"Take Rest when feeling troubled and tired." July 24th is Self-care Day, designated by the World Health Organization (WHO), aiming to promote self-care and well-being among the public in their daily lives, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To further encourage individuals to care for their physical and mental health amidst the hustle and bustle of life, the Hong Kong PHAB Association organized the "Dear Myself" Self-Care Promotion Campaign exhibition at the Laguna Plaza in Lam Tin on July 6-7. Through music, art and text exhibitions, interactive booths, and more, the event explored different ways to take care of oneself and find a way out of mental distress. The exhibition attracted about 300 attendees, and many participants expressed that the messages conveyed in the exhibition resonated with them and brought positive energy to their lives.
Since May of this year, the Hong Kong PHAB Association has been implementing the "Dear Myself" Self-Care Promotion Campaign. Through a series of activities, including interviews with six individuals facing different "troubles," encouraging phrases for various situations, stress-relief coloring activities, and a 24-day self-care practice, the association promotes health messages in the community and embarks on the journey of self-care together with the public. The two-day exhibition showcased the feature stories and the encouraging phrases for various situations. It also featured a artwork composed of stress-relief coloring works created by different people. The event included interactive installations that allowed participants to "let go of worries" and encourage themselves for the future, as well as a music segment called "One Story, One Song," where participants shared their life stories and songs, encouraging others to adopt different attitudes towards life's troubles. The exhibition attracted participants of different ages and distributed nearly a thousand beautiful encouragement cards and received over a hundred letters written to their future selves.
In addition, the campaign conducted surveys from May to June, interviewing 158 people to understand the recent troubles faced by individuals of different ages in the community and their methods of relieving stress. The survey results were displayed in the exhibition, revealing that over 48.1% of respondents spend not more than one hour per week caring for themselves, while 27.3% spend less than an hour per week. The most common troubles encountered recently include "health problems and diseases," "personal financial situations," "economic burdens," "career prospects," and "self-expectations." When feeling troubled, 26.6% of respondents would confide in others, while 24.1% would try to forget their worries, and 17.7% would let time fade away their troubles. As for self-care methods, the most popular choices were "resting," "engaging in personal interests and hobbies," "eating favorite food," and "watching TV or movies."
The exhibition has successfully concluded, and special thanks were extended to Fortune Malls and Laguna Plaza for providing the venue, as well as Tomorrow Communications for the copywriting of "Troubles. Encouragement." The "Dear Myself" Self-Care Promotion Campaign will continue to encourage the public to practice one self-care activity per day and promote health messages in the community, enabling individuals to pay attention to their physical and mental health, reduce the impact of life's burdens on their well-being, and establish a harmonious and friendly community.
For more information about the "Dear Myself" Self-Care Promotion Campaign, visit: http://phab.hk/dearmyself
