• Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.314-324
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze research and development projects in mental health services in Korea, using priority evaluation of mental health promotion policies to determine direction of the service. Methods: An online survey was conducted that targeted experts in the mental health service regarding promotion of mental health in Korea in 2016. The survey was based on 32 policy projects that resulted from 12 strategies according to 4 policy objectives. Results: Analysis of 32 mental health projects were assessed regarding the possibility of technology development success, magnitude of the ripple effect, and necessity of a national response. It was observed that 3 policy projects relevant to suicide, had a high relative priority. This was followed by policies for improvement of health insurance and the medical benefit cost system, and policies for reinforcement of crisis psychological support such as those for disaster victims. Conclusion: The prioritization of mental health services should place an emphasis on promotion of a healthy mental lifestyle, rehabilitation support for patients with serious mental illness, and reinforcement of social safety networks for suicide prevention.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

We reviewed the scientific literature on psychological effects of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive (CBRNE) disaster, which is one of the biggest threat to modern society. CBRNE disaster has the potential to cause specific physical symptoms and psychological distress in victims ; moreover, various toxic symptoms and carcinogenesis/mutation would be an important issue. Bioterrorism can cause localized outbreaks of infectious disease or pandemic disaster. Somatization as well as posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression are the characteristic psychological symptoms in CBRNE disaster's victims. CBRNE disasters could lead to large-scale public fear and social chaos due to the difficulties involved in verifying the extent of exposure and unfamiliar area to the common people. In the evacuation process, problems associated with adjustment and conflict between victims and residents should be considered.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.358-362
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• 2011

The National Emergency Management Agency of South Korea has established a Disaster Victims Psychology Support Center. The Disaster Victims Psychology Support Center can enable victims who got psychological damage from disasters to return to their daily lives through healing activity, field visits and advice of experts. The previous Psychology Support Center System managed the information of disaster victims through an independent database. However, this paper proposes a system that is developed to identify medical institutions and mental health centers within a distance of radius, based on the potential Hot-Spot areas of disaster victims using the GIS Systems. The proposed system can efficiently support selection of appropriate institutions for disaster victims using their location and age, classification of damage, and damaged parts of the body. Also, this spatial analysis can assist to decide on a policy based on the location of disaster victims and the extent of damage. Therefore, this paper can provide the required information to support decision making based on the concentrated areas for disaster victims.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.308-314
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• 2018

Injury is a serious problem that not only causes death but also significantly degrades the quality of life of the people and causes loss of socioeconomic opportunities and costs. Damage occurs as a result of an accident. Among them, natural disasters and artificial disasters take lives of many people in a short time and threaten their physical and mental health. The United States has responded to the disaster by establishing relevant laws and regulations and a response system with the recognition that health is recognised soon to be as national security in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Katrina disaster. It is necessary to build a knowledge infrastructure to train disaster response experts in public health area and to have health competence to cope with disasters.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.636-645
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• 2004

Purpose. A natural disaster negatively affects children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. The purpose of this paper was to examine the prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of PTSD after the occurrence of Typhoon Rusa. Method. 261 elementary school children living in Kimcheon, which was a devastated rural area in South Korea by Typhoon Rusa, were selected. Data were collected 4 months after the disaster using the PTSD Reaction Index categories recommended by Frederick, severity of PTSD. Results. 12.3% of the children had either moderate or severe PTSD symptoms; 22.7% reported mild symptoms; and the remaining 65% had sub-clinical symptoms of PTSD. The most frequent symptom was recurrenct fear(67.0%). 13% to 17.2% of children exhibited difficulty in concentration, sleep disturbance, and guilt feeling. The regression model of severity of PTSD was composed of the level of exposure to traumatic experiences, grade in school, gender, negative coping style, and social support, and explained 34.3% for PTSD symptoms. Exposure to traumatic experiences was the strongest factor of all predictors. Conclusion. Emotional support from friends and coping style were correlated with PTSD severity. School-based interventions that emphasizes coping with disaster related problems and problem-solving may prove to be useful, and may aid in building close and supportive ties with teachers, classmates, and friends.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2020

