Following the successful "Carelinks 2003", Psychological Services Group (PSG) is making another major effort to help Force members maintain a proper balance amongst work, family life and personal health.

Mr Li (left) presents letters of appreciation to Dr Ho (second left) and Dr Tsang (second right) after the seminar on positive living

The campaign features a logo to convey the slogan of "Balanced Heart, Wisdom Starts".

Senior Police Clinical Psychologist Eddie Li Kam-wah stressed that, as police work was full of demands and challenges, it was essential for officers to exercise wisdom and self-care at work and daily lives.

Achieving balances

"Achieving balances in life is a form of art, requiring constant thinking and adjustment, as well as flexibility in adjustment. It's also a form of self-regulating and a commitment to discipline and responsibilities. In other words, it requires wisdom on many different aspects.

"A police officer experiences different types of wisdom at work. Let's make good use of such wisdom to help us face the different challenges of life more effectively and systematically," Mr Li noted.

Mr Li pointed out that the present campaign is "an extension" of "Carelinks 2003", but features different emphases. While "Carelinks 2003" has promoted peer support, healthy lifestyle with family involvement and seeking help at times of difficulties, the campaign focuses on the importance for Force members to achieve a positive balance in life, and to derive insights, positive values and wisdom from different life experiences.

"The objective of the campaign includes enhancing Force members' personal growth, increasing their coping capability in face of various contingencies of life, maintaining their positive mental health, and improving their sense of well being and level of happiness," he said.

Roadshows and seminars

PSG is disseminating its key messages through roadshows for supervisory staff of different levels from Regions and PHQ Formations, as well as Balances and Wisdom Seminars for Force members. PSG staff is conducting the road shows, and has invited renowned scholars and professionals to preside over the seminars and address issues of balanced living from different perspectives.

A seminar on positive living for Force members and their families was held on September 25, with Dr Tsang Fan-kwong, Specialist in Psychiatry from Castle Peak Hospital, and Dr Sam Ho, Associate Professor of Department of Psychology from the University of Hong Kong, attending as speakers.

Two more will be held before the end of this year: one on spirituality and wisdom by Dr Joy Leo in Auditorium, New PHQ Complex, on October 16, and one on suicide prevention by HKU Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the same venue on December 11.

Three roadshows were held last month for different Regions, and more will be held this and next months.

"Carelinks Cadre"

With a view to getting key messages to as many frontline staff as possible, PSG is trying to enlist the help of volunteers within the Force by establishing a "Carelinks Cadre".

Explained Mr Li: "For a start, we're aiming at between 20 and 30 volunteers as "Carelinkers". We already have a couple of "Carelinks Cadre" core members, who will help us with our recruitment and training of volunteers.

"The core members have valuable relevant working experiences, such as those of counselling, psychology and staff relations, etc. We'll provide recruited "Carelinkers" with training so that they can get our messages and promotional activities to their colleagues, specially those working on the frontline."

Speaking of the way forward for the campaign, Mr Li said bearing in mind that the whole conception of balances and wisdom is promoting a Force culture of care and positive life values, the three-year time frame had been adopted so that activities can be more diversified, and more capable of meeting the needs of individual Force members.

Force members practising a tree-posture balancing act at a roadshow