AXA Wellness Index 2020: Mental wellbeing takes over financial wellbeing to become the most important factor affecting public�s wellness in HK, Macau and other GBA cities

Hong Kong’s workplace stress tops the
region

1 in 4 working class suffer from mental health issues

Mental health support at workplace is seriously
insufficient

• AXA
  Wellness Index 2020 — Hong Kong is rated at 56 points, Macau at 65 points, and the
  mainland Greater Bay Area cities (“GBA”) at 74 points, out of 100.
• Hong
  Kong Index has fallen 3 points from last year, indicating the city’s quality of
  life has declined. �
• Compared
  to 2019, there is a drastic change in the importance of different wellness
  dimensions and elements:

o  ”Mental Wellbeing” has become the most important dimension for wellness in HK, Macau and GBA, whereas the importance of “Financial Wellbeing” has fallen across the region.

o  In Hong Kong, “Happiness” has moved up from the bottom of the top 10 wellness elements to become the most important one.

o   Hong Kong’s workplace stress tops the region, but only 27% of working class in Hong Kong considered mental health support from employers was adequate.

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media
OutReach - 23 September 2020 - AXA Wellness Index survey^[1]
measures six dimensions that affect the public’s overall wellness, namely, Physical
Wellbeing, Mental Wellbeing, Financial Wellbeing, Social Wellbeing, Fulfilment,
and Meaning and Value, as well as 30 elements under these dimensions, to better
understand the wellness needs and sentiments of Hong Kong, Macau and mainland
GBA populations. The 2020 survey was conducted online between 3 to 20 July
2020, covering 2,100 respondents from Hong Kong, Macau and GBA. Among which,
there were 1,000 Hong Kong residents aged 18-60 with monthly personal income of
at least HKD15,000 or liquid assets of HKD200,000 or more.

 ”Mental Wellbeing” is the most important
wellness dimension across regions

Hong Kong scored 56 points (out of 100) in the 2020 “AXA Wellness
Index”, 3 points lower than in 2019; and 9 points and 18 points lower compared
to Macau and GBA respectively, showing Hong Kong’s quality of life has declined
and was the lowest in the region. “Mental Wellbeing”, which was considered the
3rd or 4thimportant wellness dimension last year, has become the most important one across regions.
In contrast, “Financial Wellbeing,” which ranked 2nd across the region in the
past, has diminished its importance this year (Hong Kong: 3rd place; Macau: 5th
place; GBA: 5th place).

Hong
Kong valued “Happiness” the most under the pandemic

Among the 30 elements under the six wellness dimensions, “Happiness”, an
element of “Mental Wellbeing”, has become much more important than before in
the whole region.  For example, in Hong
Kong, “Happiness” leapt forward by eight places and became the most crucial wellness
element; whilst the importance of “Financial Wellbeing” related elements
diminished (Able to accumulate wealth: 12thplace; Ownership of
property: 17th place; Able to pass on wealth to next generation: 30th place). The
change might be attributed to the low satisfaction level of Hong Kong
respondents with their “Financial Wellbeing” (Hong Kong: 53 points; Macau: 60 points; GBA: 71 points) and their
sense of helplessness in wealth accumulation (Having enough savings for
retirement: Hong Kong: 48 points; Macau: 60 points; GBA: 70 points).

Stress
is a key issue in the whole region; Hong Kong is the least equipped to manage stress

Respondents felt mid-high level of stress in the past six months (Hong
Kong: 84%; Macau: 81%; GBA: 67%), with work or education being the key sources
of stress (Hong Kong: 65%; Macau: 58%; GBA: 73%). However, in stress
management, Hong Kong is not doing well when compared to Macau and GBA. When
facing stress, nearly 20% of Hong Kong respondents
would resort to negative actions such as drinking or smoking, while almost 10% would
do nothing about it.

Workplace
stress is highest in Hong Kong, but only 27% working class found enough support
from employers

Nearly half (47%) of the working class in Hong
Kong have experienced a high degree of pressure in the past six months, much
higher than Macau (24%) and GBA (38%) and almost 1 in 4 claimed that they were
suffering from mental health issues. Yet, nearly 40% said they had experience of going to work as usual despite stress/ mental health problems or were not
willing to discuss mental health/ stress problems with supervisors/employers
due to the fear of affecting promotion, the 80s-00s age groups are especially
prone to doing so.  

Compared to Macau (55%) and GBA (54%), only 27%
of Hong Kong workers claimed workplace support on mental health was enough. Those who
considered they got sufficient mental support from work were mostly mid-high income individuals (with
monthly personal income of HKD30,000 or above), whereas those with monthly
personal income of HKD20,000 or below, only less than 20% of them felt there
was adequate support at workplace.

Technology brings a multitude of concerns
for the working class
With remote working becoming the norm, the
application of technology at work has become even wider. Though technology has
facilitated work, over half of the working class in Hong Kong said technology
has created new worries, such as “Communication technology makes me never shut
down from work” (35%), “Worried that my work will be replaceable by technology”
(26%) and “Pressure from co-workers, as I’m not as tech-savvy as they are”
(22%). Technology might also cause more stress because it could lengthen the
working hours. 23% of the respondents said they experienced stress because of
long working hours or workload in the past six months.

Ms Andrea
Wong, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer, AXA Hong Kong and Macau, said, “The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has a
profound impact on companies, employees, as well as the general public. Many feel
stressed or anxious under this unexpected challenge. Mental Health is not only
a health issue, it also impacts our society as well as the economy. The World
Economic Forum has estimated that mental health problems could cause about
USD16 trillion in economic losses worldwide by 2030^[2];
therefore, the mental health of employees is an issue which cannot be
ignored. 

In view of this, AXA Hong Kong took the
lead to launch ‘Mind Health’, a dedicated employee mental health programme,
last year. It provides comprehensive mental health support in three aspects, namely
‘education’, ‘prevention’ and ‘treatment” for employees with different mental health
needs or areas of concern. We have also launched ‘AXA BetterMe’, a holistic
platform to support body and mind health, in July this year, offering different
physical and mental health services, including a mindfulness meditation tool ‘Mind
Charger’. Not only can our customers get holistic wellness support from ‘AXA
BetterMe’, the general public can also enjoy 2 very useful features — ‘Symptom Checker’
and ‘Mind Charger’, which are both free and available by downloading our Emma
by AXA app.

10 Oct 2020 is World Mental Health Day. AXA Hong
Kong will organise on our Facebook a special programme called ‘AXA World Mental
Health Day Live Chat’, with celebrities from different arena and medical
professionals to discuss common emotional conditions in an interactive and
light-hearted way. We hope to use different creative ways to raise awareness on
the important issue of mental health and do our part for the sustainable
development of Hong Kong.”

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS AVAILABLE ON AXA’S
WEBSITE:  AXA.COM.HK

 

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