Information and Communications Technology in Family Services

Overview

In the past few decades, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have rapidly developed as effective, and probably the most cost-effective, tools to connect most, if not all, aspects of family lives. To promote family harmony, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has initiated the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project in collaboration with The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and NGOs. This project, making effective use of information and communications technology (ICT) and data analytics, is aimed at helping 26 NGO-operated Integrated Family Service Centres and Integrated Service Centres (Centres) enhance the quality and efficiency of their family service. The project is also aimed at building the capabilities of front-line workers so as to achieve the goal of enhancing family well-being. This study aim to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the current level of ICT use by the providers of family services in Hong Kong, and their anticipated future direction regarding ICT use. In-depth and focus group interviews are conducted for the stakeholders (such as heads of service, programme directors, counsellors and service users) from the non-government organisations (NGOs) and the Social Welfare Department. The interviews help identify the concerns of social service and related workers and the needs of the participating NGOs in the development of the ICT system and the application in their services. The needs and concerns of the stakeholders in using ICTs in family services will be identified. It can facilitate the planning and designing of the system, the community programmes, and the training and sharing platform. The system will better fit the needs of the social service sector. In addition, the impact of JC SMART Family-Link Project on the stakeholder in family services will be evaluated through questionnaire survey and focus group interviews.

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) as a global trend refers to a cluster of technologies that are used to share, distribute, gather, and communicate information. ICTs encompass hardware that is often Internet capable such as computers, smart phones, and tablets, as well as the software and applications, such as email, social media sites, and video conferencing that are used on these devices. In Hong Kong, as of March 2016, the number of mobile service subscribers was 16.72 million, representing one of highest penetration rates in the world at about 228.3 per cent; amongst these subscribers, 14.69 million were 3G/ 4G service customers. As of March 2016, a surge to 20,557 Terabytes (or an average of 1,358 Megabytes per 2.5G/3G/4G mobile user) was recorded for local mobile data usage, representing a growth of 1.18 times and 1.58 times over the same period in 2015 and 2014 respectively. In light of the review on family services in Hong Kong in 2000, pilot projects on the Integrated Family Service Centre (IFSC) service mode, were conducted in 2002. The Review report "Building Effective Family Services: Review on the Implementation of the IFSC Service Mode" stated that the IFSC service mode is an appropriate service mode for public-funded family services in Hong Kong. However, the Review also identified factors hindering the delivery of IFSC services. These hindering factors are the namely poor accessibility of some IFSCs, heavy workload, and stigmatisation. With the use of ICT, these hindering factors can be overcome, thus improving the IFSC service mode. The Review also recommended that "IFSCs should explore service enhancement through appropriate use and sharing of information technology." To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the current level of ICT use by providers of family services in Hong Kong, and their anticipated future direction regarding ICT use, focus group interviews are conducted with various stakeholders, including heads of service and programme directors at Hong Kong NGOs running IFSCs, and social service workers and service users of various IFSCs. Focus group interviews and survey questionnaires for service providers and service users are used to collect the information on the view and use of ICT in their daily practice. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has initiated the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project in collaboration with The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and NGOs to promote the effective use of information and communications technology (ICT) and data analytics in family services. This project is aimed at helping 26 NGO-operated Integrated Family Service Centres and Integrated Service Centres (Centres) devise an innovative and evidence-based family service delivery model that leverages the effective use of ICT and data analytics and enhance the quality and efficiency of their family service. This study aims to (i) understand the current practice of ICT use in family services and identify the needs and concerns of the stakeholders (heads of service, programme directors, counsellors, social service and related workers, and service users) on using ICTs in family services; and (ii) assess the impact of the Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project.