• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.67
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• pp.11-44
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• 2021

In the early 21st century, the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has arisen during the development of the technological science of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has been a great challenge in all fields including politics, economy, industry, education and religion in Korean society. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Korean government announced 'social distancing guidelines,' focused on the 'prohibition of three conditions'(crowd, closeness, airtight) for safety reasons. These quarantine guidelines made it more difficult for Korean churches and Sunday schools to operate. In general, looking at the statistical data of the major denominations of the Korean Church in the second half of the 20th century, shows that the Church has entered a period of stagnant or declining growth. Data also show that the number of students attending Sunday School is decreasing. The researcher identified four causes of the crisis faced by the Korean church and Korean Sunday school entering the 21st century. These trends are influenced by the tendencies of postmodernism, the deconstruction of modern universalism, the certainty and objectivity of knowledge, and the grand narrative and worldview of diffusion. Moreover, it is a phenomenon in which the young population decreases in contrast to the increasing elderly population in the age of population cliff in Korean society. Sunday Schools are also facing a crisis, as the youth population, who will become the future heroes of the Korean church, is declining. Finally, constraints of Church and Sunday school education activities are due to COVID-19 Pandemic. As analysis shows the loss of the Church's educational vision and a decrease in the passion for education. Accordingly, the researcher suggests four new strategies for the next generation of Korean Sunday schools, whose ranges from 200 members or less; this range covers the majority of Sunday School program run by churches in Korea. First, in the age of postmodernism, a time of uncertainty and relativism, Christian Societies requires teachers who are certain of absolute Christian truth and faith. Second, in an era of declining population cliffs for younger generations, a shift to a home-friendly Sunday school paradigm is needed. Third, during the COVID-19 pandemic, educational activities must appropriately utilize face-to-face and non-face-to-face communication. Finally, even in difficult times, Korean Sunday school should nevertheless remember the Lord's great commandment(Matthew 28:18-20) and restore the vision and passion of education to announce and teach the gospel. The researcher hopes that this study will provide small, positive steps in rebuilding Korean Sunday school educational activities for future generations in difficult times.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.347-365
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• 1995

A survey was conducted to study perception and attitudes of health workers towards health center's activities and organization of health services, from August 15 to September 30, 1994. The study population was 310 health workers engaged in seven urban health centers in Taegu City area. A questionnaire method was used to collect data and response rate was 81.3 percent or 252 respondents. The following are summaries of findings: Profiles of study population: Health workers were predominantly female(62.3%); had college education(60.3%); and held medical and nursing positions(39.6%), technicians(30.6%) and public health/administrative positions(29.8%). Perceptions on health center's resources: Slightly more than a half(51.1%) of respondents expressed that physical facilities of the centers are inadequate; equipments needed are short(39.0%); human resource is inadequate(44.8%); and health budget allocated is insufficient(38.5%) to support the performance of health center's activities. Decentralization and health services: The majority revealed that the decentralization of government system would affect the future activities of health centers(51.9%) which may have to change. However, only one quarter of respondents(25.4%) seemed to view the decentralization positively as they expect that it would help perform health activities more effectively. The majority of the respondents(78.6%) insisted that the function and organization of the urban health centers should be changed. Target workload and job satisfaction: A large proportion (43.3%) of respondents felt that present target setting systems for various health activities are unrealistic in terms of community needs and health center's situation while only 11.1 percent responded it positively; the majority(57.5%) revealed that they need further training in professional fields to perform their job more effectively; more than one third(35.7%) expressed that they enjoy their professional autonomy in their job performance; and a considerable proportion (39.3%) said they are satisfied with their present work. Regarding the personnel management, more worker(47.3%) perceived it negatively than positive(11.5%) as most of workers seemed to think the personnel management practiced at the health centers is not fair or justly done. Health services rendered: Among health services rendered, health workers perceived the following services are most successfully delivered; they are, in order of importance, Tb control, curative services, and maternal and child health care. Such areas as health education, oral health, environmental sanitation, and integrated health services are needed to be strengthening. Regarding the community attitudes towards health workers, 41.3 percent of respondents think they are trusted by the community they serve. New areas of concern identified which must be included in future activities of health centers are, in order of priority, health care of elderly population, home health care, rehabilitation services, and such chronic diseases control programs as diabetes, hypertension, school health and mental health care. In conclusion, the study revealed that health workers seemed to have more negative perceptions and attitudes than positive ones towards organization and management of health services and activities performed by the urban health centers where they are engaged. More specifically, the majority of health workers studied revealed to have the following areas of health center's organization and management inadequate or insufficient to support effective performance of their health activities: Namely, physical facilities and equipments required are inadequate; human and financial resources are insufficient; personnel management is unsatisfactory; setting of service target system is unrealistic in terms of the community needs. However, respondents displayed a number of positive perceptions, particularly to those areas as further training needs and implementation of decentralization of government system which will bring more autonomy of local government as they perceived these change would bring the necessary changes to future activities of the health center. They also displayed positive perceptions in their job autonomy and have job satisfactions.