• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.144-152
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• 2022

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the social and policy determinants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection across 23 countries. Methods: COVID-19 indicators (incidence, mortality, and fatality) for each country were calculated by direct and indirect standardization. Multivariable regression analyses were used to identify the social and policy determinants of COVID-19 infection. Results: A higher number of doctors per population was related to lower incidence, mortality, and fatality rates of COVID-19 in 23 countries (β=-0.672, -0.445, and -0.564, respectively). The number of nurses/midwives per population was associated with lower mortality and fatality rates of COVID-19 in 23 countries (β=-0.215 and -0.372, respectively). Strengthening of policy restriction indicators, such as restrictions of public gatherings, was related to lower COVID-19 incidence (β=-0.423). A national Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination policy conducted among special groups or in the past was associated with a higher incidence of COVID-19 in 23 countries (β=0.341). The proportion of the elderly population (aged over 70 years) was related to higher mortality and fatality rates (β=0.209 and 0.350, respectively), and income support was associated with mortality and fatality rates (β=-0.362 and -0.449, respectively). Conclusions: These findings do not imply causality because this was a country-based correlation study. However, COVID-19 transmission can be influenced by social and policy determinants such as integrated health systems and policy responses to COVID-19. Various social and policy determinants should be considered when planning responses to COVID-19.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.52-67
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• 2007

Korean government is preparing the long-term care financing and delivery system in order to cope with rapid population aging. The system should be designed to provide demented patients with an appropriate services that the patients want to take, and considered to be necessary for them. In this regard, this study aims to analyse empirically a relationship between the types of long-term care services that demented patients wanted to take and they actually received during 2004. The caregivers of 609 dementia patients, who were randomly selected in a manner of proportional allocation from a nationwide claim database of the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation, were interviewed in September, 2005. Independent variables include socio-demographic characteristics, Activities of Daily Living(ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(IADL). To explore the correspondence of the types of long-term care services that demented patients wanted to take and that they actually received, and its affecting factors, we conducted chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Main findings are as follows. First, while only 20% of study subjects wanted home services as a long-term care services, those who wanted to use the long-term care facilities and general hospital were 37%, 43% respectively. Second, the correspondence rate was just 38% on average, and extremely low in the demented patients who wanted to use long-term care facilities. Third, the demented patients who resided in urban areas and received relatively high level of education showed high correspondence rate. Fourth, the high ADL score was closely related to low correspondence rate.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.84-92
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• 2010

Objectives: To investigate the patterns of unintentional home injuries in Korea. Methods: The study population was 12,382,088 people who utilized National Health Insurance services due to injuries (main diagnosis codes S00 to T28) during 2006. Stratified samples(n=459,501) were randomly selected by sex, age group and severity of injury. A questionnaire was developed based on the International Classification of External Causes of Injury and 18,000 cases surveyed by telephone were analyzed after being projected into population proportionately according to the response rates of their strata. Domestic injury cases were finally included. Results: Domestic injuries (n=3,804) comprised 21.1% of total daily life injuries during 2006. Women were vulnerable to home injuries, with the elderly and those of lower income (medical-aid users) tending to suffer more severe injuries. Injury occurred most often due to a slipping fall (33.9%), overexertion (15.3%), falling (9.5%) and stumbling (9.4%), with severe injury most often resulting from slipping falls, falls and stumbles. Increasing age correlated with domestic injury-related disability. Conclusions: The present findings provide basic information for development of home injury prevention strategies, with focus on the elderly.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.171-180
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• 2014

This study provides the empirical results of the customers' necessity and intentions of purchasing weather index insurance using survey of asking the customers' recognition about weather insurance. In this article, we discovered that not only the customers' past experience of loss but also the extent of damage and the effects that change in weather would have on their firm are positively related to an intention to purchase weather index insurance. In addition, the level of premiums was significantly higher for the highly-intended group of willing to purchase weather index insurance than the comparison group.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2015

