• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.104-119
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• 2024

The burden of medical expenses and the loss of social capital due to chronic diseases are becoming problems worldwide, and comprehensive and inclusive measures across various fields are required to prevent and manage their impacts. Social prescriptions have been shown to be effective in resolving the fundamental causes of health problems in patients with chronic diseases and in supporting existing treatments. In particular, green prescriptions that utilize the healing effects of nature and green spaces based on social prescriptions are being introduced in many countries overseas. Green prescription is the practice of a healthcare provider recommending activities in green spaces or experiences in the natural environment to patients for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. This study analyzed cases focusing on the policy system, the cases of the United Kingdom and the United States, which have introduced and operated green prescriptions under a national system. For this purpose, this study compared the background of green prescription introduction, related policies, and operation methods. Based on this, four implications were proposed to establish an effective plan for introducing green prescriptions in Korea. First, prior to establishing a policy for green prescriptions, interest in and research on green prescriptions are essential. Second, an implementation plan that fits the national health care system should be established, and policies should support the plan. Third, the introduction of green prescriptions from a long-term and gradual perspective is required. Fourth, comprehensive cooperation is required for the introduction and implementation of the green prescription system. This study can be used as basic data for discussion before introducing green prescriptions in Korea in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2293-2303
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• 2013

Objective: This study aims to determine whether national patient safety indicators (PSIs) can be calculated. Methods: Using PSI criteria from Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Health Technical Papers 19 based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), PSIs were identified in the Korean National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey (KNHDIIS) database for 875,622 inpatient admissions between 2004 and 2008. Logistic regression was used to estimate factors of variations for PSIs. Results: From 2004 to 2008, 3,084 PSI events of 8 PSIs occurred for over 80 thousands discharges. Rates per 1,000 events for decubitus ulcer (PSI3, 4.88), foreign body left during procedure (PSI5, 0.05), postoperative sepsis (PSI13, 1.32), birth trauma-injury to neonate (PSI17, 7.92) and obstetric trauma-vaginal delivery (PSI18, 32.81) are all identified between ranges from maximum to minimum of OECD rates, respectively. However, rates per 1,000 events for selected infections due to medical care (PSI7, 0.22), postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis (PSI12, 0.90) and accidental puncture or laceration (PSI15, 0.71) are below the minimum of OECD range. 7 PSIs except PSI 18 showed statistically significant relationship with number of secondary diagnoses. When adjusting patient characteristics, there are statistically significant different rates according to bed size or location of hospitals. Conclusion: This is the first empirical study to identify nationally number of adverse events and PSIs using administrative database. While many factors influencing these results such as quality of data, clinical data and so on are remain, the results indicate opportunities for estimate national statistics for patient safety. Furthermore outcome research such as mortality related to adverse events is needed based on results of this study.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.162-174
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• 2017

This study is descriptive research conducted to determine the levels of depression, emotional intelligence, and psychological well-being of nurses employed in small-and medium-sized hospitals, as well as to identify the correlations of these variables, predict factors influencing nurses' psychological well-being, and finally, test the mediating effects of emotional intelligence in the relationship between depression and psychological well-being. The subjects of the study included 336 nurses employed in small-and medium-sized hospitals located in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region. Using a structured questionnaire, a sample was taken from December 17, 2016 to January 8, 2017. The results that the nurses showed an average level of depression with a mean score of 1.55 points, while their mean scores of emotional intelligence and psychological well-being were above average (3.05 and 3.51 scores, respectively). Depression exhibited negative (-) correlations with emotional intelligence and psychological well-being, whereas emotional intelligence had a positive (+) correlation with psychological well-being. The significant predictors of psychological well-being were found to include sleep hours (${\beta}=0.111$), working department (${\beta}=0.236$), and depression (${\beta}=-0.245$). Moreover, evaluation of the mediating effects of emotional intelligence revealed significant relationships between depression and regulation of emotion (${\beta}=0.527$) and between depression and emotional utilization (${\beta}=0.167$). In conclusion, the work environment and depression were predicted to be major factors influencing psychological well-being, while emotional intelligence was found to be a partially mediating factor. Overall, these results demonstrate that easing depression and improving emotional intelligence can be very positive countermeasures in revitalizing the hospital organization, as well as in ensuring the happiness of individual nurses. Therefore, interventions aimed at improving work environments and easing depression are required to improve nurses' psychological well-being.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.526-535
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• 2017

