• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.435-441
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of recreational therapy as part of Social Adult Day Care Program administered in the state of New York for the Korean American elderly living in the United States. The study was conducted in a nonequivalent control group posttest-only design from February to April, 2017. The participants included 35 subjects in the experimental group and 35 subjects in the control group; among the sample, 66 participants' data were analyzed. The average age of subjects who participated in this study was 79.4 years, and the average duration of residence in the United States was 24.6 years. Based on the study results, the recreational therapy program provided by the day care center was found to have a positive effect on the participant's daily life performances, depression and loneliness. Therefore, a variety of cultural sensitive recreational therapy program for the elderly population should be developed and operated in the future; furthermore, evidence-based research should be conducted to evaluate the effects of these programs.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.413-421
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• 2012

The main purpose of this study is to present practical data for the development of the health enhancing programs for the dental hygiene students. This data is based on the investigation of the psychosomatic self-reported symptoms of the dental hygiene students. Out of the random selection of the current dental hygiene students in Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do districts. We conducted a survey and analyzed the collected data from 432 respondents. The results are as follows: 1. The mental appeals (19.37) were higher then the physical appeals (17.53) and of the items in psychosomatic symptoms, the point of mental instability the highest (21.85); whereas, that of mouth and anal scored the lowest (14.59). 2. In terms of the religion, statistical significance was shown among physical appeals (p<.01), mental appeals (p<.05), multiple subjective symptom (p<.01), digestive organs (p<.01), aggressiveness (p<.01), nervousness (p<.01), and eye and skin (p<.05), mental instability (p<.05). 3. Concerning the living conditions, Statistical significance was found on the items such as physical appeals (p<.05), mental appeals (p<.01), depression (p<.001), irregular and life (p<.001), multiple subjective symptom (p<.01), lie scale (p<.01) and mouth and anal (p<.05), digestive organs (p<.05). 4. As for regular health check-ups, statistical significance was shown in the following items such as mental appeals (p<.05), depression (p<.01), multiple subjective symptom (p<.05), mental instability (p<.05).

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.129-140
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• 2024

Background: The mental health issues caused by trauma can manifest differently depending on the characteristics of the traumatic event. Particularly, individuals who have experienced sexual trauma are known to have more negative mental health outcomes compared to those who have experienced non-sexual trauma. The mental health issues of individuals who have experienced sexual trauma are severe, and new forms of threats, such as digital sexual crimes, are emerging. This study aimed to investigate whether the type of traumatic event, particularly focusing on sexual trauma events, contributes to differences in mental health outcomes and to identify factors influencing suicidal ideation and potential post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk. Methods: Based on an online survey conducted nationwide among adults aged 20 to 50, participants were categorized based on the type of trauma they experienced (sexual trauma events and non-sexual trauma events). The study conducted propensity score matching (PSM) using demographic factors (sex, age group, subjective economic status, and marital status) and resilience protective factors (cognition of recoverability, social support, and protection experiences in childhood) as control variables, excluding the experience of sexual trauma events, to investigate their potential impact on mental health (suicidal ideation and potential PTSD risk). Subsequently, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors influencing mental health. Results: Even after PSM, individuals who experienced sexual trauma exhibited more negative outcomes in terms of suicidal ideation and potential PTSD risk compared to those who experienced non-sexual trauma. The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that sexual trauma survivors were 1.9 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts (odds ratio [OR], 1.911) and 2.5 times more likely to have a potential PTSD risk (OR, 2.472). Furthermore, as resilience protective factors became more negative, the likelihood of suicidal ideation and potential PTSD risk increased. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of understanding and supporting individuals who have experienced sexual trauma, highlighting the necessity for strategies aimed at mitigating suicidal ideation and potential PTSD risk among sexual trauma survivors, while also facilitating recovery through the promotion of resilience protective factors.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.87-115
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• 2024

