Use of Information and Communications Technology in Family Services and Its Perceived Benefits amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong-Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project.

Introduction: We examined information and communications technology (ICT) use in family services and its perceived benefits and barriers amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.

Methods: We invited all family service social workers of 12 NGOs to complete an anonymous online questionnaire in May 2020 (Part A) and a management representative from each NGO to provide written feedback on ICT use in January 2021 (Part B).

Results: In Part A, of 255 respondents (response rate: 67.

Collaborative community mental health and aged care services with peer support to prevent late-life depression: study protocol for a non-randomised controlled trial.

Background: Late-life depression is common, modifiable, yet under-treated. Service silos and human resources shortage contribute to insufficient prevention and intervention. We describe an implementation research protocol of collaborative stepped care and peer support model that integrates community mental health and aged care services to address service fragmentation, using productive ageing and recovery principles to involve older people as peer supporters to address human resource issue.