Background: Policy network theory was proved to be an appropriate analytic tool for the current social welfare policy making process. This study aimed to analyze policy making process related to the nurse expansion and policy output while focusing on the interactions and activities among various policy actors. Methods: In this study, we used reports related to the need for expansion of nursing personnel journals, dissertations, newspaper articles, for hearings and debate policies for securing nurse data, and interviews. We examined three components of policy network, that is, policy actors, interactions, linkage of interest. Results: For that to expand the nurse before the 2000s in expanding the supply of medical supplies have been conducted without much disagreement among policy actors under the government's initiative. However, there was lacked a close relationship between the expanding supply of nurses and inaccurate analysis of supply and demand. As the policy is applied between the various policy actors' needs and claims, conflict was intensified and many policy options had been developed. Government only took a role as a coordinator among policy actors in the 2000's. Also, it was difficult to find sufficient and clear evidence that policy-making process based on fair judgment. Conclusion: Therefore, it is urgently required to determine the policy through a social consensus to address the appropriate policy means and the process by correct analysis of the policy issues.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1997.10b
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• pp.251-252
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• 1997

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.45
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• pp.185-219
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of social exclusion and underclass and to find out their implication for the poverty policy in Korea. Social exclusion as a concept, on the other hand, offers a broader perspective in addressing multi-dimensional disadvantage, especially in relation to social policy. The term underclass offers a convenient metaphor for use in commentaries on inner city crises because it evokes three widely shared perceptions: novelty, complexity, and danger. Conditions within inner cities are unprecedented; they cannot be reduced to a single factor; and they menace the rest of us. Open debate on the underclass accelerated in 1977 when Time magazine announced the emergence of a menacing underclass in America's inner cities. Drugs, crime, teenage pregnancy, and high unemployment, not poverty, defined the 'underclass,' most of whose members were young and minorities. With the publication in 1982 of Ken Auletta's Underclass, the word secured it dominance in the vocabulary of inner-city pathology. As implications for Korean poverty policy of the concept of social exclusion and underclass, the establishment of multi-dimensional concept of poverty, development of multi-dimensional approach of social work, improvement of National Basic Life Guarantee System, research on employment policy in social welfare field, and research on housing policy for the poor were suggested.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.259-264
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• 2018

This study analyzes whether the national scholarship system achieves the policy goal to provide the half-tuition and suggests ways to improve the policy. The study finds that the national scholarship system provides free education for students from under 2nd decile income and the half-tuition for students from under 6th decile. However, since students don't feel fully the effect of the policy, this study proposes policy improvements on new approaches to public communications. Also is suggested the necessity to change the policy tool from debt-like to equity-like investment.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.265-269
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• 2020

Korea has failed to respond to the Middle East respiratory syndrome of 2015 and the early phase of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) of 2020. This is due to the structural problems of the Ministry of Health and Welfare that has been more increased manpower and budgets of the welfare part relative to those of the health part, and the ministers were appointed welfare experts, not health experts. In 21 (56.8%) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, the Ministry of Health operates independently, and these countries have been relatively well coping with COVID-19. The importance of the Korean health sector is increasing even further. Korea faces on the emerging infectious diseases, chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis that has been being a huge burden, and rapidly increasing non-communicable diseases, suicide and mental disorders, and some diseases due to fine dust and climate change. In addition, the rapid advancement of the aging society, the entry of an era of ultra-low fertility and low-economic growth, and the unification of the Korean peninsula are calling for a health policy reform. Therefore, the Ministry of Health should be established and systematically responsible for health policy, disease policy, medical policy, and medical security policy. Ministry of Health will be the control tower for K-Disease Control, K-Bio, and K-Health.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.461-467
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• 2015

The 6th industrialization is one of the most important policies for Korean agricultural sector, and Korean government allocates the large portion of policy budget to promote the 6th industrialization. However, recently, Korean government has experienced the confusion and inefficiency due to too many policy programs for the 6th industrialization. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current policy programs for the 6th industrialization and to suggest the several guidelines for the more efficient policy system, including the priority of policy programs for the 6th industrialization. The results of studies present a few findings as follows: First, Korean government should evenly promote the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd industry in agricultural sector. Second, the main agent of the 6th industrialization needs to be the ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs. Third, the policy resource for the 6th industrialization should be focused on the prominent farmers or enterprises. Forth, the policy programs for the 6th industrialization need to be grouped.