Original Study
The Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong: Development, Training, Implementation, and Evaluation

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Abstract

We review, a multi-year positive youth development program entitled “P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme” (Project P.A.T.H.S.), which was initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust with the involvement of 5 universities in Hong Kong, is described. The Research Team developed curricula-based positive youth development programs for junior secondary school students (20 hours per grade) and designed training programs for the potential program implementers (20 hours per grade). Roughly half of the secondary schools and more than 200,000 students in Hong Kong joined the program. Multiple evaluation strategies including objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation, secondary data analyses, process evaluation, interim evaluation, qualitative evaluation based on focus groups, student weekly diaries, case studies, and repertory grid method were employed. Existing evaluation findings revealed that different stakeholders had positive perceptions of the program, workers, and benefits of the program. Results also showed that the program was effective in promoting holistic positive youth development and reducing risk behavior in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.

Introduction

Research studies showed that adolescent developmental problems such as substance abuse, bullying, early sexual behavior, materialistic mentalities, and moral confusion are intensifying in Hong Kong.1 For example, ketamine abuse in Hong Kong was pervasive in the past few years and it was most prevalent in the global context. Because of the sharp rise in adolescent substance abuse in Hong Kong, a voluntary drug testing scheme was introduced to tackle adolescent substance abuse problem.2 Shek and Cheung further reported that there were many developmental issues in university students in Hong Kong, including mental health, addiction, and sleeping problems.3

There are 2 possible responses to such adolescent developmental problems. First, prevention programs can be used to reduce adolescent risk behavior. In fact, there is an impressive array of Western literature on adolescent risk prevention in the Western contexts.4 Second, with reference to the criticism that adolescent prevention programs may be too piecemeal and pathologically oriented, positive youth development researchers argue that it may be a better approach to promote the psychosocial competencies of adolescents so that adolescent risk problems can be reduced. Damon5 asserted that the field of positive youth development (PYD) focuses on the child’s talents, strengths, interests, and future potential, which is in contrast to approaches that focus on child and adolescent developmental problems such as learning disabilities and substance abuse. In different models on positive youth development, several attributes of PYD are commonly proposed. These include self-understanding, cultivation of discipline, skills in working with others, such as communication, cooperation, negotiation, and building relationships, coping and adaptation skills, sense of responsibility, making good judgments, making decisions, and problem solving. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL: http://www.casel.org), “social and emotional learning” covers emotional recognition and management skills, cultivation of care and concern for others, responsible decision-making, positive relationship building, and effective handling of situations. Catalano et al6 stated that there is a close convergence of the prevention approach and positive youth development approach.

Unfortunately, a review of the literature shows that there are very few systematic, multi-year, and evidence-based positive youth development programs in Hong Kong.7 Against this background, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust approved HK$400 million to launch a project entitled “P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme” in 2004. The name “P.A.T.H.S.” denotes Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes. The Trust invited academics of 5 universities in Hong Kong to form a Research Team with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University as the lead institution to develop a multi-year universal positive youth development program to promote holistic adolescent development in Hong Kong, with the first author as the principal investigator. Besides developing the program, the Research Team also organized training programs for the potential program implementers and carried out longitudinal evaluation of the project. Different stakeholders including the Social Welfare Department and Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating school social work services were also involved in the project. In this review paper, the conceptual framework, curriculum design, training, implementation, evaluation, and limitations of the project are outlined.

To meet the needs of different students, 2 tiers of programs (Tier 1 and Tier 2 Programs) were included in this project. The Tier 1 Program is a positive youth development program in which Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 (ie, Grade 7 to Grade 9) students participated in 10 to 20 hours of training in the school year at each grade (ie, universal program). Because research findings suggest that roughly one-fifth of adolescents would need help of a deeper nature, the Tier 2 Program is provided for at least one-fifth of the students who have greater psychosocial needs at each grade (ie, selective program). Students with greater psychosocial needs were selected through systematic observation and/or validated assessment tools by the teachers and social workers. The Tier 1 and Tier 2 Programs were conducted simultaneously or consecutively depending on the needs of the students and administrative arrangements of the schools.