Purpose: In this study, we will try to find out problems and improvements of the policies in order to verify whether the plans contribute to the health and welfare of the firefighters properly. Method: By the Delphi analysis by experts. Result: There are problems such as absence of Firefighters' hospital, insufficient mental health education program in fire department, lack of on-site risk assessment system, problem on ineffectiveness of mental and physical health care business, lack of substantiality on mental and physical stability program, absence of mental health education, ensuring the confidentiality for users of mental health programs, lack of support for parent firefighters, lack of firefighters' retirement design and insufficient treatment for female firefighters. Conclusion: There are Improvements such as establishing Firefighters' hospital, improving mental health education and training CISD leaders in the fire department, preparing disaster risk assessment system, effectiveness measurement for visiting psychological counseling projects, improving the program through customer satisfaction surveys, establishment of mental health education system, ensuring confidentiality by improving personnel systems, encourage childcare leave and introduce childcare facilities at fire stations, revitalizing retirement Firefighters and policy development for female firefighters.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.73-90
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to contribute to developing psychological support system in disaster response of South Korea by examining that of Japan. Psychosocial support from the Red Cross with the psychiatric support by the DPAT from local government were achieved in the early stage of disaster psychology support system in Japan. In the long term intervention after disaster, psychiatric support from Kokoro-no care center has been established. In other words, not only traditional mental health approach but also disaster psychology support activities including psychosocial support are deployed. National Information Center of Disaster Mental Health, which is control tower of disaster psychology support, understand the disaster in the level of nationwide through collecting and analyzing the data related to disaster, and manage disaster psychological support activities. Disaster psychology support system in Japan modified problems immediately during large scale disaster that they are equipped with state of the current. Implications for disaster psychological support system and crisis counseling program in South Korea are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.88-100
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• 2018

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to conduct a systematic review of studies investigating psychosocial factors affecting children exposed to disasters. Methods: In total, 140 studies were retrieved. The studies were published from 1988 to 2015. A systematic review was performed using the PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched. Each database was searched using the following terms: 'Child,' 'Adolescent,' 'Youth,' 'Disaster,' 'Posttraumatic,' 'Psychosocial,' 'Assessment,' 'Evaluation,' and 'Screening.' The identified studies were subjected to data extraction and appraisal. Results: The database search identified 713 articles. Based on the titles and abstracts, the full texts of 118 articles were obtained. The findings of this review can be used as a basis for the design of a psychosocial evaluation tool for disaster preparedness. Conclusion: Given the paramount importance of post-disaster evaluation and the weaknesses of current disaster evaluation tools, the need to develop valid and reliable tools and psychometric evaluations cannot be overstated. Our findings provide current evidence supporting various assessments in children, who are very vulnerable psychologically following disasters.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.91-105
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• 2015

Objectives : After disaster, some people develop posttraumatic stress sequelae such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, substance use disorders, and suicide. To date, numerous screening and assessment tools for behavioral health issues including mental health problems, psychosocial maladjustment and status of recovery after disaster have been developed. In this condition, one of important topics is to choose instruments that can quickly and accurately measure the issues. Methods : This article reviewed several self-reported scales in adults for disaster behavioral health, which were searched using academic search engines like PubMed, Scopus, KoreaMed and KISS from the earliest available date of indexing through January 31, 2015. Results : More than 40 eligible instruments evaluating the disaster behavioral health issues containing posttraumatic stress sequelae, psychological and social resources, non-disaster stress, and general functions were presented in terms of availability, effectiveness, and expeditiousness. Also, we introduced basic frame aiming on practical usage, which includes standard version and brief version of the instruments for disaster behavioral health. Conclusion : We suggest the accessibility and the applicability of assessment instruments for disaster behavioral health. The systemic review of this article will provide further directions for them.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.157-168
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• 2020

The number of disasters caused by natural or human-made events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, typhoons, industrial disasters, and the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has increased and the damage caused by such disasters is increasing every year. Disasters can cause physical destruction and also have unexpected psychological impacts, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ear acupuncture is a treatment modality that can be helpful for both physical and mental health problems. Since ear acupuncture is a cost-effective, flexible, and safe treatment tool, it has the potential to provide medical assistance in disasters. The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) auricular acupuncture protocol, originally developed for addiction treatment, has been used for mental illness and behavioral symptoms in both community health settings and in a variety of disaster, terror, and refugee settings. In this review, we introduced the NADA protocol, including its history, features, training, clinical evidence, and cases in disaster settings, suggesting that the NADA protocol could be utilized as a disaster medical support model in Korean medicine.