We are delighted to share the good news that Ms Chelsia Cheung, a PhD student of Prof. Arnold Wong, has won the Best Paediatric Spine Paper Award at the 45th Annual Congress of the Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association. Her paper is titled “Acceptance and commitment therapy versus education for improving psychological well-being in parents and children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: An Interim Analysis of A randomized controlled trial.”
Her research focuses on adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), which affects up to 4% of teenagers and can progress rapidly during puberty. While traditional treatments concentrate on physical aspects, AIS also impacts the psychological well-being of adolescents and their parents. Ms Cheung’s study integrates psychology and orthopaedics to support families using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a novel cognitive behavioural approach that emphasises the acceptance of pain and suffering. This randomised controlled trial compares ACT with AIS education in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in parents and/or their children with AIS. Preliminary results show greater, though non-significant, improvements in these outcomes and in psychological flexibility for the ACT group.
Please join us in congratulating Ms Cheung on this achievement.
