhatsApp, WeChat (Weixin), LINE) 458 (30.8) 338 (22.8) 183 (12.3) 505 (34.0)

Social media

(e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Weibo) 95 (6.4) 166 (11.2) 338 (22.8) 885 (59.7)

Email 53 (3.6) 145 (9.8) 348 (23.4) 938 (63.2)

HK-FHInTS – Prevalence of Communication Methods

12

HK-FHInTS – Prevalence of Communication Methods

13

94.8%

78.1%

53.6%

17.6% 13.4%

5.2%

21.9%

46.4%

82.4% 86.6%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Face-to-face Phone Instant messaging Social media Email

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Communication methods

"Face-to-face" (94.8%) was the most frequent means of family communication, followed by phone (78.1%) and

instant messaging (53.6%)

Very often/sometimes

Seldom/never


14

51.7%

59.7%

48.3%

40.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Male Female

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Sex

Females more frequently used instant messaging (P<.01)

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of instant messaging


Seldom/never


15

66.7% 68.6% 70.4%

62.6%

43.4%

14.7%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 or above

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Age group

Younger people more frequently used instant messaging (P for trend<.001)



16

17.5%

30.1%

22.7%

15.6% 13.3%

5.3%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 or above

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Age group

Younger people more frequently used social media (P for trend<.001)

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of social media

Note: Younger people also more frequently used phone (P for trend<.001). No differences for the other methods (“face-to-face” and email) by age (Ps

for trend>.05)


17

83.8%

96.6% 96.3%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Primary or below Secondary Tertiary or above

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Education

People with higher education more frequently used face-to-face and phone (Ps for trend<.05)

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of "face-to-face"

66.4% 80.6% 81.9%

0.0%

50.0%

100.0%


Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Education

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of phone


18

7.4%

11.1%

18.1%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%


Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Education

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of email

People with higher education more frequently used instant messaging and email

(Ps for trend<.05)

19.6%

55.4% 67.6%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%


Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Education


Note: No differences for social media by education (P for trend=.43)


19

23.0%

45.1%

53.4%

65.8%

74.0%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

≤HKD9,999 HKD10,000-19,999 HKD20,000-29,999 HKD30,000-39,999 ≥HKD40,000

Pe

rce

nta

ge(%

)

Monthly household income

People with higher household income more frequently used

instant messaging (P for trend<.001)



20

9.9%

14.2%

16.9%

20.4%

24.2%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%


Pe

rce

nta

ge(%

)


People with higher household income more frequently used social media (P for trend<.05)

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of social media


21

Note: No differences for the other methods (“face-to-face” and phone) by household income (Ps for trend>.05)

5.6%

10.3% 10.1% 11.2%

22.1%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%


Pe

rce

nta

ge(%

)


People with higher household income more frequently used Email (P for trend<.001)

Frequent (i.e. very often/sometimes) use of email


• Females more frequently used IM (instant messaging)

• Younger people more frequently used IM and social media

• People with higher education more frequently used different

modes of communication, except social media

• People with higher household income more frequently used IM,

social media and email

22

HK-FHInTS – Communication Methods and

Family Well-being

23

7.78

7.39 7.39

7.52

7.04

6.76

6.87 6.89

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8

Family Harmony Family Happiness Family Health Overall family well-being

Sco

re (

0-1

0)

Frequent use of "face-to-face" communication was positively associated with Family Harmony,

Family Happiness, Family Health, and Overall Family Well-being (Ps<.01)


Seldom/never

Interview questions on Family Harmony, Family Happiness, and Family Health:

Do you think your family is harmonious/happy/healthy? Please rate using a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means totally inharmonious/unhappy/unhealthy, 10

means very harmonious/happy/healthy, and 5 means half-half. How much will you rate the level of harmony/happiness/health of your family?

Note: Family well-being (score 0-10) includes all 3 dimensions of Family Harmony, Family Happiness, and Family Health.


Family Well-being

24

7.78

7.44 7.39

7.54 7.58

7.08

7.27 7.32

6.6

6.8

7

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8

Family Harmony Family Happiness Family Health Overall family well-being

Sco

re (

0-1

0)

Frequent phone use was positively associated with Family Harmony, Family Happiness,

and Overall Family Well-being (Ps<.05)


Seldom/never


Family Well-being

• Frequent use of face-to-face communication was positively

associated with perceived Family Harmony, Family Happiness, Family

Health, and overall family well-being

• Frequent use of phone communication was positively associated with

better perceived Family Harmony, Family Happiness, and overall family

well-being

• No significant associations were observed for ICT (i.e. instant

messaging, social media, and email) with FAMILY 3Hs, and family well-

being

25

HK-FHInTS – Physical Activity

26

49.50%

14.80%

35.70%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

inactive active highly active

Pe

rce

nta

ge (

%)

Nearly half (49.5%) of Hong Kong people were physically inactive

Note: Physically inactive refers to less than 150 minutes moderate-intensity activity per week or less than 75 minutes vigorous-intensity activity per

week, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous- intensity activity.

