Asean Social Work Journal

Managing Community Home-Based Care Intervention for Children Living with HIV in Jakarta, Indonesia (2009-2024): Role of Social Workers

Gracia V.P.K. Simanullang — 2025-12-29

Children and Adolescents living with HIV and AIDS (CALHIV) are one of the most vulnerable populations, especially those living in underserved and marginal communities. This article presents lessons learned and challenges of a Community Home-Based Care (CHBC) intervention by Lentera Anak Pelangi (LAP). This intervention program was initiated as an extension service during the university’s research for a Harm Reduction Program to prevent HIV infection among injecting drug users (IDUs) managed by the HIV and AIDS Research Center, Atma Jaya Indonesian Catholic University (ARC-AJCUI). LAP was established to respond to community reports about children of IDUs who were neglected by community and families. Since 2009, AJCUI, assisted by government agencies, communities and professionals have supported the children of IDUs who were impacted (affected or infected) by HIV, by advocating their families and communities lacking the right information and education about HIV, and. providing access to resources to fulfill the children’s basic needs and rights. Case file data accumulated over 15 years are presented to highlight LAP journeys as one of the very few HIV community organization providing home-based and multi-disciplinary intervention programs that fills the void in Indonesia’s HIV services and make significant impacts to the lives of CALHIV in Indonesia.

Policy Strategy for Social Protection Toward Independent and Productive Ageing in Indonesia

Yanti Damayanti — 2025-12-29

Indonesia has entered the ageing population era since 2021, with the older population projected to exceed 65 million by 2045. This demographic shift presents complex challenges across health, social, economic, and environmental sectors, demanding adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable social protection policies for older persons. This study evaluates the effectiveness of current policies by referring to global, regional, and national frameworks, while assessing critical aspects including human resources, financing, infrastructure, and program governance. The analysis identifies major implementation gaps, including limited capacity of social workforce, heavy dependence on the state budget (APBN), lack of age-friendly infrastructure, and poor inter-agency coordination and data integration. To address these gaps, the paper proposes a core strategy centered on strengthening the competencies of human resources and raising public awareness. This involves standardized training programs, nationwide awareness campaigns, and partnerships with academic institutions and professional organizations. The proposed strategy draws on a life-cycle approach, the concept of healthy ageing, and integrated cross-sectoral collaboration. Its objective is to establish a robust and responsive social protection system that secures the health, economic resilience, and social inclusion of older persons. This paper aims to provide evidence-based policy recommendations to ensure that older persons live independently, with dignity and quality of life.

Social Work Activities Supporting Patients at Hospitals in Nghe An, Vietnam

Thi Kim Dung Le — 2025-12-29

Hospital social work in Vietnam has been introduced to support patients, yet faces substantial challenges and has not achieved its intended outcomes. This study, based on quantitative surveys with 500 patients and 255 healthcare professionals, alongside in-depth interviews across five hospitals in Nghe An province, provides a comprehensive overview of current practices. Findings show that social work activities—such as patient reception, information provision, psychosocial support, discharge assistance, and emergency response—are aligned with patient needs and implemented in accordance with Circular No. 43/2015. However, these tasks are often carried out by both social workers and healthcare staff, and remain largely administrative. Key barriers include a shortage of trained professionals, fragmented operational mechanisms, and limited institutional recognition of social work’s role in healthcare. The study recommends strengthening legal frameworks, enhancing workforce capacity, and raising awareness of the professional functions of hospital social workers.

University Students’ Awareness and Willingness to Intervene: Bystander Response to Peer Suicidal Risk in Kyrgyzstan

Leila Salimova — 2025-12-29

While suicide is widely recognized as a serious concern, there is limited research on how young people perceive and respond to suicide risk among their peers. Our research aims to explore Kyrgyzstani university students' awareness and personal connections to suicide risk among peers, as well as their likelihood to intervene. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 239 university students in Kyrgyzstan, employing an instrument based on the Bystander Intervention (BSI) Model. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, visualizations, and thematic grouping of open-ended questions to identify trends and insights. Students show a strong awareness of the severity in Kyrgyzstan. While students view suicidal ideation as an emergency, they struggle to identify manipulative behaviors and specific signs. Students are generally willing to intervene but lack the knowledge and confidence for concrete actions. This study highlighted the critical role of personal experience, awareness, and skill development in shaping students' readiness to support peers at suicidal risk, emphasizing the need for targeted educational interventions to equip bystanders with effective knowledge and resources for proactive suicide prevention.

