• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.413-425
• /
• 2011

Purpose: This study conducted a survey on the elderly with physical debilities, who are in a medically vulnerable social class, to examine closely their demo-sociological characteristics, unmet needs, dental states, and living qualities and satisfaction levels relating to oral health and social supports to them, and also to prepare the basis for effective public medical policies and health improvement programs aimed at improving the quality of life for the elderly with physical debilities. Methods: Twenty-two elderly care facilities within Jeju Special Self-Government Province participated in the survey. Between 11 January and 5 March 2010, a total of 250 elderly persons(65 and over) with physical debilities were interviewed and their dental health was checked. Results: The results of the survey are as follows. The need for social support for dental care of the elderly with physical debilities was high in the medical institution-supported service (49.6%). The unmet needs for physical care were high in bathing (49.6%) and using public transportation (71.6%). More than half of these surveyed had ten or fewer teeth. The survey found that 31.6% of the participants experienced problems eating, due to poor dental health. Concerning quality of life, 30.5% of those surveyed experienced physical pain. Conclusion: In summary, the ages of the survey participants directly relates to the degree of behavioral debility experienced. The more debility a participant exhibits, the greater is the need for social support and dental care. The dental health of a participant directly relates to a higher quality of life. Good dental health of a participant translate to better quality of life. In light of the fact that the elderly with physical debilities suffer from a lack of accessibility to medical care and worse oral health than do other elderly persons, it is essential to increase accessibility to medical institutions that can provide such services as door to door dental care. Current insurance policies, funding for denture insurance, and free denture and denture-upgrade programs desperately need to be expanded. Therefore, to improve effectively the quality of life for the elderly with physical debilities civil dental medical resources should be encouraged to provide inclusive and prevention-focused medical care. In the public domain, door to door dental care services and cooperation with civil dental care resources need to be improved to increase impartial accessibility to dental medical institutions.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.152-158
• /
• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate effective predictive factors of the persistence of unmet dental care needs. Methods: Data were obtained from the Korea Health Panel studies of 2011 and 2015, and 4,406 subjects, aged 18 years or older, were included in this study. Of these subjects, those who persistently experienced unmet dental care needs over the three-year period were identified. Panel logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify socio-demographic and health-related factors associated with the persistence of unmet dental care needs in two groups, those aged between 18-64 years and over 65 years. Results: Approximately 12% of subjects showed a persistence in unmet dental care needs. Marital status, education level, household income, type of health insurance, and self-rated health status all significantly correlated with the persistence of unmet dental care needs in both age groups. Conclusions: Efforts should be made to identify factors related to the persistence of unmet dental care needs in order to improve patient accessibility to dental care services.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.87-103
• /
• 2010

In the study, we introduce the trend in domestic and foreign web accessibility, as well as the legal system that ensures web accessibility. Based on Korean Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (KWCAG)1.0, we investigated the web content accessibility of 80 tertiary health-care hospitals and general hospitals in Korea. We evaluated accessibility by combining accessibility-based criteria (ABC) with usability-based criteria (UBC). ABC was limited to an alternative text for Guideline 1, using a small number of frames and keyboard accessibility for Guideline 2. UBC checked the voice service (TTS), resizing text, providing multi-lingual websites, and disclosing web accessibility policy. KADO-WAH2.0 was used for representing the compliance rate. The evaluation result was a considerable improvement from previous results, even though the rate of compliance with web accessibility was generally insufficient. There was a significant difference between those medical centers which did and did not comply with web accessibility. Incidentally, many hospitals were found to have attempted to confront and come to terms with web accessibility. In future, the following factors are advisable for medical centers with publicity or public interest: they must employ active and aggressive promotion of establishment of independent accessibility guidelines to secure web accessibility, they should effect an improvement of the realization of web accessibility, there can be constant education and promotion, and there can be an institutional supplementation, as well as others.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.88-94
• /
• 2017

