The Sovereign Art Foundation’s expressive arts programme, Make It Better (MIB), uses the therapeutic benefits of art to support children from low-income backgrounds and with special educational needs (SEN) in Hong Kong. The programme is run entirely on donations, with the Sovereign Asian Art Prize project being its main source of funds.
Established in 2013, MIB is offered in local schools and community centres across the territory and is led by SAF’s registered arts therapists. The programme provides children an opportunity to freely express themselves in a safe space using different forms of art to build self-esteem, self-awareness and interpersonal skills. For children with SEN and associated language difficulties, the non-verbal nature of expressive arts serves as a bridge of communication.
The pressures associated with providing care to children with SEN can also have a profound psychological impact on caregivers. This is particularly true for members of disadvantaged communities in Hong Kong, many of whom already face heightened mental health risks due to the burden of financial stress and poor housing conditions.
Over time, many SEN caregivers develop negative self-image, which can lead to feelings of isolation and social withdrawal, which are only exacerbated by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, the quality of care to the child and other family members can be compromised.
In 2019, MIB secured funding to run a pilot programme to tackle this issue, focusing on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of caregivers by helping them to manage emotions, reduce stress, build resilience and cultivate peer support. The programme also focused on strengthening the parent-child relationship.
MIB was joined by a new partner in 2021, when the Hong Kong Club Foundation pledged half a million Hong Kong dollars for the further development of the carers’ programme. Since then, additional funding has been secured from a government grant-matching scheme and the programme has gone from strength to strength.
The MIB team has just completed the latest cycle of its Empowerment Programme for SEN Children and Caregivers and the results are now in. Over the past 12 months, the programme has served 200 children and nearly 600 caregivers in community centres and schools over nine districts in Hong Kong.
The programme had three key objectives: to use expressive arts workshops to foster interpersonal skills, emotional resilience and self-esteem in children with SEN; to support positive bond-building and parental modification — namely acceptance, appreciation and positive reinforcement — through parent-child expressive arts therapy; and to promote self-care and stress-reduction in caregivers of children with SEN through art-based interventions.
Activities included weekly art therapy groups for children and for caregivers, respectively, led by a Registered Art or Expressive Arts Therapist, as well as parent and child joint art therapy groups, which focused on improving communication, enhancing parental warmth and teaching caregivers how to limit behavioural problems while demonstrating empathy and respect for their children.
The team also helped establish a ‘Self-Care Art Corner’ in five of the partnering community centres, to be used freely by members of the community. Each art corner includes a cart set up with materials for self-expression and stress relief. The social workers in each centre also received training and supervision on creative arts facilitation for children. Additionally, 1,200 copies of a Wellness Art Manual with activity ideas and guidelines and Wellness Art Kit containing useful materials were distributed to participating families and centres.
The children who participated in the programme showed improved skills in self-expression, communication of emotions and thoughts, empathy, and acceptance of others and themselves. Caregivers were able to reflect upon their own parental skills and attitudes and learned ways to adjust and become more accepting and understanding of their children’s needs.
Just as importantly, caregivers also expressed appreciation for the peer support fostered in their groups. They were able to connect and build community by sharing their struggles and, by gaining parental insights from each other, they gained greater awareness of own emotional needs.
MIB has one further year of guaranteed funding for this project, which will commence again in September 2024. We hope to continue building its profile to secure its future and reach more children and caregivers in need.