Criminal Justice Reform, Community Supervision and Social Work in Indonesia: Some Preliminary Observations

David Gillies — 2025-12-29

Indonesia’s new criminal code is poised to expand non-custodial approaches to sentencing offenders. Enhanced use of alternatives to custody may help reduce Indonesia’s prison population, lower re-offending rates, and enable more supervision of offenders in the community. This review article draws on comparative experience of criminal justice reform and the role of international cooperation to illustrate the opportunities and challenges for implementation. It also briefly surveys linkages between social work education and criminal justice in Indonesia. There are five key observations. First, experience from other jurisdictions suggests that enabling laws are only the first step. The legal proliferation of community-based sentencing options is not by itself sufficient to shift criminal justice away from a focus on retribution towards increased emphasis on restorative justice and rehabilitation. Second, greater use of non-custodial approaches also requires public engagement, sustained political will, and a disciplined public policy focus with a regulatory framework, supporting institutions and predictable resources. Third, professional social work associations, training institutions, and social workers at the intersection of the state, the offender, and the community, have a key role to play in enabling the transition to a more humane approach to criminal justice. Fourth, Indonesian efforts to align with ASEAN regional standards for the integration of social work in the justice sector is a work still in progress. Finally, outreach to international partners and to neighbouring jurisdictions may be helpful to compare experiences, identify effective ways of working, and pilot new approaches.

Barangay-Led Interventions for CICL: Current Practice and Ways Moving Forward

Lester John Lim — 2025-12-29

This study examines the barangay-led interventions for Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) in the three barangays in Quezon City, Philippines, under Republic Act 9344. Using a multiple-case study design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 key stakeholders, direct field observations, and document analysis to examine how developmental, preventive, and remedial programs are integrated across intervention levels. Findings show that while barangays implement a range of programs for CICL, these tend to be programmatic rather than child-centered. The study found that the local government unit, through the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC), implements primary interventions centered on community development, including advocacy initiatives, curfew enforcement, security enhancement, and budget allocation for child protection programs. On the other hand, the secondary interventions involved direct engagement with children through structured dialogues, case management, educational support, counseling, parent education, and organized developmental activities aimed at strengthening protective factors and mitigating delinquent activities. Tertiary interventions that were implemented aimed to address legal concerns by facilitating monitoring, conducting feedback sessions, and implementing reintegration strategies to support CICL while also preventing recidivism. The study highlights the importance of a well-functioning BCPC and recommends capacity-building initiatives, professional practice enhancement, and policy reforms to strengthen community-based, child-focused interventions facilitated by social workers and paraprofessionals.

Early Access to Support for Families of Foreign Origin in Japan: An Exploratory Study of Social Work Outreach utilizing Web Advertising

Yuki Ohsaka — 2025-12-29

This study reconceptualizes outreach as a preventive social work practice aimed at facilitating early access to support for individuals and families who remain invisible to formal support systems, with a particular focus on families of foreign origin (FFO) in Japan who face structural and social barriers to accessing support information. To empirically examine this form of preventive outreach, the study analyzes the outcomes of a multilingual web advertisement campaign implemented by a Japanese non-profit organization Florence. The analysis draws on outreach activities conducted through Global Oyako Chat initiative, which disseminated support information in English, Tagalog, and Vietnamese language. Data, such as number of ads displayed (n = 2,643,927), click-throughs (n = 18,467), and “Add Friend” button clicks (n = 343) were analyzed and further disaggregated by language, users’ gender, device type, and residential area to identify patterns of engagement and access behavior. The findings indicate that, in contrast to conventional outreach that primarily targets “visible clients” whose challenges are already apparent, web-based outreach enables connection with “invisible clients” whose needs may be unrecognized or have not yet fully emerged. This approach can be characterized as a form of preventive outreach, enhancing early access to support before problems escalate. The findings suggest that, when thoughtfully designed and implemented, digital outreach strategies can help bridge structural gaps and improve access to support information for underserved FFO communities in Japan.