Helping adolescents with greater psychosocial needs: the extension phase of the project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C.F. Sun

Abstract Subjective outcome evaluation data were collected from 24,198 students of 236 schools after completion of the Tier 2 Program in the second year of the Extension Phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong. Using schools as units of analysis, results showed that the program, implementers, and effectiveness were perceived in a positive manner. Although subjective outcome evaluation findings differed across participant types, grades, and program types did not show significant differences on the outcome measures. Consistent with previous reports, perceived effectiveness of the program was significantly predicted by student perceptions about the program and program instructor. These findings provide support for the claim that the Tier 2 Program is effective in promoting positive development among adolescents with greater psychosocial needs in the extension phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Tak Yan Lee

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is designed to help students with greater psychosocial needs. This paper examines nine sets of subjective outcome evaluation data collected from 2005 to 2009 (n=60,241participants). Based on the consolidated data with schools as units, results showed that participants generally had positive perceptions of the program, implementers, and benefits of the program. The subjective outcome evaluation instrument was found to be internally consistent. Multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived qualities of the program and the program implementers predicted perceived effectiveness of the program. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Lu Yu ◽  
Vicky Y. T. Ho

Based on a sample of 24,457 participated students, the present study investigated participants' subjective evaluation of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the 2009/2010 academic year. Participants generally held positive views toward the Tier 2 Program and program instructor and perceived the program to be beneficial to their development. Programs involving adolescents alone were evaluated more positively than programs involving parents and/or teachers. Students' grade and program type did not show significant impact on participants' subjective evaluation of the project. Consistent with previous reports, perceived effectiveness of the program was significantly predicted by students' perceptions about the program and program instructor. These findings provide further support that the Tier 2 Program is effective in promoting positive development among adolescents with greater psychosocial needs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Tak Yan Lee ◽  
Rachel C.F. Sun ◽  
Daniel W.M. Lung

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) targets adolescents with greater psychosocial needs, and the related programs were designed and implemented by school social workers. After completion of the Tier 2 Program, 2,173 students in 52 schools responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form C), assessing their views of the program, instructors, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Based on the consolidated reports submitted by the agencies to the funding body, the research team aggregated the consolidated data to form a “reconstructed” overall profile of the perceptions of the program participants. Four major types of program were identified, including programs based on the adventure-based counseling approach (N = 8), programs concentrated on volunteer training and services (N = 7), programs incorporating both adventure-based counseling and volunteer training elements (N = 30), and other programs with different foci (N = 7). Results showed that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the programs and the instructors, and roughly four-fifths of the respondents regarded the program as helpful to them. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong for the experimental implementation phase.


Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Cecilia M.S. Ma ◽  
Moon Y.M. Law ◽  
Zoe Zhao

AbstractThe present study attempted to investigate the perceptions of Chinese secondary school students with greater psychosocial needs of the Tier 2 Program in the community-based phase of P.A.T.H.S. Project in Hong Kong (n=4245). Using a subjective outcome evaluation tool (Form C), the results revealed that a great majority of the students held positive attitudes toward the program, implementers and the effectiveness of the program. Also, the three domains of the program (“program quality”, “implementer quality” and “program effectiveness”) were significantly associated with each other. In line with previous findings, both program content and program implementer quality were significant predictors of program effectiveness. The current findings further reinforce the thesis that the community-based Tier 2 programs of the P.A.T.H.S. Project are effective in promoting the holistic development of adolescents with greater psychosocial needs in Hong Kong.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C.F. Sun

Abstract Subjective outcome evaluation data were collected from 236 schools (n=87,943 students) after students had participated in the Tier 1 Program in the second year of the Extension Phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong. Using schools as the units of analysis, results showed that the program and implementers were perceived in a positive manner and approximately four-fifths of the participants regarded the program as helpful to them. There were some significant grade differences in the subjective outcome evaluation findings with small effect size. Multiple regression analyses showed that whereas perceived qualities of the program positively predicted perceived effectiveness of the program, perceived qualities of implementers negatively predicted program effectiveness. The present study suggests that irrespective of cohorts at different times, junior secondary school students perceived the program to be beneficial to them. The theoretical and practical implications of the present findings are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Catalina S.M. Ng ◽  
Moon Y.M. Law

