Dr. Herman Lo is an Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a Registered Social Worker, the Associate Fellow and Approved Supervisor from the Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association. Herman also a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme by the Mindfulness Center of the Brown University. With his solid teaching experience in mindfulness program, he develops his expert research area in mindful parenting and caregiving. He has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals and in 2024, he published a book "Mindfulness for Children, Adolescents, and Families: Integrating Research into Practice" by Springer, summarizing his insights in this emerging field and suggestions for practice. He has received appointments in editorial board membership of world leading academic journals including Mindfulness, Scientific Reports, and China Journal of Social Work.

Applying Mindfulness in Supporting Children and Families

There has been a growing attention in applying mindfulness in children and families in last two decades. In this keynote, Herman reviews the findings of six completed randomized controlled trial on applying brief mindfulness-based programmes in supporting parents of children with ADHD, economically disadvantaged families, parents of adolescents after COVID and social unrest, caregivers of young adults with early psychosis, caregivers of frail older adults, and online mindfulness programme for parents of children with ADHD. He also completed an evaluation study of implementing mindfulness-based programme in eight primary schools in Hong Kong. Herman shall summarize some principles in adapting mindfulness-based programmes for children and families, discuss implementation and ethical issues, and limitations based on his research experiences based on Hong Kong experience.

Strategies and challenges in delivering mindfulness-based programs in schools: Insights from school teachers, social workers, and mindfulness instructors on implementation factors

There has been increasing attention on the role of implementation factors that significantly impact the outcomes of school mindfulness-based programs. However, studies examining this topic in Asian contexts remain limited. Drawing inspirations from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the School-Based Mindfulness Program Implementation Framework, this study focused on the people factor and explored the perceived strengths and weaknesses of instructors in program implementation after the sponsorship period of a school mindfulness project in Hong Kong. Three types of instructors including school teachers, social workers, and mindfulness instructors offered differing perspectives during qualitative interviews. Their roles in implementation, teaching competencies, and the capacity building process were analyzed. This study provides insights and recommendations for effectively implementing school-based mindfulness programs.