This study was conducted to identify the effects of a comprehensive health care program for elderly living alone on blood pressure, fasting glucose, body composition, and depression at a senior welfare center in M city. The study employed a one-group, pre-posttest design. The comprehensive health care program lasted for three months, from March to June in 2015, and consisted of open health education, exercise class, health consulting and personal education, nutritional consultation, and a self-support group. The sample elements of this study were individuals over 65-years-old with hypertension or diabetes mellitus, living near a welfare center in M city. A total of 34 participants were initially selected, but five subjects who were attended less than five times were excluded; therefore, a total of 29 individuals were included. The t-test and Pearson's correlation were used to analyze the data. The characteristics of subjects were 19 male(65.52%) and 10 female(34.48%). The most common age was 70 (16 subjects;55.17%). Additionally, 14 subjects were suffering from hypertension and diabetes mellitus (48.27%), which were occupied in the largest number in this study. The average attendance number of health programs was 10.28 times(${\pm}4.17$). In this study of subjects were significantly lower systolic blood pressure(t=3.275, p=0.004), body weight(t=3.878, p=0.001), depression(t=3.308, p=0.004) compared to pre-test. As the elderly population has increased, the number of individuals living alone has also increased. Accordingly, then need for physical and psycho-social health programs targeting the elderly is greater.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.5660-5667
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to assess the association of metabolic syndrome, metabolic syndrome score (MSS) and pulse pressure (PP) in Korean adults. The study subjects were Korean adults 20 years or older (n=5,889) who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012. After adjusting for factors, such as year and gender and BMI, the mean PP increased with increasing MSS (MSS 0, $41.30{\pm}0.34mmHg$ and MSS 1, $42.16{\pm}0.31mmHg$ and MSS 2, $44.73{\pm}0.34mmHg$ and MSS, 3, $46.46{\pm}0.42mmHg$ and MSS 4, $48.62{\pm}0.58mmHg$ and MSS 5, $53.50{\pm}1.05mmHg$), and the mean PP for metabolic syndrome($47.25{\pm}0.34mmHg$) increased in comparison to Non-Metabolic syndrome ($42.77{\pm}0.19mmHg$). When logistic regression analysis was performed, the odds ratio (OR) of Hyper-PP (61> PP) for MSS 0 was 4.49 in MSS 1 (95% confidence interval[CI], 2.68-7.57) and 8.01 in MSS 2 (95% CI, 4.77-13.47) and 11.37 in MSS 3 (95% CI, 6.67-19.35) and 19.69 in MSS 4 (95% CI, 11.20-34.60) and 34.07 in MSS 5 (95% CI, 17.44-66.52), metabolic syndrome was associated with an increased Hyper-PP(OR 4.6, 95% CI, 2.0-10.4). Conclusion. These results suggest that an increase in MSS or metabolic syndrome might increase the pulse pressure.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1690-1698
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• 2012

As alcohol use is one of the most important risk factors for injuries, this study was intended to clarify and evaluate any relationship between drinking patterns and the incidence rates/specific characteristics of injuries in adult populations, using a widely accepted tool, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (chronic alcohol drinking behaviors measurement, hereinafter the AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organization to help to assess the behaviors in a more accurate and reliable manner. This study used the data collected from the 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), in which 7,511 of 7,893 adult participants aged ${\geq}19$ years answered the questions about injuries, and excluding 104 non-respondents, 6,258 of participants in the questionnaire survey of drinking patterns were finally analyzed. The incidence rates and specific characteristics of injuries as classified by the AUDIT categories (i.e., body regions, types and mechanisms) were assessed and estimated in terms of their relative risk using t-test, ANOVA, and logistic regression. SPSS 19.0 statistical package software was employed for statistical analyses. These analyses indicate that the incidence rates of overall injuries were significantly higher in male respondents than in female respondents. The risks of alcohol use related injuries were 8.3 times higher in male respondents than in female ones. Regarding educational background, high school graduates showed the highest rates in the AUDIT with significant difference from the other groups. The married group and the group of respondents having monthly income estimated at KRW 2.01 to 3 million also showed the highest rates in the AUDIT compared to the other groups, indicating statistically significant difference. Significantly increased in problematic drinkers and those with alcohol dependence, the incidence rate of injuries body regions was 0.0371 in the head/neck, and with respect to the AUDIT and the mechanisms of external causes of injuries, transport accidents ranked first, followed by slippage, others, crash and fall. In regard to the classified types of injuries, it was statistically significant in others (e.g., laceration, contusion, addiction, or penetrating wound). In conclusion, the mechanisms of external causes of injuries as well as injuries attributed to alcohol use are very important, and a strategy is required to reduce such the injuries in the manner of decreasing the frequency of drinking after motivation by professional counsellors.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.188-198
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• 2016

