• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.43-82
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• 2019

In Korea surrogate medical decision makings happen without legal grounds. The purpose of this article is to research the issues in preparing policies for decision-making on behalf of unrepresented patients. As aspects of comparative law, there are two approaches. One of them is to regulate default surrogate list. If no agent or guardian has been appointed, some legislatures provide that members of patient's family who is reasonably available, in descending order of priority of not, may act as surrogate: (1) the spouse, unless legally separated; (2) an adult child; (3) a parent; or (4) an adult brother or sister. If none of them is eligible to act as surrogate, some legislatures allow close friends to make health-care decisions for adult individuals who lack capacity. On the other hand there are other legislatures which provide no surrogate decision maker list but oblige the responsible authority to determine with advice of family members or friends of the patient. In the end the first approach can not guarantee that the surrogate decision maker like family members or friends will determine in the best interest of the patient.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2019

Objective : Aphasia interferes with communication between the patient and conversation partner. Adequate communication is essential not only for the patient but also for caregiver education and training Method : This study examined the benefits of parental education and group training in terms of improving the communication of six aphasic patients and their caregivers(family members). Caregiver education provided caregivers with information on stroke and aphasia, and group training was conducted according to the experimental learning cycle. Result : As a result, communication increased in terms of sending and receiving messages or interactive communication. Furthermore, the questionnaire analysis showed that caregivers learned more about aphasia and had confidence in using facilitation strategies. Conclusion : Giving educational opportunities to patients and caregivers promotes caregiver's knowledge and positively interacts.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the perception and emotional experiences in rare and intractable diseases for caregivers of pediatric patients with mitochondrial diseases in order to provide therapeutic interventions for patients, caregivers, and families. Methods: A total of 83 caregivers of pediatric patients with mitochondrial diseases were recruited from the pediatric mitochondrial disease clinics of the Gangnam Severance Hospital in South Korea. Participants completed the survey about their perception of mitochondrial disease and emotional experiences after the diagnosis, and these clinical data were analyzed accordingly. Results: Surveys from a total of 83 caregivers of patients were analyzed, and the patients' age ranged from 6 to 12 years (33%), followed by ages 1 to 6 years (30%). Children with mitochondrial diseases were between 0 and 0.5 years of age at the time of first symptom onset (43%), and the duration of illness lasted more than 10 years in most cases (42%). Prior to diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases, the amount of awareness the caregivers had was 'Not at all' for both rare and intractable diseases and mitochondrial diseases in 44 cases and 68 cases, respectively. For the caregivers' emotional experiences, the most common initial responses were 'Discouraged/despair', 'Helpless/lethargic', and 'Disconcerted'. 'Anxious', 'Committed to treatment', and 'Responsibility as family members' were the most common emotional responses from the caregivers, followed by 'Disconcerted' and 'Helpless/lethargic'. Conclusion: It is important to consider the level of perception and emotional experiences of caregivers and patients with rare and intractable mitochondrial diseases for planning treatment programs.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2014

Purpose: This study is aimed to investigate perceptions of caregivers and medical staff toward do not resuscitate (DNR) and advance directives (AD). Methods: Participants were 141 caregivers and 272 medical staff members from five general hospitals. A questionnaire used for the study consisted of 20 items: 14 about DNR perceptions, three about AD, one each for age, gender and employment. Results: Both medical staff and caregivers strongly recognized the need for DNR and AD, and the level of recognition was higher with medical staff than caregivers (DNR ${\chi}^2=44.56$, P=0.001; AD ${\chi}^2=16.23$, P=0.001). The main reason for the recognition was to alleviate sufferings of patients in the terminal phase. In most cases, DNR and AD were filled out when patients with terminal conditions were admitted, and patients made the decisions by consulting with their guardians. Medical staff better recognized the need and for growing demand for guidelines for the DNR and AD decision making process than caregivers (${\chi}^2=7.41$, P=0.0025). Conclusion: This study showed that patients highly rely on their caregivers when making decisions for DNR and AD. Thus, it is important that patients and caregivers are provided with objective information about the decisions. Since participants' strong support for DNR and AD was mainly aimed at alleviating patients' suffering, further study is needed in the association with hospice care. Medical staff also needs to understand the different views held by caregivers and fully consider the disparity when informing patients/caregivers to make the DNR and AD decisions.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.276-282
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• 2018

This study was conducted to improve the quality of home-based cancer management programs through a survey of satisfaction and needs of the program provided by a regional cancer center. From March 2015 to October 2015, we conducted face to face surveys of patients and caregivers enrolled in home-based cancer management. A total of 101 patients, 59 patients and 41 caregivers, were enrolled. Breast cancer was the main cancer and 51 (86%) patients and 36 (85%) caregivers were satisfied with the number of visits for home-based cancer management. For the service application route, 22 patients (37.29%) obtained information through the cancer center publicity paper and 11 caregivers (26.19%) received recommendations from acquaintances. Except for treatment provided directly to the patients, psychological counseling was the most preferred, and satisfaction regarding picnic and cancer education were also high. Satisfaction with the program provided by regional cancer center was relatively high ($4.14{\pm}1.21$ on a 5-point scale). Additionally, satisfaction of the patients was higher than that of the caregivers, but this difference was not significant ($4.29{\pm}1.11$, $3.93{\pm}1.31$, p = 0.141). Self-esteem was higher among caregivers than patients, but this difference was not significant. To improve the quality of life of cancer patients and caregivers, it is necessary to develop customized programs considering patients' economic situations and need for psychological counseling.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 2004

