Stress-related comorbid illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, hypertension, and heart disease are responsible for considerable disability worldwide. Using a combination of psychological and physiological approaches, the intent of this study was to investigate whether practicing qigong helps to reduce stress and anxiety, thus enhancing body-mind wellbeing. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted. Thirty-four healthy middle-aged adults participated in an 8-week qigong program. Their outcomes were compared with 31 matched subjects in the wait list control group. The outcome measures included measures of mood states (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21)), quality of life (ChQOL), and physiological measures of stress (salivary cortisol level and blood pressure). GLM was used to analyze the data of the two groups collected in the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks. In week 8, the treatment group had significant reduction in cortisol level and blood pressure when compared with the control group. In week 12, the qigong group had significant positive changes in the DASS-21 scales, the ChQOL scales, cortisol level, and blood pressure when compared with the control group. In general, the qigong group enjoyed better quality of life, had more positive affect, lower cortisol levels and blood pressure than the control group. The present findings support that qigong has a positive effect on reducing stress and anxiety and enhancing body-mind well-being. In this study, we restructured a traditional qigong exercise into a systematic workout structure and demonstrated its positive impact on mood regulation as illustrated by both psychological and physiological measures.

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The evaluation findings show that a paradigm shift from teacher-centred to student-centred learning, from valuing self-learning to co-operative group-learning, and from theory-based to practice-based learning occurred among the students. DAI was found to be an effective change strategy for transforming participants to become collaborators in searching for useful knowledge and coconstructing the PBL learning context.

This study explored the relationship between having learning diffi culties (LD), psychological problems, and being non-engaged among Hong Kong youths. Four hundred and twenty-eight youths, aged from 15 to 24 years, and who were either non-engaged youth (NEY) or at-risk of becoming nonengaged, were interviewed. Instruments consisted of a demographic questionnaire, an initial screening, and a follow-up in-depth investigation of learning and psychological diffi culties. It was estimated that around 26 % of NEY subjects and around 42 % of at-risk subjects could be regarded as having a certain degree of LD. It can be roughly estimated that around 13.7 % of NEY subjects and around 22 % of at-risk subjects were experiencing psychological diffi culties at the time this study was conducted. Major types of psychological problems encountered by non-engaged youths were mood, substance use, and anxiety disorders. They also appeared to be mostly affected by employment, fi nancial, and relationship issues.

At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a course subject entitled " Tomorrow ' s Leaders, " which focuses on positive youth development constructs, was developed for the students admitted under the New Undergraduate Curriculum in the 2012/13 academic year. It fulfills the requirement of " Leadership and Intrapersonal Development " under the General University Requirements. The subject was first piloted in the 2010/11 academic year with very positive evaluation results. To refine the subject and to accumulate more experience, the subject was offered again in the first term of 2011/12 academic year. The course content, evaluation strategies, and some initial findings based on the second piloting exercise are presented in this paper. Consistent with the first piloting exercise, evaluation findings based on different strategies generally showed that the subject promoted the holistic development of the enrolled students.