The aim of this study was to investigate the current and trend of healthcare status of South Korea compared to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. We used the position value for relative comparison (PARC) method for measuring the healthcare status of South Korea by five parts of healthcare policy (demand, supply, accessibility, quality, and cost). Additionally, we conducted Mann-Kendall test for analyzing the trend of PARC from 2000 to the present. Demand, supply, accessibility, and quality of healthcare of Korea were located upon the average of OECD countries, and showed an increasing trend from 2000 to the present. However, primary care and screening for cervical cancer were placed at a lower level compared the OECD average. In conclusion, the current state of healthcare in Korea seems to be generally beyond the average among OECD countries. However, some parts, including primary care, need to be improved.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.217-224
• /
• 2021

The objective of this study is to investigate the healthcare status of South Korea and other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) using OECD health statistics 2020. We employed the position value for relative comparison index to measure the healthcare status in five following components: demand, supply, accessibility, quality, and cost. The Mann-Kendall test was used to analyze for increasing or decreasing trend of the position value for relative comparison values from 2000 to the recent year. Results showed that Korea was positioned above than the OECD median values in most of components, but lower than the median values in certain indices including healthcare employment, primary care, and mental health care. This study sheds some light on healthcare issues to be improved and the policy-makes can take into account for prior setting process.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.127-136
• /
• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present the outcomes of the district visiting nursing services. Method: We analyzed nursing records and inspected public health center data for evaluating nursing tasks. and conducted a telephone survey of 651 district inhabitants. Results: According to the result, the coverage of the district population, the rate of new registration and overall program activities increased. Meanwhile, accessibility of visiting health care, the level of health problem management, personal cognition and satisfaction concerning visiting nursing care increased, but there was little change in personal perception of health improvement. Furthermore, the status of client management was improved. In the analysis of participation in national cancer screening program, we found that there was twice higher participation in the district than others. Conclusion: We suggest that this district visiting nursing system takes responsibility for district inhabitant health management. Based on the study, we also suggest that the government and local autonomous entities should increase administrative and financial supports to execute the district-based visiting nursing system in wider areas.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.385-395
• /
• 2022

Purpose: To support implementation of comprehensive, person-centered healthcare, this study aimed to explore immigrant women's public health center (PHC) service experiences and needs while considering Photovoice's feasibility for this purpose. Methods: This qualitative study included 15 marriage-based immigrant women. Participants were recruited from churches and multicultural family support centers using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through four focus group interviews and were subjected to inductive content analysis. Results: Five categories of experiences were identified: language barriers, hectic environment, affordable and practical primary healthcare, feeling ignored and discriminated against, and feeling frustrated. In addition, five categories of needs were identified: language assistance services, ease of access, healthcare across the lifespan, expansion of affordable healthcare, and being accepted as they are. This study provides preliminary evidence that the Photovoice approach can facilitate the interview process in a qualitative inquiry involving participants with limited ability to express their perspectives in the researchers' language. Conclusion: Study findings highlight the need to implement institutional policy and procedural changes within PHCs and to provide culturally competent, personcentered care for South Korea's marriage-based immigrant women and other ethnic minority populations. The findings also provide evidence-based direction for PHC service planning.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.27-80
• /
• 1993

It is widely known that patients' utilization pattern for medical care facilities and the patientflow are influenced by multi-factors, such as demographic characteristics, structural characteristics of society, socio-psychological characteristics(value, attitude, norms, culture, health behavior, etc.), economic characteristics(income, medical price, relative price, physician induced demand, etc.), geographical accessibility, systematic characteristics(health care delivery system, payment methods for physician fees, form of health care security, etc.), and characteristics of medical facilities(reliability, quality of medical care, convenience, kindness, tec.). This study was conducted to research the mechanism of patient-flow according to changes of health care system(implementation of national health insurance, health care referral system and regionalization of health care utilization, etc.) and characteristics of medical facilities(ownership of hospital, characteristics of medical services, non-medical characteristics, etc.). In this study, the fact could be ascertained that the patient-flow had been influenced by changes of health care system and characteristics of medical facilities.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.62-73
• /
• 2008

