Enhancing the Mental Health and Well-Being of Left-Behind Children through Community-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Study

Download Article

DOI: 10.21522/TIJPH.2013.SE.25.02.Art013

Authors : Paramjit Singh Jamir Singh, Azlinda Azman, Lei Daxia

Abstract:

Childhood is a critical period for shaping human behavior, especially for left-behind children who experience periods of separation from their parents. This often leads to significant gaps in care. This study uses qualitative research methods to examine the support available to these children in Zhoukou City, Henan Province, China. The focus is on the services provided, professional assistance, and the overall impact on the children's mental health and well-being. The findings show that professional social work interventions can improve resource integration and the effectiveness of community services, thereby enhancing the mental health and well-being of left-behind children. However, challenges such as suboptimal service outcomes and limited child participation still exist. To provide optimal support, it is crucial to develop community-specific initiatives, utilize local resources, enhance talent development, and increase community involvement. This will ensure the comprehensive development of left-behind children.

References:

[1]. China Youth & Children Research Center., 2020. Care and support for left-behind and migrant children. Retrieved from http://www.cycrc.org.cn/kycg /seyj/202009 /t2020 0901 _105497.html

[2]. The State Council., 2016. Opinions of the state council on strengthening the care and protection of left-behind children in rural areas. Retrieved from http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2016-02/14/content_5041066.htm.

[3]. Yakin, J. A., and McMahon, S. D., 2003. Risk and resiliency: A test of a theoretical model for urban, African-American youth. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 26(1), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.1300/J005v26n01_02.

[4]. Gardner, M., and Brooks-Gunn, J., 2009. Adolescents' exposure to community violence: Are neighbourhood youth organisations protective? Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 505–525. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20310.

[5]. Maguire-Jack, K., and Font, S. A., 2017. Intersections of individual and neighborhood disadvantage: Implications for child maltreatment. Children and Youth Services Review, 72, 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.10.015.

[6]. Wu, Q., Lu, D., and Kang, M., 2015. Social capital and the mental health of children in rural China with different experiences of parental migration. Social Science & Medicine, 132, 270–277.

[7]. Guan S., and Deng G., 2019. Whole-community intervention for left-behind children in rural China. Children and Youth Services Review, 101, 1–11.

[8]. Zhang, X., Li, M., Guo, L. and Zhu, Y., 2020. Community-Based Family Workshop Intervention Improved the Social Adaptation of Left-Behind Children in Rural China. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 506191.

[9]. Zhao, C., Zhou, X., Wang, F., Jiang, M., and Hesketh, T., 2017. Care for left-behind children in rural China: A realist evaluation of a community-based intervention. Children and Youth Services Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.034.

[10]. Man, X., Barth, R.P., Li, Y. E., and Wang, Z., 2017. Exploring the new child protection system in Mainland China: How does it work? Children and Youth Services Review, 76, 196-202.

[11]. Abdul Rahman, M. R., Abd Hamid, A. I., Noh, N. A., Omar, H., Chai, W. J., Idris, Z., and Abdullah, J. M., 2022. Alteration in the functional organization of the default mode network following closed non-severe traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 833320.

[12]. Ali, I., Azman, A., Jamir Singh, P. S., Hatta, Z. A., Mungai, N. W., Islam, M. S., and Akhtar, T., 2020. People with disabilities: The role of social workers for rehabilitation in Bangladesh. Building Sustainable Communities: Civil Society Response in South Asia, 403-424.

[13]. Augustine Bala, N., Azman, A., and Singh, P. S. J., 2022. The impact of gender discrimination and HIV stigma on women living in North Central Nigeria. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 2027612.

[14]. Halim, N. N. A. A., Jaafar, M. H., Anuar, Mohamad., Kamaruddin, N. A. K., and Jamir, P. S., 2020. The causes of Malaysian construction fatalities. Journal of Sustainability Science and Management, 15(5), 236-256.

[15]. Jamir Singh, P. S., Azman, A., Drani, S., Mohd Nor, M. I. H., and Che Ahmad, A., 2023. Navigating the terrain of caregiving of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: importance of benefit finding and optimism. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 1-7.

[16]. Azman, A., Jali, N. A., Singh, P. S. J., Abdullah, J. M., and Ibrahim, H., 2020. Family roles, challenges and needs in caring for traumatic brain injury (TBI) family members: a systematic review. Journal of Health Research, 34(6), 495-504.

[17]. Oke, A. E., Aliu, J., Fadamiro, P., Akanni, P., Jamir Singh, P. S., and Shaharudin Samsurijan, M., 2023. Unpacking the strategies to promote the implementation of automation techniques in the construction industry. Construction Innovation.

[18]. Singh, P. S. J., Oke, A. E., Kineber, A. F., Olanrewaju, O. I., Omole, O., Samsurijan, M. S., and Ramli, R. A., 2023. A mathematical analysis of 4IR innovation barriers in developmental social work—A structural equation modeling approach. Mathematics, 11(4), 1003.

