Editorial

In recent years, practitioners in social work and social development have been called to address various global challenges in regional or local contexts through seeking a better synergy between research, policy, and practice to respond to a range of universal social and environmental problems (Williams, 2016). One of the clear examples is that the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare officially announced the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work (GCSW) at the SSWR 20th Anniversary Annual Conference (American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, 2015). Whereas these grand challenges were proposed in consideration of the context specificity of the United States, they can be applied to Asia-Pacific regions given the similarity of such challenges faced by countries or societies of these regions. The articles included in this issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development can be interpreted as addressing the two important components of GCSW, namely the social policy responses and social service responses (Williams, 2016). Social policy responses encompass social welfare and social protection, and social service responses refer to social services led by governmental- and non-governmental organisations.

In terms of social welfare and protection, Cho (2022) examined poverty-stricken Korean elderly and discovered a longitudinal reciprocal causal relationship between food insecurity and depressive symptoms among them. This study offers evidence for enhancing gerontological practice and social protection/assistance for disadvantaged older populations, particularly for those suffering from depressive disorders.

Lee and Heo (2022) also focused on the mental health of Korean elderly. They investigated the effects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), long-term care insurance (LTCI) infrastructure, and the interactions between HRQoL and LTCI infrastructure on suicidal ideation (SI) among older adults living with family members. The findings suggest that although lower HRQoL significantly increased SI risk, its effects were mitigated by the level of LTCI infrastructure. Policy strategies were proposed to appropriately establish and expand LTCI infrastructure in communities, and tackle regional imbalances in LTCI infrastructure supply.

In addition to older adults, women in social welfare are often considered to be a disadvantaged group because of social oppression and discrimination. Based on an archival study on welfare-engaged women in Singapore during the late colonial period from 1945 to 1965, Shaw (2022) traced these women who had participated in the shaping of their colonial world and emphasised their agentic role in social welfare. This research not only helps develop a non-prejudicial understanding of imperial social work and welfare but also encourages reflections on the agentic role of women in social welfare across different societies facing changes and challenges.

Concerning the design and implementation of social welfare and protection for needy populations, the efficiency and effectiveness of social services warrant attention in the current challenging global environment. Dehury (2022) explored barriers encountered by Indian tribal pregnant women in accessing government-provided reproductive health care services. The study found conflicts between the tribal population’s traditional understanding of pregnancy/childbirth and contemporary medical and professional discourses, as well as the low community perception of and trust in biomedical procedures among tribal populations. These findings suggest that social work practitioners should help remove cognitive barriers to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of maternal care programmes.

Thampi (2022) identified the standard organisational practices of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Kerala State, India, and found that these NGOs generally performed well in mandatory practices, such as establishing their societal role, ensuring transparency and accountability with stakeholders, and managing financial aspects. However, management practices, including human resource management, performance evaluation, establishing and maintaining strategic alliances, planning processes, and fundraising practices were unsatisfactory. Furthermore, NGO’s involvement in civic engagement, public policy, and governance required significant improvement. This study advocates for NGO accreditation and the acknowledgement of social work professional’s roles in organisations.

He et al. (2022) analysed government procurement data collected from three cities (i.e. Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Foshan) in mainland China from 2011 to 2018, and identified two primary competition patterns in most social service procurement projects, that is, policy-driven and market-driven competition. However, significant differences in competition exist among the three cities due to purchase scale, geographical location, and government protectionism. Moreover, competitiveness has declined over time, which is related to the established networks between suppliers and stakeholders during service delivery. This study suggests that government-purchased social work services necessitate governments’ enhancement of their ability to reduce regulation of social work organisations and improvement of the diversity and flexibility of the private sector.

Besides the empirical support for the significance of initiating social policy and social service responses as effective means to address the GCSW in regional or local contexts, there is also an urgent need for more systematic examination on how researchers and practitioners in social work and social development can collaborate within their own disciplines and across other disciplines in improving such responses (Williams, 2016).