• Korean Journal of Occupational Therapy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2018

Objective : This study was conducted to determine the emotional labor of occupational therapists and the level of their feelings of depression and to examine the impact of their emotional labor on their depressive mood. Methods : Subjects of this study were clinical occupational therapists working at hospitals and clinics in Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. The factors of emotional labor were set as independent variables, the general characteristic variable and job characteristic variable which showed significant results in the chi-square test was set as the adjusted variable and whether the depression happens or not was set as the dependent variable, after which a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results : Components of emotional labor, including frequency of emotional display(OR 1.699, 95% CI 1.202-2.401), attentiveness to required display rules(OR 1.436, 95% CI 1.070-1.982), and emotional dissonance(OR 1.866, 95% CI 1.336-2.607) all had a significant effect on depression. The possibility of depression was significantly higher in women than men(OR 5.736, 95% CI 1.746-18.846), those working for more than 8 hours per day than less than 8 hours per day(OR 8.609, 95% CI 2.306-32.137), and those working with children than those working with adults(OR 4.249, 95% CI 1.668-10.824). Conclusion : This study revealed that the emotional labor that occupational therapists are exposed to while interacting with patients and their caregivers exerts an influence on their feelings of depression. This suggests the need for developing various preventive intervention programs designed to alleviate the depressive symptoms of occupational therapists and formulating appropriate policies.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the current status of pediatric palliative care provision and how it is perceived by the palliative care experts. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted with 61 hospice institutions. From September through October 2017, a questionnaire was completed by experts from the participating institutions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. Results: Among 61 institutions, palliative care is currently provided for pediatric cancer patients by 11 institutions (18.0%), all of which are concentrated in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi and Gyengsang provinces; 85.2% of all do not plan to provide specialized pediatric palliative care in the future. According to the experts, the main barriers in providing pediatric palliative care were the insufficient number of trained specialists regardless of the delivery type. Experts said that it was appropriate to intervene when children were diagnosed with cancer that was less likely to be cured (33.7%) and to move to palliative care institutions when their conditions worsened (38.2%); and it was necessary to establish a specialized pediatric palliative care system, independent from the existing institutions for adult patients (73.8%). Conclusion: It is necessary to develop an education program to establish a nationwide pediatric palliative care centers. Pediatric palliative care intervention should be provided upon diagnosis rather than at the point of death. Patients should be transferred to palliative care institutions after intervention by their existing pediatric palliative care team at the hospital is started.