Preventing Child Drowning in Indonesia: A Community-Informed Health Promotion Perspective

Child drowning is a significant public health issue in Indonesia; however, there remains a lack of understanding within communities of the risks and how to prevent it. This qualitative study aimed to explore existing and suggested actions undertaken by parents and communities to prevent child drowning. Seven focus group discussions were conducted, comprising 62 participants, with parents of children below 5 years and village community leaders from seven villages on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Participants were recruited with purposive and snowball sampling methods. The thematic analysis used both deductive, applying the Health Belief Model and the Health Promotion Framework, and inductive approaches. The results highlighted the focus that participants placed on individual-focused, behavioral drowning interventions, particularly through swimming lessons for school-age children and educational programs on life-saving skills for parents and community members. While participants acknowledged the importance of midstream interventions, such as safety measures around water bodies and community-based safe places for children, alongside population-based upstream interventions such as advocating for policies, regulations, and intergovernmental agency collaboration, there was limited understanding on the roles of the education and health departments in preventing child drowning. Participants reported inconsistent and insufficient implementation of swimming lessons in schools. Further research into formal integration of swimming training into school curricula and its impact on reducing child drowning rates, development of contextually relevant water safety promotion approaches, and alignment of cross-sector partnerships is imperative to ensure effective and sustainable drowning prevention efforts in Indonesia.