• Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.29-48
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide the basic information on the improvement plan by identifying the role accomplishment and job satisfaction of the hospice nurses and analyzing the factors that impact such role accomplishment and job satisfaction. Methods: The data was collected of 189 hospice nurses who have been working more than 6 months in 56 hospice programs registered in Korea Hospice Association and Korean Catholic Hospice Association from October to November, 2007 by structured questionnaire which was developed by Ryu(1979), based on the Riehl's nursing role and the research of Choe(2005) on the role of hospice nurse. Results: The role accomplishment and job satisfaction of the study subject were 3.53 point and 3.39 point, respectively. The roles of hospice nurses were accomplished by the order of advocator, nursing care provider, coordinator (cooperation), educator, quality manager, counsellor, administrator, and researcher. The job satisfaction of the hospice nurses was shown highest in the satisfaction of professional status, followed by the satisfaction of the interaction, satisfaction of the task itself, satisfaction of the administrative aspect, satisfaction of the autonomous, and the lowest in the satisfaction of the pay. The role accomplishment of the subjects according to their socio-demographic and job characteristics was found to have a significant difference by their age, marriage status, academic background, and position. It also has a significant difference by whether they play role of coordinator, whether they took whole responsibility as hospice, working experience as hospice/palliative nurse, and the level of hospice/palliative nursing training(p<.05). In the study of job satisfaction of the subjects according to their socio-demographic and job characteristics, the job satisfaction was found to have a significant difference by the increase of age, the number of duties consisting the hospice team, whether they play role of coordinator, whether they take whole responsibility as hospice, the level of hospice/palliative nursing training, and whether they wish to work for as long as possible(p<.05). The role accomplishment and the job satisfaction of the subjects showed a statistically significant positive correlation. (r=.541, p<.01) Conclusion: Raised saiary will be increased hospice nurse's job satisfaction. And we suggest a repetitive study using the identical tool to the equally extracted subjects with same representativeness of each hospice/palliative institute type. For the expanded role and enhanced professional standard of hospice nurses, we also suggest a study on the improvement plan to enhance the roles of researcher and administrator.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.179-198
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• 2021

Purpose: This study examined general characteristics, health status, accessibility to medical services, health-related quality of life, dietary behavior, and energy and nutrient intakes of the elderly at different levels of food security utilizing data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2018). Methods: The elderly subjects (1,721 males and 2,271 females) were divided into 3 groups (secure, mildly insecure, moderately/severely insecure) according to their food security levels. Health and nutrient status was determined using energy intake, nutrient density, the prevalence of insufficient nutrient intake, dietary behavior, and health status. Results: The elderly with food insecurities had a lower self-evaluated health status and a higher prevalence of physician-diagnosed chronic diseases such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis for males, and hypertension, stroke, arthritis, and osteoarthritis for females. The associated financial burden was the major reason for not accessing medical services in the food insecure group. Furthermore, the food insecure group had a higher risk of impaired health-related quality of life compared to the secure group. The proportion of subjects with an energy intake below the estimated energy requirement was higher in the food insecure group and a significantly higher prevalence of insufficient intake was observed for all the nutrients (proteins, vitamin A, vitamin B₁, vitamin B₂, niacin, vitamin C, calcium, and iron) assessed in this study compared to the food secure group. Conclusion: This study suggests that food insecurity poses a challenge to the health and nutritional status of the elderly population in Korea and needs proper management. It would be helpful to develop food and nutrition assistance programs to ensure the food stability of the elderly population and assure quality to address gaps in their nutrient intake.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.35-52
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• 2023

Korea has developed as an influential country over Asia and all over the world based on remarkable economic development. And the background of this development was possible due to the existence of those who sacrificed precious lives and contributed to the nation's existence in the past crisis. Every year, Korea holds an annual commemorative event with people of national merit, Korean War veterans, and their families, expressing gratitude for sacrifices and contributions at home and abroad, and providing economic support. The tragedy of the Korean War and the pro-democracy movement in Korea over the past half century will one day become a history of the distant past over time. As generations change and the purpose and method of exchange by region change, the tragic situation that occurred earlier and the way people sacrificed for the country are expected to be different from before. In particular, it is true that the number of Korean War veterans and their families is gradually decreasing as they are now old. In addition, due to the outbreak of global infectious diseases such as COVID-19, it is difficult to plan and conduct face to face events as well as before. Currently, Korea's digital technology is introducing various methods. 5G communication networks, smart-phones, tablet PCs, and smart devices that can experience virtual reality are already used in our real lives. Business meetings are held in a metaverse environment, and concerts by famous singers are held in an online environment. Artificial intelligence technology has also been introduced in the field of human resource recruitment and customer response services, improving the work efficiency of companies. And it seems that this technology can be used in the field of veterans. In particular, there is a metaverse technology that can vividly show the situation during the Korean War, and a way to digitalize the voices and facial expressions of currently surviving veterans to convey their memories and lessons to future generations in the long run. If this digital technology method is realized on an online platform to hold a veterans' celebration event, veterans and their families on the other side of the world will be able to participate in the event more conveniently.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 1994

