Associate Professor Abner Weng Cheong Poon

Keywords

mental health

social work

culture and mental health

caregiving

Fields of Research (FoR)

Counselling, wellbeing and community services, Social work, Social work not elsewhere classified

SEO tags

Carer Health

Health Status (e.g. Indicators of Well-Being)

Families

Biography

Abner Poon is Associate Professor of Social Work at the School of Social Sciences. Abner has experience as a social worker in mental health. His research focuses on social work practice in mental health, impact of mental illness on families and caregivers, family intervention in mental health, children of parents with mental illness, health and wellbeing of migrants facing mental health problems, recovery and community mental health teams. He has published articles in high-ranking journals focusing on Assertive Community Treatment Program, caregivers of people with psychosis, carers of people with mental illness from ethnic minority groups and parents with mental illness.

My Qualifications

BA (Singapore), MSW Mental Health (Melbourne, Australia), PhD (Melbourne, Australia)

My Awards

Bruce Lord Award for Excellence in Research Methodology, Australian Social Work (2020)

Best Oral Presentation, 8th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health (2016)

Australian Postgraduate Award (2011 – 2014)

Melbourne Abroad Travelling Scholarship (2013)

Health Manpower Development Plan Fellowship, Singapore National Healthcare Group (2005)

My Research Activities

Research Areas

Social work practice in mental health, families of people with mental illness, psychosocial rehabilitation, caregiving in culturally and linguistically diverse communities, caregiving in Chinese families, family intervention in mental health, community mental health teams and recovery

Past Research Projects

headspace Family Inclusive Practice Model

The headspace Family Inclusive Practice Model project was funded by headspace Service Innovation Project Grant (2014-2015). The service development project evaluated an innovative Single Session Family Consultation Model for families of young persons with emerging mental health problems.

Non-English Speaking Caregivers of People with Psychosis

The research project was funded by William Buckland Foundation Grant (2011-2013). The study was conducted to identify the health and wellbeing of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) caregivers of people with psychotic disorders in Australia.

Profile and perceived needs of people with mental illness who are caring for young children

The project was an exploratory study of the profile and perceived needs of people with mental illness who were caring for young children in Singapore. The study was funded by the National Medical Research Council of Singapore (2008).