Category Archives: Awards & Achievement

Paul Victor Patinadan – SPS Student Research Award 2020

Awards & Achievement, Death Education, Family Dignity Intervention (FDI),

Paul Victor Patinadan –
SPS Student Research Award 2020

Congratulations to Paul Victor Patinadan (PhD Student of Psychology) for taking home three national-level awards at the Singapore Psychological Society’s Student Research Awards, 2020. For his paper observing the food voices of terminally-ill Singaporeans; “I Am What I Ate: The ‘Food for Life and Palliation’ (FLiP) Model for Understanding the Lived Experience of Nutritional Assimilation among Singaporean Palliative Care Patients and their Families”, Paul was presented with ‘Best Qualitative Research Paper’, ‘Best Postgraduate Research Award ‘ and moved on to clinch the prestigious ‘Fred Long Award for Research Excellence’.

The inaugural Fred Long Award for Research Excellence honours the decades of service to our Singapore community by the Founder President and Honorary Fellow of the Singapore Psychological Society, Adj Assoc/P Fred Long Foo Yee. This singular distinction is granted to a deserving candidate selected from across all academic institutions in Singapore who has showcased an exceptionally high standard of research-related proficiency.  

Paul’s reflection on the awards:

“Receiving these honours has been incredibly encouraging and motivating. I am elated to see such genuine interest and heartfelt support with regards to the work my team and I strive to accomplish within our community, especially for subject area often met with quizzical frowns or superstitious deflection. I would like to dedicate these awards wholly to the patients and families who allowed us to join them on their culminating journeys via the Family Dignity Intervention study. My deepest gratitude also to my mentor and supervisor Associate Professor Andy Ho Hau Yan, to my wonderful colleagues at the Action Research for Community Health (ARCH) Laboratory of SSS Psychology, and my amazing partner, all of whom continue to inspire and guide me through my own everyday adventures.”

(In the Photo) Paul is seen here with Research Chair of the SPS, Dr. Denise Dillon and Founder President of the SPS, Professor Long himself.

Assoc Professor Andy Hau Yan Ho – HKU Distinguished Alumni Award 2020

Awards & Achievement

Assoc Professor Andy Hau Yan Ho – HKU Distinguished Alumni Award 2020

Associate Professor Andy Hau Yan Ho from Psychology was conferred the HKU Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Social Work and Social Administration (SWSA) of The University of Hong Kong in January 2020. This award recognizes Professor Ho’s illustrious leadership in promoting death literacy and dignity in end of life care, while reshaping regional and international landscapes of holistic palliative and bereavement care through his innovative research programmes and tireless efforts in policy advocacy. His award nominator as well as his doctoral supervisor, Professor Cecilia Chan, said, “Dr Ho has passionately advocated for individuals, families and communities challenged by death, dying and bereavement with endless dedication and compassion. His many social and scholarly contributions to fields of Thanatology and Gerontology are widely recognized by academic, professional and government bodies around the world. He is indeed an exceptional SWSA alumnus.”

Professor Zhang Xiang, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong

Dr. Hannelore Wass Cross Cultural Student Paper Award – Ms. Dutta

Awards & Achievement, Parental Bereavement Study,

Dr. Hannelore Wass Cross Cultural Student Paper Award (2019) –

Ms. Oindrila Dutta

Our PhD student, Ms. Oindrila Dutta, was awarded the Dr. Hannelore Wass Cross Cultural Student Paper Award at Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC)’s 41st Annual Conference held in Atlanta. The title of her conference paper was “The Lived Experience of Bereaved Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illness in Singapore”. Dr. Hannelore Wass Cross Cultural Student Paper Award is presented to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate paper dealing with a topic related to dying, death, loss and bereavement where there is an emphasis or concentration on cross-cultural aspects of the phenomena studied.

Our PhD student, Ms. Oindrila Dutta, and the director of ARCH lab, Dr. Andy Ho.
Ms. Oindrila Dutta’s Presentation

Here is Oindrila’s reflection on the award:

“It was a privilege for me to be able to share the stage with researchers whose works I have read and been inspired by. Both before and after the award ceremony, I had a chance to interact with many of them, and it was an unforgettable experience! More than anything else, it energizes me to do more meaningful and impactful work. I am thankful to the ADEC Awards Committee for this honor. I am also very grateful to have an amazing mentor like Prof Andy and a wonderful team to work with. Their unending support, mentoring and friendship is something I treasure. I hope we, as a team, can continue to showcase the work that we do to our fellow researchers and practitioners in other parts of the world and collaborate with them to bring more quality and sparkle into the lives of the people that we work with.”

IAFOR Scholarship Recipient (2019) – Ms. Stephanie Hilary Ma

Awards & Achievement,

IAFOR Scholarship Recipient (2019) – Ms. Stephanie Hilary Ma

Our Master student, Ms. Stephanie Hilary Xinyi Ma, received the IAFOR Scholarship at the 9th Asian Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences (ACP2019) held in Tokyo from 21st to 23rd March 2019. She presented on ‘A Waitlist-Randomised Control Trial for a Novel intergenerational Art-based Intervention: Project ARTISAN’ and ‘The Arts for Ageing Well: An Ecological Process Model for Sustainable Arts Engagement’.

Here is Hilary’s reflection on the award:

“I am grateful to be a recipient of the IAFOR Scholarship, and this is possible because of the steadfast support and guidance from Prof Andy, the ARCH team and NTU. As this was my first time presenting at a conference, it was an eye opening and rewarding experience to be able to engage in interdisciplinary discussion and knowledge exchange at an international conference.”

