The study aims to clarify how certified social workers at Community General Support Centers build relationships with socially withdrawn adult children living with elderly parents to bring about positive changes. Semi-structured interviews with social workers revealed that adult children began voluntarily discussing and seeking advice from social workers regarding their elderly parents’ situations, which also enabled them to express their feelings about their parents. The outreach activities conducted by these centers are not aimed at resolving the adult children’s social withdrawal. However, this approach is believed to have fostered an equal relationship with adult children facilitating positive changes for them. These findings present a unique perspective that is not addressed in previous research.

  This study aims to clarify the biases and research issues of previous Japanese Social work studies on advocacy for persons with dementia. A literature review was conducted and analyzed using a differential model of advocacy. This study found that the previous studies about advocacy for persons with dementia have focused mainly on the adult guardianship system and collaboration with legal professionals. Furthermore, previous studies have rarely discussed self-advocacy. This study concluded that ①a study about advocacy based on using the adult guardianship system needs a critical examination of the harms and challenges pertaining to advocacy for persons with dementia, and ②to further develop research on self-advocacy, there is a need for clarification regarding appropriate dementia type and level of severity.

  This paper aims to clarify the cultural challenges faced in social work practice in China to promote the establishment of social work. A literature review was conducted and identified three significant issues pertaining to Chinese social work practice: difficulty in approaching clients, challenges in implementing client-centered support, and difficulties in maintaining professional helping relationships. Additionally, four categories concerning cultural characteristics were generated: collectivist characteristics, authoritarian characteristics, characteristics of relationship structures, and ethical and moral characteristics. Furthermore, by comprehensively analyzing these challenges and cultural issues, the overall picture of the circumstances faced in practice was examined, including the relationships between the various issues. The paper also explores perspectives on understanding these cultural challenges and considers future directions.