To provide better health care services to the rural population, the government has made the Community Health Practitioner(CHP) a regular government official from April 1, 1992. This study was carried out to study the impact of officialization of CHP on the activities and management system of Primary Health Post(PHP). Fifty PHPs were selected by two stage sampling, cluster and simple random, from 595 PHPs in Kyungnam and Kyungpook provinces. Data were collected by a personal interview with CHPs and review of records and reports kept in the PHPs. The study was done for the periods of January 1-March 31, 1992 (before officialization) and January 1-March 31, 1993 (after officialization). Ninety-six percent of the CHPs wanted to become a regular government official in the hope of better job security and higher salary. The proportion of CHPs who were proud of their iob was increased from 24% to 46% after officialization. Those CHPs who felt insecure for their job decreased from 30% to 10%. Monthly salary was increased by 34% from 802,600 Won to 1,076,000 Won and 90% of the CHPs were satisfied with their salary, also more CHPs responded that they have autonomy in their work planning, implementation of plan, management of the post, and evaluation of their activity. There were no appreciable changes in such CHPs' activities as assessment of local health resources, drawing map for the catchment area, utilization of community organization, grasping the current population structure in the catchment area, keeping the family health records, individual and group health education, and school health service. However, the number of home visits was increased from 13.6 times on the average per month per CHP to 27.5 times. More mothers and children were referred to other medical facilities for the immunization and family planning services. Average number of patients of hypertension, cancer, and diabetes in three months period was decreased from 12.7 to 11.6, from 1.5 to 1.2, and 4.3 to 3.4, respectively. Records for the patient care, drug management, and equipment were well kept but not for other records. The level of record keeping was not changed after officialization. The proportion of PHPs which had support from the health center was increased for drug supply from 14.0% to 30.0%, for consumable commodities from 22.0% to 52.0%, for maintenance of PHP from 54.0% to 68.0%, for supply of health education materials from 34.0% to 44.0%, and supply of equipment from 54.0% to 58.0%. Total monthly revenue of a PHP was increased by about 50,000 Won; increased by 22,000 Won in patient care and 34,700 Won in the government subsidy but decreased in the membership due and donation. However, there was no remarkable changes in the expenditure. The proportion of PHPs which had received official notes from the health center for the purpose of guidance and supervision of the CHPs was increased from 20% to 38% during three months period and the average number of telephone call for supervision from the health center per PHP was increased from 1.8 to 2.1 times(p<0.01). However, the proportion of PHPs that had supervisory visit and conference was reduced from 79% to 62%, and from 88% to 74%, respectively. The proportion of CHPs who maintained a cooperative relationship with Myun Health Workers was reduced from 42% to 36%, that with the director of health center from 46% to 24%, that with the chief of public health administration section from 56% to 36%, and that with the chairman of PHP management council from 62% to 38%. Most of the CHPs (92% before and 82% after officialization) stated that the PHP management council is not helpful for the PHP. CHPs who considered the PHP management council unnecessary increased from 4% to 16%(p<0.05). Suggestions made by the CHPs for the improvement of CHP program included emphasis on health education, assurance of autonomy for PHP management, increase of the kind of drugs that can be dispensed by CHPs, and appointment of an experienced CHP in the health center as the supervisor of CHPs. The results of this study revealed that the role and function of CHPs as reflected in their activities have not been changed after officialization. However, satisfaction in job security and salary was improved as well as the autonomy. Support of health center to the PHP was improved but more official notes were sent to the PHPs which required the CHPs more paper works. Number of telephone calls for supervision was increased but there was little administrative and technical guidance for the CHP activities.