[19]. Vadevelu, K., Effendi, S., Singh, P. S. J., Badaruddin, R. F. R., Samsurijan, M. S., Latif, A. R. A., and Yahaya, M. H., 2019. Psychosocial Review of Drug Substance Use among Transgender in Penang, Malaysia. Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Studies (Former Name Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, And Arts), 59-69.

[20]. Rashid, M. M., Azman, A., Singh, P. S. J., and Ali, M. I., 2020. Issues and problems of small-scale fishing (SSF) communities in South Asia: a comprehensive overview. Indian Journal of Ecology, 47(3), 775-781.

[21]. Oke, A. E., Aliu, J., Jamir Singh, P. S., Onajite, S. A., Shaharudin Samsurijan, M., and Azura Ramli, R., 2024. Appraisal of awareness and usage of digital technologies for sustainable wellbeing among construction workers in a developing economy. International Journal of Construction Management, 24(5), 521-529.

[22]. Ali, I., Azman, A., Jamir Singh, P. S., Hatta, Z. A., Mungai, N. W., Islam, M. S., and Akhtar, T., 2020. People with disabilities: The role of social workers for rehabilitation in Bangladesh. Building Sustainable Communities: Civil Society Response in South Asia, 403-424.

[23]. Abdullah, A. N., Ahmad, A. H., Zakaria, R., Tamam, S., Abd Hamid, A. I., Chai, W. J., and Abdullah, J. M., 2022. Disruption of white matter integrity and its relationship with cognitive function in non-severe traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Neurology, 13, 1011304.

[24]. Creswell, J. W., and Guetterman, T. C., 2019. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

[25]. Ali, I., Azman, A., Singh, P. S. J., Drani, S., and Rashid, M. M., 2020. Islamic faith-based organizations and poverty reduction in Bangladesh: A social work perception. Social Work & Society, 18(2).

[26]. Singh, P., Singh, J., Rashid, M. M., Azman, A., and Ali, I., 2019. Fishery policies and acts in present context-experiences from coastal Bangladesh. Indian Journal of Ecology, 46(4), 857-861.

[27]. Oke, A. E., Aliu, J., Fadamiro, P., Singh, P. S. J., Samsurijan, M. S., and Yahaya, M., 2023. Robotics and automation for sustainable construction: microscoping the barriers to implementation. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, (ahead-of-print).

[28]. Islam, T., Azman, A., Singh, P., Ali, I., Akhtar, T., Rafatullah, M., and Hossain, K., 2019. Socio-economic vulnerability of riverbank erosion of displacees: Case study of coastal villages in Bangladesh. Indian Journal of Ecology, 46(1), 34-38.

[29]. Azman, A., Singh, P. S. J., and Isahaque, A., 2021. Implications for social work teaching and learning in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, due to the COVID-19 pandemic: A reflection. Qualitative Social Work, 20(1-2), 553-560.

[30]. Ali, I., Shaik, R., Maruthi, A. Y., Azman, A., Singh, P., Bala, J. D., and Hossain, K., 2020. Impacts of climate change on coastal communities. In Decision Support Methods for Assessing Flood Risk and Vulnerability, (pp. 42-59). IGI Global.

[31]. Azman, A., Jamir Singh, P. S., and Sulaiman, J., 2019. The mentally ill and their impact on family caregivers: A qualitative case study. International social work, 62(1), 461-471.

[32]. Oke, A. E., Aliu, J., Odia, O. A., Aigbavboa, C. O., Jamir Singh, P. S., Awuzie, B. O., and Samsurijan, M. S., 2023. A quantitative assessment of key drivers for environmental economic practices adoption for sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 31(5), 3579-3594.

[33]. Oke, A. E., Kineber, A. F., Olanrewaju, O. I., Omole, O., Jamir Singh, P. S., Samsurijan, M. S., and Ramli, R. A., 2022. Exploring the 4IR drivers for sustainable residential building delivery from social work residential perspective—A structural equation modelling approach. Sustainability, 15(1), 468.

[34]. Braun, V., and Clarke, V., 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

[35]. Karen, K. I., and Jody, E. J., 2018. Living-Learning Communities That Work: A Research-Based Model for Design, Delivery, and Assessment. Stylus Publishing, pp. 67-68.

[36]. Fan, X., and Lu, M., 2020. Testing the effect of perceived social support on left-behind children’s mental well-being in mainland China: The mediation role of resilience. Children and Youth Services Review, 109, 104695.

[37]. Zhao, G., He, F., and Zhang, H., 2018. Psychological intervention on the improvement of psychological behavior problems of rural left-behind children in Guangyuan City. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care, 26(7), 775–778.

[38]. Wang, M., Sokol, R., Luan, H., Perron, B. E., Victor, B. G., amd Wu, S., 2020. Mental health service interventions for left-behind children in mainland China: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Children and Youth Services Review, 117, 105304.

[39]. Hung, J., 2023. Policy-Oriented Examination of Left-Behind Children’s Health and Well-Being in China. Sustainability, 15(7), 5977. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075977

[40]. Jiang, M., Li, L., and Zhu, W.X., 2020. Community-based intervention to improve the well-being of left-behind children by migrant parents in rural China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7218).