Abstract As program implementers’ views are seldom included in program evaluation and there are few related studies in different Chinese communities, this study examined the perceptions of the program implementers who implemented the Tier 2 Program of the P.A.T.H.S. Program in Hong Kong. The Tier 2 Program was designed to promote the development of adolescents with greater psychosocial needs. In the community-based P.A.T.H.S. Project, 400 program implementers completed a subjective outcome evaluation form (Form D) for program implementers. Consistent with the previous findings, program implementers generally held positive views towards the program, implementers, and program effectiveness and their views towards these three domains did not differ across grades. In line with the hypotheses, perceived program quality and perceived implementer quality predicted program effectiveness. The present findings provided an alternative perspective showing that the Tier 2 Program was well received by the program implementers and they regarded the program to be beneficial to the program participants.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 575-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C. F. Sun

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes), designed and implemented primarily by school social workers, attempts to help adolescents with greater psychosocial needs. After completion of the Tier 2 Program in the Full Implementation Phase (2006/07 school year), 10,255 Secondary 1 students in 207 schools responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form C) to assess their views of the program, instructors, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Results showed that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the program and the instructors, and roughly four-fifths of the respondents regarded the program as helpful to them. Pearson correlation analyses showed that perceptions of the program and instructors were significantly correlated with perceived effectiveness of the program. Participants who joined volunteer training activities generally had higher global subjective outcome evaluation scores than did participants who attended programs without volunteer training activities.


Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Janet T.Y. Leung ◽  
Cecilia M.S. Ma ◽  
Jing Wu

AbstractThe present study adopted subjective outcome evaluation to examine program effectiveness from the views of implementers (N=375) who implemented the community-based Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong. The results revealed that most of the program implementers were satisfied with the program content, their own performance, and program benefits. In agreement with previous studies, the satisfaction ratings of both program content and implementer performance positively predicted perceived program benefits. Regarding the influences of different program delivery approaches, programs with the “interest-enhancement” (INT) element received a more positive evaluation from implementers than did the programs without that element. For programs with the “work-related” (WORK) element, parental involvement significantly raised implementers’ satisfaction ratings on their own performance. The current findings provided evidence for the effectiveness of the P.A.T.H.S. Tier 2 Program from the perspective of the implementers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Florence K.Y. Wu

Abstract In the extension phase of Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) in Hong Kong, potential implementers received 20 h of training (7 h of e-learning and 13 h of interactive training). Subjective outcome evaluation was conducted to evaluate the training workshops conducted in the first year of the extension phase based on the responses of 812 participants. The subjective outcome evaluation form was found to be internally consistent. Percentage findings showed that the respondents had favorable perceptions of the training program including its content, trainers, participants themselves and arrangements. The participants also felt that they had acquired knowledge, positive attitudes and skills related to the implementation of the program. The findings showed that the revised training program was effective in helping the participants to acquire the necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills in the implementation of the program.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) in Hong Kong by analyzing 1,327 school-based program reports submitted by program implementers. In each report, program implementers were invited to write down five conclusions based on an integration of the subjective outcome evaluation data collected from the program participants and program implementers. Secondary data analyses were carried out by aggregating nine databases, with 14,390 meaningful units extracted from 6,618 conclusions. Results showed that most of the conclusions were positive in nature. The findings generally showed that the workers perceived the program and program implementers to be positive, and they also pointed out that the program could promote holistic development of the program participants in societal, familial, interpersonal, and personal aspects. However, difficulties encountered during program implementation (2.15%) and recommendations for improvement were also reported (16.26%). In conjunction with the evaluation findings based on other strategies, the present study suggests that the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. is beneficial to the holistic development of the program participants.


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