Editorial

Recently, several Asian countries have initiated policy and system reforms in response to heightened family and social issues. For instance, South Korea has strengthened social security systems, incorporating measures such as unemployment benefits and healthcare coverage to provide a safety net for citizens and ensure social stability. Similarly, China has undertaken reforms to expand social welfare programmes, including healthcare and pension systems, to address the challenges posed by an ageing population. In Singapore, the Smart Nation Initiative focuses on leveraging technology for urban solutions and cultivating human capital and positioning Singapore as a technologically advanced and sustainable city. However, there is a recognised need to enhance the implementation of these programmes, as the current level of accomplishment and engagement still falls short.

The articles featured in this issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development emphasise effective prevention and intervention programmes within social work practices and family and social policies, aiming to enhance sustainable social development. Specifically, the five highlighted programmes discussed are the Children’s Future Education and Development Account (CFEDA) and Social Safety Network System in Taiwan, the body-mind-spirit (BMS) workplace well-being programme in Hong Kong, the McMaster Family Functioning Model in Turkey and the U2T programme in Thailand.

Lee et al.’s (2024) study was conducted to analyse the elements of the CFEDA programme, which was launched in Taiwan in 2017, by comparing them with the 10 core elements proposed by Sherraden et al. (2016). The findings indicate that there is a dearth of children who are eligible for the CFEDA and relatively low number of children applied for the programme due to the restrictive nature of the programme and low incentives for participation. Thus, more encouraged and motivated incentives and less restrictive nature of the programme are needed.

Lin (2024) conducted a qualitative study involving 28 frontline social workers to explore the real multi-agency collaboration dynamics in Taiwan’s Social Safety Network System. The analytic findings indicated that despite the importance of interdisciplinary agency collaboration, the real collaboration was complicated and unequal power relationships between the agencies were yielded. Thus, collaboration dynamics and power issues should be remarkably considered in future service reforms.

In addition to the programmes for children and families, practitioners’ burnout and stress are vital issues affecting their well-being. Especially, emotional labour of community mental health workers is undocumented in the Asian context. In order to enhance the well-being of community mental health workers (CMHW), a study by Ng et al. (2024) used a multi-site randomised controlled trial with 175 CMHW to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief daily BMS workplace well-being programme. The findings reveal protective effect of the brief daily BMS programme in preserving work engagement during difficult situations in the workplace and, to a less extent, in lessening burnout among CMHW.

Pak Gül et al. (2024) introduced families with immunodeficiency in terms of family functionality as immunodeficiencies have a risk of having diverse effects on the family system. This study examined how immunodeficiencies affect family functionality in a multidimensional approach within the framework of the McMaster Family Functioning Model in Turkey and provided critical insights into the implementation of the McMaster Family Functioning interventions with immunodeficiency in families.

During the onset of COVID-19, the Thai government shaped proactive policies designed to alleviate the negative effects of the pandemic while developing durable interventions after the crisis ended. The U2T programme provides employment for university students and community residents to develop community-based projects and to build links with NGOs and government agencies to support their efforts. Suindramedhi et al. (2024) used Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) to conduct the qualitative study through participant observation, interviews and focus group discussion. The findings suggest that universities are able to facilitate sustainable community development vis PAR and ABCD.