According to Hong Kong's 2020 Poverty Situation Report, 274,900 children under 18 live in poverty. Confined living spaces, long parental working hours, and unaffordable extra-curricular activities leave these children homebound, making chronic stress a common issue for both parents and children.

 

In partnership with the social enterprise Nature Bathing, we launched a community health program using guided nature play and ecological healing practices as preventive mental health support to foster resilience, connection, and well-being. This randomized controlled trial measures how nature-based activities affect parent-child relationships and children's emotion regulation. The study involves 120 low-income families randomized into three groups: an intervention group; an active control group engaged in art-based creative workshops; and a passive control group continuing usual routines. Before and after the intervention, all parents complete a questionnaire with four validated scales (NCI, SWEMWBS, CPRS, CEMS).

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We aim to harness nature's healing power as a form of preventive mental health support while promoting the effective use of urban natural resources.