Purpose: To examine the outcomes of a smoking cessation clinic at a public health center, in Hwasung city in 2006 and to examine the perceptions of the users regarding the clinic services. Method: 620 smokers who visited the smoking cessation clinic from January, 2006 to November, 2006 were enrolled. An instrument developed by the researcher was used to collect their perceptions. The instrument comprised 24 questions, on a 5-point Likert scale investigating the clinic services in terms of counseling time, environment, readiness of the counselors, counseling information, campaign method, medication use, and follow-up services. The general characteristics of the participants were collected from the database developed by the Ministry of Health & Welfare. The data were analyzed with frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation methods. Results: The outcomes of the smoking cessation clinic in Hwasung city in 2006 showed some limitations in terms of low-income group, female smokers, and young adult smokers. Conclusion: Strategies for solving these limitations were necessary to increase the effectiveness of the smoking cessation clinic. Clinic services focused on cognitive-behavioral therapy needed to be developed in accordance with chemotherapy. More effective publicizing campaigns of the clinic services also needed to be developed for more people to know about the clinic. Strategies to increase the accessibility for the people living far from the clinic were also necessary. Assessment of the smokers who did not visit clinic was also recommended in order to determine their intentions, or barriers to visit the clinic.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.104-124
• /
• 1996

Background : In these days, the health care organizations have concerned about customer-centered care in order to empower the competitiveness on the health care markets. The departments working for quality management of the hospitals have used health care quality indicators in terms of medical areas as well as service areas of the hospitals. However, there were insufficient efforts to develop the credible measurement to seek the customers' needs, their expectations and their satisfaction levels related to health care services because various kinds of challenges were in the process of scale development to measure customers' satisfaction in health care. The purpose of this study was to develop the satisfaction scale to health care services in a Korea health care organization and to test its tool with validity and reliability. Method : The concept of this tool was acceptability that one of the components of health care quality defined by Donabedian. Acceptability has the five dimensions of concept: Accessibility; Patient-Practitioner Relations; Amenities; Patient Preferences as to the effects of care; and Patient Preferences as to the costs of care. The Satisfaction Tool to Health Care Services was reviewed by expert panel with five researchers, including hospital managers and a professor related to quality management of the hospitals. As a result, the content validity index was .84 in the outpatient satisfaction tool. The inpatient satisfaction tool had .87 of the content validity index. The Satisfaction Tools to Health Care Services finally consisted of 44 items for outpatients/their families and of 60 items for inpatients/their families. Study subjects of the construct validity test were 479 outpatients/their families and 561 inpatients/their families who visited or admitted at a University hospital from July 1, 1996 through August 10, 1996. The data were examined by Factor Analysis with SPSS. Result : The items of Satisfaction tools for outpatients/their families were categorized by eleven factors with eigenvalue greater than 1.0 accounting for 64.2 percent of the variation in item scores. Also, the items of inpatient tool had eleven factors with eigenvalue greater than 1.0 accounting for 60.3 percent of the variation in item scores. The reliability of overall scale were .95 and .96 for the outpatients/their families satisfaction scores and inpatient/their families satisfaction scores. The internal consistency reliability with eleven factors was ranged from .30 to .94 for inpatients/their families. The Satisfaction Tool with eleven factors for inpatients/their families had internal consistency reliability ranged from .53 to .89. Conclusion : The Satisfaction Tools to Health Care Services focused on outpatients/their families and inpatients/their families developed in this study had a high reliability and the strong evidence of content validity and construct validity based on quality concept. Therefore, this tool would be utilized as a credible quality indicator of health care services to assess the quality problems and to monitor the quality improvement activities in Korean Health Care Organizations.