The Department has also established different Areas of Excellence (AoE) / research clusters including the following: Aging and gerontology; families, children and youth; family violence and child welfare; gender and sexuality; health and mental health; demography and population studies; social policy, planning and community building. Our RPg students are recommended to join in one of the big groups and engage in different research projects to produce significant impact in the community. In 2015, our students also published journal papers in some of the best journals in the field, such as Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Australian & New Zealand, Journal of Psychiatry, Ageing and Society, and Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. They are also given opportunities to present in many local and international conferences. Some of them have received outstanding best abstracts or presentation awards as recognition of distinguished achievement.
| Clusters | Area of research | Professoriate staff |
|---|---|---|
| Ageing and gerontology | Family support; chronic illness; community rehabilitation; end-of-life care; social security and pension; elderly housing; retirement protection | Prof. Terry Lum Prof. Y.C. Chen Prof. Vivian Lou |
| Families, children and youth | Family policy; couple counselling; family meditation; parent education; children in single parent families; children and adolescent assessment and intervention; youth development; family caregivers of mentally ill people; divorce and bereaved family members | Prof. Amy Chow Prof. Clifton Emery |
| Family violence and child welfare | Child abuse and neglect; family and intimate partner violence; family at-risk; child and family poly-victimization; migration and child welfare | Prof. Clifton Emery |
| Gender and sexuality | Gender; sex; marriage and family in different Chinese cities as well as analysis of issues concerning women; feminism and politics; men’s studies and LGBTQ studies. It also analyses age; race; ethnicity; nationality and the role of new social media in modern society | Prof. Eddie Chong Prof. Yu-Te Huang |
| Health and mental health | Application of Eastern philosophies and practices into holistic health; body-mind-spirit intervention; counselling; dance movement therapy; creative arts therapy; psychosocial intervention; death, dying and bereavement; life and death education; stagnation and mental health with the infertility; self-help and policy advocacy on issues related to cancer, chronic patients, and disabilities; hospice care; psychosis and violence; drug addiction; gambling and alcoholism; suicidal behaviour and trauma management |
Prof. Cecilia Chan |
| Demography and population studies | Population health; assessment of disease burden and medical financing; demographic transition, population policy and poverty studies | Prof. Paul Yip Prof. Clifton Emery |
| Social policy, planning and community building | Sustainable development; community work and social service administration; elderly policy; family policy and community building; poverty; social policy and assistance; elderly policy; housing and community development; social capital and social inclusion; equal opportunities of people with disabilities and ethnic minorities; social security and social work education | Prof. Cheryl Chui Prof. Y.C. Chen Prof. Eddie Chong |