The investigators had designed weekly mindfulness sessions (details see intervention below), which is free-of-charge and will be made available to general public who feel distressed during the outbreak of COVID-19. Face-to-face delivery of mindfulness interventions was not possible due to mandatory quarantine. The investigators hypothesize that this intervention is feasible and acceptable by the participants. As secondary outcomes, the investigators also hypothesize that the intervention can reduce stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms and enhance participants' sense of coherence This will be a quasi-experimental study. Participants will be invited to fill in an online informed consent and questionnaire around 2 days before each mindfulness online session and another set of questionnaire immediately after each session (see outcome measures). Participants will be identified by their e-mail and therefore serial data could be obtained.
Behavioral: online mindfulness group
Each weekly mindfulness session will last 45 to 60 minutes and will be held on an online platform (e.g. Zoom) via a livestream video. It will consist of short mindfulness exercise(s) of 10-30 minutes, including mindful tasting, mindful stretching, mindful walking, and body scan followed by group discussion to share, explore and make sense of the meditative experience. The intervention will be held in Cantonese.
Inclusion Criteria:
- at least 18 years of old,
- able to speak and communicate in Cantonese
- can read Chinese or English (because they will be asked to fill in an online
questionnaire).
Exclusion Criteria:
- actively suicidal,
- currently abusing restricted psychoactive substances
- diagnosed to have an active psychotic disorder and self-reported active psychotic
symptoms (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and dementia).
School of public health and primary care
Hong Kong, Hong Kong