ATTITUDES TOWARDS MENTAL-PATIENTS IN HONG-KONG

The purpose of this survey was to understand how the people of Hong Ko ng perceive mental health, mental illness, mental patients and mental health facilities, In March 1994, a total of 1,043 successful telephon e interviews were conducted out of 2,202 valid telephone numbers. The sample was found to be representative of the Hong Kong adult populatio n in terms of sex ratio, age structure, educational achievement and ec onomic status. It was found that the majority of people of Hong Kong w ere very concerned about their mental health. Their knowledge on menta l health was fairly good. Their attitudes towards mental patients and mental health facilities were, however, quite negative. Unlike previou s western findings, these views towards mental patients and their reha bilitation facilities were found to be weakly associated with socio-ec onomic factors including age, educational level and household income.