Psychiatry investigation

  • 제15권11호
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  • Pages.1019-1029
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  • 2018
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  • 1738-3684(pISSN)
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  • 1976-3026(eISSN)
대한신경정신의학회 (Korean Neuropsychiatric Association)
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What Is It to Be Mentally Healthy from the North Korean Refugees' Perspective?: Qualitative Research on the Changes in Mental Health Awareness among the North Korean Refugees

  • Yu, Shieun (Department of Healthcare and Medicine for Unified Korea, Korea University) ;
  • Jang, Jungeun (Department of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University) ;
  • Noh, Jin-Won (Department of Healthcare Management, Eulji University) ;
  • Kwon, Young Dae (Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, College of Medicine and Catholic Institute for Healthcare Management, The Catholic University of Korea) ;
  • Park, Hyunchun (Gyeonggi Public Health Policy Institute) ;
  • Woo, Jong-Min (Korea Employee Assistance Professionals Association)
  • 투고 : 2018.05.20
  • 심사 : 2018.09.10
  • 발행 : 2018.11.30
⟨ 이전 논문 다음 논문 ⟩

초록

Objective We investigated how mental health awareness among North Korean refugees transformed depending on temporal-spatial context changes. Methods In 2013, we conducted interviews with 10 refugees (eight women) who had been in South Korea for over a year and performed a qualitative analysis of the change in mental health awareness in the differences between living in North Korea, escape (a related period of forced sojourn in a third country), and settlement in South Korea. Results We classified 39 concepts into five main categories. The first two categories (while living in North Korea) were "a mindset for the system, but not for individual mental health" and "being confined in a social environment that was indifferent to mental health." A third category appeared during escape: "focusing on survival amid continuity of intense suffering." The final two categories appeared when settling in South Korea: "recognition of mental health amid cultural shock" and "introspection and sorting oneself out." Conclusion This qualitative study enabled a better multi-dimensional understanding of the social and cultural aspects involved in improving mental health awareness among North Korean refugees in South Korea. It is desirable to integrate mental health as a part of daily life and to expand training for North Korean settlers.

키워드

과제정보

연구 과제 주관 기관 : National Seoul Hospital

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피인용 문헌

  1. A Systematic Review of the Protective and Risk Factors Influencing the Mental Health of Forced Migrants: Implications for Sustainable Intercultural Mental Health Practice vol.10, pp.9, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10090334