Listen, Love & Care

Loneliness

Mental Health for Students

"Loneliness is the feeling of being alone, disconnected, or not close to others. Social isolation and loneliness put a person at risk of developing serious mental and physical health conditions"
US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

"Globally, one in seven 10-19-year-olds experiences a mental disorder, accounting for 15% of the global burden of disease in this age group. Depression, anxiety and behavioral disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents"
World Health Organization

About TCF - Heart Matters

The Chan Family Foundation, or TCF for short, is a family foundation in Hong Kong that is entirely self-funded with financial contributions from Mr. Tony Chan and Mrs. Josephine Chung Chan. The two main areas of TCF are mental health issues of students and loneliness. We seek innovative and creative solutions to these two prevalent societal phobias, particularly in Asian metropolises like Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, etc.

For people of all ages, but particularly for the elderly, loneliness can result in serious mental and physical health problems. Nowadays, loneliness has become such a problem that several nations have policies and plans in place, and even governing bodies have designated resources to tackle this issue.

Our Story

Josephine Chung

Co-Founder

Tony Chan

Co-Founder

Awareness

For the public to see this and unite in confronting and resolving these issues, awareness and education are crucial.

Community

We build communities and facilitate them in nurturing specialists, experts, volunteers, stakeholders with joint effort and collaboration to tackle these issues

Research

We seek to help experts and academics by developing a network for them to multiply their studies and research influence for promoting more research on these areas

Support

Providing practical help and support on cases and individuals and families

World Health Organization (WHO)

High-quality social connections are essential to our mental and physical health and our well-being. Social isolation and loneliness are important, yet neglected, social determinants for people of all ages – including older people.

Social isolation and loneliness are widespread, with an estimated 1 in 4 older people experiencing social isolation and between 5 and 15 per cent of adolescents experiencing loneliness. A large body of research shows that social isolation and loneliness have a serious impact on physical and mental health, quality of life, and longevity. The effect of social isolation and loneliness on mortality is comparable to that of other well-established risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity.

Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly being recognized as a priority public health problem and policy issue across all age groups.