HK-FHInTS – Physical Activity and

Family Communication Time

27

137.43

113.35

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

yes no

Co

mm

un

icat

ion

tim

e (

min

/day

)

At least 10 minutes moderate physical activity

People who did at least 10 minutes moderate physical activity spent more time to communicate with family (P=.02)

HK-FHInTS – Physical Activity and

Family Communication Time

28

133.3

117.65

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

active/highly active inactive

Co

mm

un

icat

ion

tim

e (

min

/day

)

People who were physically active (by WHO definition) spent more time to communicate with family (P=.37)

Sharing by Guest Speaker

Professor K. Viswanath,

Professor of Health Communication,

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

29

• There is good news and bad news

• Observe the dimension of family communications relative to TV

• Compare TV viewing to physical activity and other activities

• TV contributes least to family harmony score

• ICTs penetration and the debate about their effect on family

communication

• Face-to-face is still the dominant mode

• It is related to family well-being (health, harmony and

happiness)

• Social media much less so

• Generational or cohort effect: An early indicator of social change

• Social class and communications: A Global Trend

• Class matters

• What are the implications for family well-being?

• Need further research and monitoring

ICTs and their Effect on

Family Communication

30

Conclusions

Dr. Wang Man Ping, Kelvin,

Assistant Professor, School of Nursing,



31

Conclusions

• Those who spent more time with their families on various

activities reported better family harmony

• Traditional methods, including face-to-face communication,

remain as the main platform for family communication and were

positively associated with better family well-being

• However, younger people more frequently used ICT (i.e. instant

messaging, and social media) to communicate with family

• A notable proportion of respondents were using ICT methods which

were not associated with perceived family well-being

• People who did at least 10 minutes moderate physical activity

spent more time to communicate with family

32

Recommendations and Take Home Messages






33

Sharing “Let’s celebrate FAMILY Day

after Mother’s Day!”

“I want to share with you a happy event that happened!”

“When I think of my family together (doing exercises), it brings a lot of joy and happiness!”

Recommendations

34

Express Gratitude

“Thanks very much!”

“Thanks very much for your hard work!”

“Thank you (for the dinner. It was very delicious)!”

Appreciation “I appreciate your

hard work!”

“I admire your strength. You have used it well!”

Quality Face-to-face Communication

Recommendations

35

Put Emoticons into Positive Words and Actions

Thank you

好嘢!

您好叻

FAMILY Day (2nd Sunday after Mother's Day):

A population-wide campaign to encourage communication within families. A

day to celebrate and spend time with family (e.g. to exercise, to eat, and to

chat):

Increase knowledge in the importance of traditional methods of communication

Promote and encourage face-to-face communication between family members

Provide opportunities for families to engage in activities together

Recommendations

36

FAMILY Day (2nd Sunday after Mother's Day)

Spend more time with family members to do

3E (Enjoyable, Easy and Effective) Zero Time Exercise, which

can be done Anytime, Anywhere, and by Anybody (3A)!

Recommendations

37

Physical Exercise with family members

Zero Time Exercise • No extra time needed

• No money needed

• No equipment needed

Benefits of Zero Time Exercise: FAMILY Holistic Health

Recommendations

38

Physical Exercise with family members

• Zero Time Exercise is a good topic among family members FAMILY Communication Topic

• Zero Time Exercise is suitable for all family members to do together FAMILY Participation

• Zero Time Exercise can burn more energy, strengthen muscles, enhance cardiopulmonary functions, raise spirit, relieve stress, and promote mental health

FAMILY Health

39

Take Home Messages

Face-to-face Communication was positively associated with FAMILY Health,

Happiness and Harmony (3Hs)

Quality Face-to-face Communication

and Activities spend more time to have quality face-to-face

communication and activities with family

Zero Time Exercise spend more time to do Zero Time Exercise

with family

Question-and-Answer Session

40

- End -

Thank You!

Website: https://www.family.org.hk

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/familyhk3h

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/familyhk3h

41

FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society

https://www.family.org.hk/

https://www.youtube.com/user/familyhk3h

https://www.facebook.com/familyhk3h

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