Interventions supporting development of young children with disabilities at environmental risk in Indonesia: a scoping review

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the current literature addressing interventions to support the developmental process of children of early age with disabilities in Indonesia, who are threatened with significant environmental risk. To achieve that, a scoping review was conducted. The following databases were searched: PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Social Services Abstracts, and Scopus, as well as the reference lists of all included studies. We searched 46 open access Indonesian journals and conducted hand-searches at the four main Indonesian universities. Searches were conducted of Google Scholar and the websites of Indonesian government and nongovernmental agencies to identify gray literature. These agencies were also personally contacted to identify relevant reports. Eight studies met our inclusion criteria. The existing research investigates on various interventions including two studies utilizing strategies indigenous to Indonesian. Environmental risk factors were not addressed directly by all the interventions. The eight studies targeted all areas of early childhood development. Several limitations were found in these studies’ methodology, and they also used similar research designs. This review highlights the need of more rigorous and culturally relevant research to fulfill the developmental needs of young children with disabilities in Indonesia.