SPS40: STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS 2018 – Ms. Stephanie Hilary Ma

Awards & Achievement, ,

SPS40: STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS 2018 – Ms. Stephanie Hilary Ma

Ms. Stephanie Hilary Xinyi Ma, our Master student, has been awarded Best Writing, Best Oral Presentation, Best Poster and Overall Best Project in the Masters Category for her research paper and oral presentation, “The Arts for Ageing Well: Arts Engagement and Holistic Wellbeing among Older Singaporeans”. The Student Research Awards, organized annually by the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS), seeks to support young researchers, facilitate dialogue and maintain professional interactions among researchers. Candidates are assessed based on the novelty of research, theoretical and practical significance, robustness of research methods and statistical analyses as well as quality of research writing.

Here is Hilary’s brief reflection on her awards:

“I am very honoured to receive these awards, and immensely grateful for the support and guidance from Prof Andy and my ARCH team mates. I also appreciate the encouraging and constructive feedback from SPS’s supportive panel of judges. It was truly amazing to be able to share the lab’s meaningful research with practitioners, researchers and fellow students, and also an uplifting experience to exchange brilliant ideas and spark future collaborations with other researchers. Moving forward, may we continue to work on the good research that we are doing for the society, and excel as a research community.”

Asst Prof Andy Ho receives prestigious award from ADEC

Awards & Achievement, Death Education

Asst Prof Andy Ho Receives Prestigious Award from ADEC

ADEC Academic Educator Award.jpg
Asst Prof Andy Ho (right) receiving his award at the 40th Annual Conference of the Association for Death Education and Counseling from Dr Romona Fernandez

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Andy Ho from Psychology on his Academic Educator Award from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC)! Asst Prof Ho, who was conferred the award at the 40th Annual Conference of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, is the first Asian recipient of this prestigious award. It is given to individuals who possess expertise in the field of dying, death and bereavement as demonstrated by advanced academic degrees, professional honors, awards and other major contributions.

Expressing his honour and humility for receiving the award, Asst Prof Ho said that he will continue to push forth the boundaries of Death Education and Thanatology Research. He will also further develop his life’s work in supporting and improving the lives of those facing loss, dying, death and bereavement.

“This award goes to all the patients and families that I have served, as well as to my family, my team, my mentors and teachers who have guided and supported me throughout this most inspiring and rewarding journey,” he added.

Awardees of this award must also have Excellence in Academic Teaching in Thanatology as demonstrated by judgement of peers, development of teaching materials, new courses and student evaluations; Scholarly Abilities as demonstrated by publication records and membership on editorial boards of academic and professional journals; as well as Continuing Growth as demonstrated by keeping abreast of changes and being at the cutting edge of developing ideas for the field.

The 2017 Undergraduate Awards: Ms. Scarlet Leong Xin Min

Awards & Achievement

The 2017 Undergraduate Awards in Asia Region: Ms. Scarlet Leong Xin Min

Ms. Scarlet Leong Xin Min, our recent psychology graduate of 2016-17 and Dr. Andy Ho’s URECA student, has been awarded The 2017 Undergraduate Awards – Asia Regional Winner in the Psychology – for her URECA paper, “Mindful-Art Making: A Pilot Approach for reducing burnout among hospice care workers”.  The Undergraduate Awards (UA) is the world’s largest international academic awards programme, recognising innovation and excellence at undergraduate level.  Cited as the ultimate champion for high-potential undergraduates, UA identifies leading creative thinkers through their undergraduate coursework and provides top performing students with the support, network and opportunities they require to raise their profiles and further their career paths, and to encourage greater participation in the future.

See below for Scarlet’s brief reflection on her award.

“Thank you Professor Andy for the privilege to reflect and journal my learning during my time as an undergraduate researcher at the ARCH Lab; with whom, I was able to embark on research topics of my interest and passion. I would also like to take this chance to also relay my gratitude to the rest of the very capable team at ARCH for being honest critics and raving fans during the 2 years embarking onto various research projects. As an affirmation of the good work that we do at ARCH, I am humbled to have one of our research projects – ‘Mindful Art Making – A pilot approach for reducing burnout among hospice care workers’ – recently been acknowledged at the Undergraduate Awards (UA). It is my pleasure to share that
not only was the paper shortlisted as a Highly Commended Entrant but it also was named as the Regional Winner (Asia) title for Psychology. This commendation bears testament to the relevant, high-quality and socially-conscious work that ARCH lab stands for.

The ‘Mindful Art Making’ paper stems from a larger research project helmed by Professor Andy. Although I was a Psychology major, I have always had an appreciation towards the study of visual arts and therefore leaped at the chance of knowing more about the ‘Mindful Art Making’ research project when I got to know about it. I then had the opportunity of being a part of the project in my third year as an undergraduate by embarking on it in conjunction with an NTU-based research initiative for undergraduates – URECA – that fulfils my academic credits towards graduation as well. It was a double blessing! However, data collection was
a tedious process. In retrospect, I believe it instilled a discipline and a rigor for research that also prepared me for my honours thesis project the following year. Yet, all the hard work seemed worth it when we witnessed the unfolding of significant results supporting the research hypothesis. All in all, the research process become not only extrinsically rewarding but intrinsically fulfilling, and I am therefore humbled to have our home-grown paper mentioned on an international platform.

To quote one of my favourite philosophers, Seneca, “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favourable.”. I urge you who are reading this to press on in your research journey despite choppy waters and foggy weather and to be amongst wise counsel who’ll guide you nearer to your destination. To God be the glory!”

From Left to Right: Scarlet Leong and Dr. Andy Ho