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of life of caretaking family members who have a patient with psychiatric disorders. The results will be served as a basic data of ameliorating the quality of life of caregivers. Methods: 78 caretaking family members who have a patient with schizophrenia and 54 caretaking family members who have a patient with alcohol dependence, a total of 132 persons completed the questionnaire, and analyzed. The Korean version of the SmithKline Beecham Quality of Life Scale and the Family Burden Scale were applied. Results: There was no statistically significant correlation between burden and sex, age, income, and duration of living with patients before onset. The male caregiver showed higher quality of life than that of female. It showed statistically significant correlation between age and factor physical well-being and factor activity. 41% of variance of quality of life of caregivers were explained by the stress response, burden, and overall merits of the field of psychiatry, and the tension had the most explanatory power. Conclusion: The chronic illness may give a burden on caregivers, and that decrease the quality of life of caregivers. The longer duration of illness of patients, the lower quality of life of caregivers on competence factor. Therefore, the authors recommend the therapeutic modality must be offered to the caregivers who may experience the stress and burden.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.289-290
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• 2015

본 연구는 뇌졸중 환자와 가족 보호자를 위한 재활 교육 프로그램을 개발하여 뇌졸중 환자의 우울감, 재활동기와 기능회복, 가족 보호자의 스트레스와 돌봄능숙도에 미치는 효과와 임상적 적용에 대한 과학적 근거를 제공하는 목적으로 실시하였으며 실험전보다 실험후에서, 대조군보다 실험군에서 향상된 결과를 나타내어 재활 교육 프로그램의 적용은 보다 효율적인 재활치료에 도움을 줄 수 있는 방법이고, 뇌졸중 환자와 가족 보호자의 심리적인 측면뿐만 아니라, 뇌졸중 환자의 기능회복적인 측면까지 긍정적인 영향을 미칠 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.149-169
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• 2020

This study focused on library services for patients and carers and conducted an awareness survey on the current status of library services for patients and carers in hospitals in Korea and on future library services for patients and carers. Through this, the ways to activate library services for patients and carers in the hospital were sought. Based on the results of the study, the research team proposes the following measures: First, the legislation for the mandatory establishment of libraries in hospitals and standards for the size, book collection, and manpower of libraries in hospitals should be enacted. Second, cooperation between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare is essential to lay the foundation for the mandatory and voluntary establishment of hospital libraries at the national level in the future. Third, the operation of regional representative libraries, public libraries, and other institutions should be considered.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2006

Purpose: In terminal cancer patients, pain control with narcotic analgesics and supportive care by hospice are very useful treatment modality. However, many patients and their caregivers are poorly compliant in using narcotic analgesics for fear of addiction and tolerance. And also many patients and family caregivers are reluctant to accept hospice, presuming that hospice means patient's condition is no longer reversible and progressively deteriorating. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and analyze the perception of using narcotic analgesics and hospice by family caregivers of terminal cancer patients who play a critical role in health care in Korean culture. Methods: A total of 54 terminal ranter patient's family caregivers participated in this study. Questionnaire consisted of 15 questions about narcotic analgesics and hospice. Results: The study revealed following results. 1) family caregivers who are not aware of hospice are more than half (56.7%). 2) 81.8% of family caregivers agreed that hospice care is beneficial to terminal cancer patients. 3) 85.1% of family caregivers were under financial burden. 4) 83.2% of patient complained pain in 24 hours. 3) while 88.5% of family caregivers believed that narcotic analgesics can control pair, 79.1% and 79.6% of them also believed that use of narcotic analgesics would result in addiction and tolerance, respectively. Conclusion: There still exist barriers to family caregivers in using narcotic analgesics for pain control. And also, terminal cancer patient's family caregivers have poor information about hospice. Therefore, educational intervention about narcotic analgesics by pharmacist and doctors are needed for proper pain control for terminal ranter patients. In addition, more precise information about hospice care should be provided for terminal cancer patients and their family caregivers.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.700-708
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• 2008

The aim of this study was to recognize guardians' desire and awareness on sedation, and to guide guardians' satisfaction and cooperation. Followings are the conclusion : 1. Information supply about conscious sedation were restrictive and insufficient. 2. Both first-visit guardians and guardians of sedated patients were interested in decrease of dental fear. 3. Both first-visit guardians and guardians of sedated patients were satisfied with psychological improvement better than behavior improvement. Therefore, decrease of patients'ear and anxiety was essential. 4. Both first-visit guardians and guardians of sedated patients didn't recognize accurate safety of conscious sedation.