This study examined the effects of a smoking cessation coaching program based on the motivation stage applying the Transtheoretical Model to stop the smoking of patients in terms of the amount of smoking, nicotine dependence, CO level, and urine cotinine. The study design was a multi-repeat multiple repeat intermittent time series study with one-group, a pre-post design. The participants were 47 smoking patients (44 males and 3 females), who were treated at a public hospital in N city. The participants were 4 (8.51%) subjects in the action stage and 43 subjects (91.49%) in the preparation stage of the motivation stage. The coaching program intervention was conducted at the first day, second week, and 6th week. The smoking cessation maintenance of the subjects was checked at the 12th week. A chi-square test and t-test were used to analyze the data. The subjects in the action stage were kept under the condition of no smoking and nicotine dependence. After the program of subjects in the preparation stage, the amount of smoking, nicotine dependence, and CO level were significantly lower compared to the pre-test (p<.001). The findings suggest that the coaching program based on the motivation stage was effective in improving the smoking cessation for patients who smoke. On the other hand, the patients in the smoking cessation program may require much more financial assistance than those of healthy people. A greater workforce and budget will be needed for patients to stop smoking.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.5684-5691
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of constraint-induced movement therapy(CIMT) and/or cognitive-perceptual training(CPT) on the change of hand function in cerebrovascular accident(CVA) patients and to evaluate the change in the amount and quality of use of the affected upper extremity in performing daily living tasks. The subjects of study were 10 patients who had been under rehabilitation for more than three months after CVA onset. They were all determined as mild cognition impairment according to NCSE or MVPT test. For CIMT group, to restrict the movement of the unaffected hand the subjects had been worn modified resting arm-splint in daytime for 4 weeks. For CIMT+CPT group, the subjects were performed CPT with CIMT and control group had been under conventional occupational therapy for the same period. CIMT+CPT group showed significant improvement in simulated feeding, lifting large light objects, and lifting large heavy objects of Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test. CIMT group also showed significant improvement compared with control group. The mean changes of the amount of use(AOU) of the affected arm had a statistically significant difference among groups (p<.05). While CIMT+CPT group had the biggest change in the quality of movement(QOM) of upper extremity of the affected side, CTL group showed the smallest change. Both CIMT and CIMT+CPT groups had statistically significant difference in the change in the quality of movement in upper extremity of affected side with CTL group(p<.05), but there was not significant difference between CIMT group and CIMT+CPT group. CIMT performed to the patients of stroke, with mild impairment in cognitive perceptual abilities showed the improvement in hand movement and AOU and QOM of upper extremity in the affected side and the combination of CIMT with CPT showed synergic effects.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2017

Purpose: From August 2017, hospice-palliative care (HPC) will be provided to patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and liver cirrhosis in Korea. To contribute to building a non-cancer (NC) hospice-palliative care model, NC specialists were interviewed regarding the goals, details, and provision methods of the model. Methods: Four physicians specializing in HPC of cancer patients formulated a semi-structured interview with questions extracted from literature review of 85 articles on NC HPC. Eleven NC disease specialists were interviewed, and their answers were analyzed according to the qualitative content analysis process. Results: The interviewees said as follows: It is difficult to define end-stage NC patients. HPC for cancer patients and that for NC patients share similar goals and content. However, emphasis should be placed on alleviating other physical symptoms and emotional care rather than pain control. Timing of the care provision should be when patients are diagnosed as "end stage". Special issues should be considered for each NC disease (e.g., use of anti-retroviral drugs for AIDS patients, oxygen supply for COPD patients suffering from dyspnea, liver transplantation for patients with liver cirrhosis) and education should be provided to healthcare professionals. NC patients tend to negatively perceive HPC, and the government's financial assistance is insufficient. Conclusion: It is necessary to define end-stage NC patients through in-depth discussion to minimize issues that will likely accompany the expansion of care recipients. This requires cooperation between medical staff caring for NC patients and HPC givers for cancer patients.