In Korea, exposure to stress has been accompanied by mental pain in the process of achieving many growth along with rapid development, various social problems, and the frequency of emergency hospitalization is increasing.. In the case of mentally ill patients, "unwanted hospitalization" is a problem, and police and 119 paramedics try to suppress the body of mentally ill patients, and many problems are exposed This is because the constituent requirements of the provisions of emergency hospitalization under the Mental Health and Welfare Act do not reflect reality, and each institution has a different position on one mentally ill person, and emergency hospitalization does not proceed smoothly or leads to friction between related organizations, and the safety of the mentally ill or others is not secured. Emergency hospitalization is defined as "a person who finds a person who is presumed to be mentally ill and is at high risk of harming his or her health or safety or others," and if the situation is so urgent that he or she cannot afford time to go through the hospitalization procedure to decide on his or her own hospitalization, he or she can request emergency hospitalization with the consent of a doctor and a police officer. In this case, 119 paramedics are escorted to a psychiatric institution. This provision of emergency hospitalization poses many problems in the process of transferring to psychiatric institutions. If a police officer or 119 paramedics in charge of practice use "physical force" during the emergency hospitalization process, side effects will inevitably occur, and professional negligence can be a problem. Specifically, when exercising physical force, the minimum necessary physical restraint based on laws and regulations and proportional principles is required, and the lack of the duty of care of 119 paramedics or police officers under the laws and regulations will eventually be resolved by applying other laws and regulations. Accordingly, it will be an opportunity for mentally ill patients to be transferred to psychiatric institutions in a safe environment by changing the subject of emergency hospitalization provisions under the Mental Health Welfare Act, defining and prescribing the use of physical protection guards as the enforcement regulations of the Mental Health Act, setting the duty of care for 119 paramedics and police officers, and creating an environment for transportation so that mentally ill patients can be treated safely.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.100 no.3
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• pp.344-351
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• 2011

The aim of this study is to clarify the psychological effects of walking in the urban forest and to examine how the effects differ in accordance with individual personality. The study subjects comprised 18 male Japanese university students ($21.0{\pm}0.8$ years old). These subjects were instructed to walk predetermined 20-min courses in the urban forest and the city (control). Three questionnaires (POMS, STAI-S, and SCL-90) were administered to assess the subjects' psychological responses. The KG's Daily Life Questionnaire was used to examine the subject's personalities for presence of the Type A behavior pattern. The study found that walking in the urban forest improved the participants' positive mood and decreased their negative mood, anxiety, and other negative mental symptoms. Moreover, Type B subjects showed a bigger change than Type A subjects on the SCL-90's obsessive and compulsive scale. Our results supported the premise that walking in the urban forest has relaxing effects, and that these effects can differ in accordance with the subject's personality characteristics.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.304-316
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the records of 8 people with mental disabilities who had participated in Research and Mutual Help of Bethel's House and to investigate the occurrence of mental crisis and process of self-help by using the grounded theory method. As a result of axial coding, the central phenomenon of crisis experience of the people with mental disabilities was derived as 'being overwhelmed by hardships in the life related to their symptoms'. In the self-help process of overcoming the crisis, Action-interaction strategies were derived as 'talking about the hardships', 'researching and practicing with peers', 'participating in various groups', etc. through the intervening conditions such as 'understanding patterns and meanings of hardships led by the person' and 'finding ways to overcome the hardships with the person'. These strategies were analyzed as a process in which the person with mental disabilities leads his/her life reassuming control over his/her crisis. The result of this study shows that it is necessary to expand the political crisis concept in the support system for the mental crisis of people with mental disabilities, and the self-help approach in which the persons participate autonomously can be useful.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.765-775
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that affect the suicidal ideation of the people with mental disabilities. To this end, the independent variables were analyzed by categorizing them into individual psychological factors, social factors, and demographic characteristics. The analysis data include 969 people with mental disabilities who participated in the 2017 Ministry of Health and Welfare's Research, 'Survey on the Current Status of Mental Disabilities in Community'. The analysis method was frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis with SPSS 23.0. As a result of the study, in terms of individual psychological factors, the higher the depression and the lower the mental health confidence, the more suicidal ideation increase. In terms of social factors, the more unregistered disabled groups, the more exposure to violence and discrimination, and the more they live in large cities, the higher their ideation of suicidal. The regression model explained 26.9% of suicidal ideation. The practical and policy implications for the prevention of suicide of the people with mental disabilities based on these results are as follows: First, social factors should be evaluated and considered together, rather than focusing only on individual psychological factors, in seeking policies and intervention programs that reduce suicidal ideation in the people with mental disabilities. Second, in seeking suicide prevention policies for the people with mental disabilities, Protection & Advocacy services should be provided to reduce violence and discrimination experiences. Third, in order to reduce the suicidal ideation of the people with mental disabilities, the mental disability registration system should be reorganized, and policy alternatives should be devised so that those experiencing mental distress can be included into the system.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.42-52
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• 2020