The Tier 1 Program has several characteristics. First, students are expected to participate in a 10-hour program (core program) or a 20-hour program (full program) per grade in the junior secondary school years. The choice of participating in a 10-hour or 20-hour program was determined by the school authority after taking into account the need of the students and unique characteristics of the school. For students participating in the full program in 3 grades, they will receive 60 hours of training in their junior secondary school years. It is noteworthy that this is the only program that has such a high “dosage” level in Hong Kong.8

Second, as there are 40 units per grade (each lasting for 30 minutes), there are 120 units for the whole Tier 1 Program. These units are important because “validated” positive youth development programs are almost non-existent in Hong Kong. Third, an evidence-based approach was adopted to develop the program. Besides the best available evidence, successful programs, local adolescent needs, and cultural characteristics were taken into account when the program was developed. Fourth, the program was developed with reference to adolescent developmental issues (such as drug issues, sexuality, financial management, sense of responsibility, and life meaning) and adolescent developmental strengths (such as high proficiency in information technology). Fifth, experts in different areas, including developmental psychology, clinical psychology, educational psychology, education, social work, counselling, and occupational therapy were involved.

Section snippets

Curriculum Design of the Tier 1 Program

The overall objective of the Tier 1 Program is to promote positive development among junior secondary school students in Hong Kong. In their review of 77 positive youth development programs, Catalano et al8 found that 25 programs were successful and 15 positive youth development constructs were identified in those successful programs. In the Project P.A.T.H.S., these 15 positive youth development constructs are covered in both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 Programs. These include bonding, resilience,

Training of Program Implementers

Systematic training programs were designed to enable the potential program implementers to implement the program effectively. In each grade of the junior secondary years (ie, Grade 7 to Grade 9), potential program implementers (eg, teachers and social workers) involved in the project were invited to participate in a 3-day training workshop, with 20 hours in total. The training programs were designed to enable the program participants to: (a) understand the nature of adolescent development and

Implementation of the Program

There are 2 implementation phases in this project—Experimental Implementation Phase and Full Implementation Phase. For the Experimental Implementation Phase (2005/06 to 2007/08 academic year), 52 secondary schools joined the project to familiarize the frontline workers with the program design, philosophy, and teaching strategies. In the 2006/07 school year, the programs were implemented on a full scale at Secondary 1 level. In the 2007/08 school year, the programs were implemented at Secondary

Evaluation of the Project

Utilizing the principle of triangulation, various evaluation strategies have been used to evaluate the Tier 1 Program.13 A summary of the major evaluation findings of the Project P.A.T.H.S. can be seen in Table 4. A brief overview of the different evaluation strategies and the related findings are outlined in the following paragraphs. For all evaluation studies, school, parental, and student consent was obtained. The instruments used were validated and the basic demographic characteristics of

Impact of the Project

There are several important impacts of the project. As far as implications on schools are concerned, the project has impact on life skills education and related professionals in the school context. First, the project illuminates the design of curriculum for holistic youth development. It has raised the awareness of teachers and social workers about the importance of life skills development for young people in Hong Kong. In particular, the importance of using evidence-based models is

Limitations and Future Research Directions

Although the evaluation findings of the Project P.A.T.H.S. are very positive, several limitations of the evaluation should be noted. First, as the evaluation studies were conducted by the Research Team, the studies may lack complete independence. Of course, a counter-argument for this criticism is that as the major researchers were not involved in the data collection and analyses, this could minimize the influence of self-fulfilling prophecy. Second, as only 1 longitudinal randomized group

Acknowledgments

The Project P.A.T.H.S. and the preparation of this paper were financially sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

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  • The authors indicate no conflicts of interest.

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