Asian Social Work and Policy Review最新文献

Using a nationally representative sample in Korea, this study examined the association of information and communication technology (ICT) utilization level and the life satisfaction of people with disabilities and the variations by disability type. Data were obtained from the second wave of the 2021 Survey on the Digital Divide, administered by the Korean National Information Society Agency (N = 2200 persons with disabilities). Study findings reveal that ICT utilization level has a significant association with the life satisfaction of people with disabilities, regardless of the disability type. In addition, the level of disability was related to the life satisfaction of people with physical disabilities only, while income was associated with the life satisfaction of people with physical disabilities and brain lesion disabilities. Based upon these results, this study discussed practical and policy implications for people with disabilities, particularly focusing on the methods to increase to increase the level of ICT utilization.

This study used data from 1871 college students across China to examine the relations among volunteering and PWB in 2020. Results of regression analysis indicate that volunteering had positive effects on the PWB of the students. Students whose motivation to volunteer was public interest had greater PWB, regardless of the degree to which they also reported private gain as a motivation. The significant interaction results indicate that students whose volunteer motivation included both public interest and private gains and who had high frequency of volunteering were more likely to have higher PWB. Policy and practice implications were discussed.

Social enterprises are hybrid organizations that combine for-profit, market-based practices with nonprofit goals. Social enterprises in China face specific political and institutional challenges that negatively affect their development. This study explores how a Government-Organized Non-Government Organization (GONGO) overcomes institutional challenges at different stages of social enterprise development by engaging strategies, which eventually lead to the establishment of a sustainable social enterprise. The GONGO applies social entrepreneurship in the three major aspects of identifying challenging social problems, implementing innovative market-based solutions, and initiating long-term institutional changes to tackle the stubborn social issue. This study demonstrates a unique top-down social enterprise model and shows that in an authoritarian context, the GONGO could potentially take up the role of developing new social enterprise. This study initiates a deeper conversation between social entrepreneurship and China's socio-political development.

India has made considerable progress towards tackling child malnutrition since the launch of the ICDS scheme in 1975, with currently 1.3 million centres across the country. The latest NFHS-5 data (2018–20), however, shows limited improvement in the percentage of stunted, wasted, and underweight children, at 36%, 19%, and 32%, respectively. Given the persistent state of malnutrition in India, we probe, are there more nuances and unexplored dimensions to malnutrition issue that can add to the existing literature and support policy making? Demographic and Health Survey (2015–16) data of 70,618 children between the age of 2 and 5 years, from underprivileged communities in India, were investigated using the Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory Model. Three malnutrition outcome measures were calculated as per WHO standards, namely, height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for-age. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models brought out two noteworthy results, namely, the importance of vaccination and the paradox of maternal working status. Vaccination status positively impacts the outcome measures, and maternal working status demonstrates a paradoxical situation. The children of non-working mothers had better health statistics, indicating positive impact of a higher amount of time spent on direct childcare. However, working women in poor households bring economic capital to the house, indirectly bringing positive impacts on family health and nutrition. The results also confirmed the significance of maternal and child health status, access to healthcare, and need for dietary diversity. The importance of vaccination, especially in the context of COVID-19, has been emphasized by policymakers. The policymakers need to relook at the existing welfare programs like ICDS and Creche Scheme to incorporate better-supporting structures for working mothers for health access and childcare activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative impacts on vulnerable populations worldwide. This study aimed to examine the association between the health worries of urban older people in Thailand and covariates related to income and non-income poverty, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and metabolic risk factors (MRFs). The study utilized the 2021 Survey on Housing and Support Services for Poor Older Adults, which sampled lower-income urban adults aged at least 55 years from five national regions. Bivariate analyses were performed to determine the relationships of NCDs and MRFs with the covariates. Then, binary logistic regression was used to analyze outcomes of perceived health risks including becoming infected with COVID-19, declining health status, and being unable to access health care. Higher educational attainment and income levels were observed to be negatively correlated with worse health status and the inability to access health care. Subjective household crowding consistently had a positive association with the three health concerns. Having MRFs was related only to concerns about health status and access to health care during the pandemic. Welfare and health policies need to improve their responsiveness to the needs of the older population, especially for protection from socioeconomic shocks such as those seen with the current pandemic.

Social support is essential for improving the lives of older adults. However, some respondents of other literature reported receiving less adequate financial support from family, a lack of comprehensive policies to protect older adults, and a smaller social network as they age. In order to address this issue, more intense social support is required as older adults are at risk of obtaining insufficient social support from their social network. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the interventions and development strategies for social support for older adults. The qualitative case study method was used in this study, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 older adults aged 60 and above who participated in Pusat Aktiviti Warga Emas (PAWE), an activity center for older adults, for more than 5 months. Four PAWE supervisors and three policymakers from Department of Social Welfare Malaysia (JKMM) were also interviewed. The data were then thematically analyzed. The study highlighted three intervention and development strategies to improve social support for older adults namely in the areas of personal development, policy, and social connectivity of older adults. As Malaysia is expected to become an aging population by 2035, it is vital to establish a supportive environment for older people.

There is no doubt that the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 negatively impacted billions of people worldwide, and among them, people with disabilities became most susceptible. However, little is known about the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of people with disabilities in Nepal. Using empirical data from semi-structured in-depth interviews with people with disabilities, disability specialist, and community leaders, this study discusses the lived experiences of people with disabilities who have been affected by COVID-19 in Nepal. This study revealed that the outbreak of COVID-19 impacted people with disabilities by worsening their vulnerability. In particular, the majority of people with disabilities became further isolated, were disconnected from existing services such as access to information, education, and health care and many lost their income opportunities. Findings from this study further show that this pandemic affected the rights of people with disabilities guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Immediate financial and non-financial support for people with disabilities from government and other stakeholders, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is needed, indicating the need for policymakers to reassess policies to ensure that they adequately protect the rights of people with disabilities.

This paper analyzes and uses the National Solidarity Program (NSP) Afghanistan as a case study to question the idea of social capital building for poverty reduction. Specifically, it explores how development policy has been decoupled from its intended objectives as it hit the existing friction in the ground. The data draws from poor household experience in three different provinces of Afghanistan to assess how poor household is integrated into NSP and how existing social structure and relational dynamics shape the NSP outcomes. The finding reveals that household is experiencing a cluster of interlink disadvantages that make it impossible for them to draw on social capital to reduce their poverty. However, NSP failed to eliminate the asymmetrical relations which created poverty in rural society; instead, it boosted Neopatrimonialism culture.

This paper explored parental experiences of caring for children with disability (CWD) living in the Sylhet city corporation area of Bangladesh. This study applied a qualitative research approach. The purposive snowball sampling method was employed to recruit study participants. Twenty-one in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions with parents of children with physical, hearing, vision, and intellectual disabilities were conducted to learn more about their experiences and identify the difficulties and challenges they confront in their everyday lives. The results showed that respondents experience various disadvantages, for example, treatment-related challenges, financial incapacity, housing, and transportation issues. The study also indicates that parents are subjected to discrimination, experience stress, and tension, and become depressed when they consider the future distressing condition of CWD after their death. Poverty, the societal stigma associated with disability, and a lack of social supports exacerbate parents' mental anguish and limit their ability to care for CWD patients. Therefore, it is recommended to develop new services delivery strategy, including home care, respite care, and monetary transfers for CWD caregivers, as well as community mobilization and inter-professional collaboration, to enhance their current situation and overall well-being.