Objectives : Firefighters are always under stress due to their job environment, and they are likely to become psychologically vulnerable due to continuous exposure to traumatic events, which is a stressful situation that requires emergency standby at all times. The aims of this study were to examine mental health factors for each division of firefighters and to see the relationship between sleep and somatization symptoms among them. Methods : General characteristics and related inspections were conducted through self-reporting questionnaires for 1,264 firefighters working at Chungbuk fire stations. Several mental health factors were investigated by the Insomnia Severity Index, Severity of somatic symptoms, Impact of Event Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Resilience Scale, Alcohol Dependent Screening Scale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Depression Scale and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results : Among the mental health variables, the relationship between insomnia and somatization varies significantly depending on types of work. It was reported that the first aid team was significantly higher than the fire suppression and rescue team. Post-traumatic stress, depression and drinking also differ significantly depending on types of work. The first aid team reported more posttraumatic stress than the fire suppression team and more depressed mood than the rescue team. The administration part had more alcohol consumption than the fire suppression or first aid team. Resilience was significantly higher in the rescue team than the first aid team. No significant differences between the types of work about stress and suicide risks. Insomnia, stress, and post-traumatic stress were significant predictors of somatization among firefighters. Above all, insomnia was significant mental health variable affecting somatization. Conclusions : Various mental health factors were different according to the types of work in firefighters. The First aid team was more vulnerable to mental health variables such as insomnia and somatization than other divisions. Insomnia is the most important cause of somatization in firefighters, so it is recommended that they be treated for insomnia and to prepare institutional policies.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.729-746
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• 2020

For the development and better use of information and communication technology(ICT) for promoting health and quality of life in older people, it is important to understand personal factors associated with ICT use. The aims of this study were to describe the pattern of ICT use according to health characteristics of elderly and to investigate significant factors related to ICT use among three age groups. The data of 2017 National Survey of Older Koreans was used for analysis and 10,058 of older adults aged 65 and over were included for study participants. As results, first, the young old(65~74) used more functions of ICT than the middle-old(75~84) and the old-old(85 and over). Second, ICT was more used among older people with good conditions in chronic disease, subjective health, cognition, depression, vision, hearing, walking and IADL. Third, higher prevalence of ICT use was significantly associated with age, education, household income, subjective health, depression, cognitive function, vision limitation and walking limitation. Fourth, factors influencing the use of ICT were a little different among three age groups. For the young-old(65~74), subjective health, depression, cognitive decline, walking limitation, and IADL disability were significant factors affecting on ICT use. For the middle-old(75-84), subjective health, depression, cognitive decline, vision, hearing, and walking limitation were related with their ICT use. For the old-old(85 and over), only cognitive function and depression were associated with their ICT use. Based on these results, this study suggested the need to consider multiple health conditions for developing and using ICT for older adults.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2018

Objectives: Previous studies have shown that periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) could be one of risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between PLMS and blood pressure changes during sleep. Methods: We analyzed data from 358 adults (176 men and 182 women) aged 18 years and older who were free from sleep apnea syndrome (Respiratory Disturbance Index < 5) and sleep disorders such as REM sleep behavior disorder or narcolepsy. Demographic characteristics, polysomnography records, and clinical variable data including blood pressure, body mass index, alcohol, smoking, and current medications were collected. In addition, self-report questionnaires including the Beck Depression Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were completed. Blood pressure change from bedtime to awakening was compared between the two periodic limb movement index (PLMI) groups [low PLMI ($PLMI{\leq}15$) and high PLMI (PLMI > 15)]. Blood pressure change patterns were compared using repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Systolic blood pressure in the high PLMI group was lower than that in the low PLMI group (p = 0.036). These results were also significant when adjusted for gender and age, but were not statistically significant when adjusted for BMI, alcohol, smoking, anti-hypertension medication use and sleep efficiency (p = 0.098). Systolic blood pressure dropped by 9.7 mm Hg in the low PLMI group, and systolic blood pressure in the high PLMI group dropped by 2.9 mm Hg. There was a significant difference in delta systolic blood pressure after sleep between the two groups in women when adjusted for age, BMI, alcohol, smoking, antihypertensive medication use and sleep efficiency (p = 0.023). Conclusion: PLMS was significantly associated with a decreasing pattern in nocturnal BP during sleep, and this association remained significant in women when adjusted for age, BMI, alcohol, smoking, antihypertension medication use and sleep efficiency related to blood pressure. We suggest that PLMS may be associated with cardiovascular morbidity.