• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1-18
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• 2011

In this study, population census(2005 & 2008) from Statistics Korea and the statistical data of the number of hospital beds by healthcare facilities classification from Ministry of Health and Welfare were used. For analyzing distribution of hospital beds, hospital beds were classified as acute care beds, long-term care beds and all hospital beds, which is including acute and long-term care beds. Regional areas, which are city(si), county(goon) for the study and district(gu) were reclassified as metropolitan city, city(si) and county(goon). Because there were 165 regional areas in 2005 and 2008, 84 and 81 areas were classified as metropolitan city and/or city and county, respectively. Gini index were calculated for hospital beds from each year, and Lorenz curves were drawn. The following summary presents the findings of this study. Compared to the year 2005 and 2008, the Gini index was 0.24472, and hospital bed numbers increased slightly by 0.80% than in 2005. In case of acute care beds, the Gini index was 0.23797(0.13%), and there was no big difference; however, the Gini index for long-term care beds was 0.41091, and there was a 30.25% decrease, which shows improvement to reduce disparities. It might result from an increase in long-term care beds up to 476.2%. For geographical equality of hospital beds, the Gini index and Lorenz curve, which can be compared the degree of inequality in the distribution of hospital beds reasonably and possibly show statistical data, should be used. Through this study, the distribution policy of hospital beds should be established.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.173-186
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• 2005

This paper develops the argument that the 'Healthy Cities Approach' extends beyond the boundaries of officially designated Healthy Cities and suggests that signs of it are evident much more widely in efforts to promote health in the United Kingdom and in national policy. It draws on examples from Leeds, a major city in the north of England. In particular, it suggests that efforts to improve population health need to focus on the wider determinants and that this requires a collaborative response involving a range of different sectors and the participation of the community. Inequality is recognised as a major issue and the need to identify areas of deprivation and direct resources towards these is emphasised. Childhood poverty is referred to and the importance of breaking cycles of deprivation. The role of the school is seen as important in contributing to health generally and the compatibility between Healthy Cities and Health Promoting Schools is noted. Not only can Health Promoting Schools improve the health of young people themselves they can also develop the skills, awareness and motivation to improve the health of the community. Using child pedestrian injury as an example, the paper argues that problems and their cause should not be conceived narrowly. The Healthy Cities movement has taught us that the response, if it is to be effective, should focus on the wider determinants and be adapted to local circumstances. Instead of simply attempting to change behaviour through traditional health education we need to ensure that the environment is healthy in itself and supports healthy behaviour. To achieve this we need to develop awareness, skills and motivation among policy makers, professionals and the community The 'New Health' education is proposed as a term to distinguish the type of health education which addresses these issues from more traditional forms.

• The Journal of Health Technology Assessment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to investigate regional variations of mastication difficulty rates in the elderly over 65 in 229 primary autonomous districts in Korea and explore relevant characteristics. For the research data, local community health survey conducted in 2015 and data from Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Health & Welfare, National Health Insurance Service and Statistics Korea were used. Methods: Frequency analysis was conducted for general characteristics and mastication difficulty rates of each region, and distribution of mastication difficulty rates was displayed for each town, city and province by mapping them. Extremal quotient (EQ), coefficient of variation (CV) values were calculated for regional variations, and logistic regression analysis was performed to reveal the relationship between each independent variable and mastication difficulty rates. Results: The average of standardized mastication difficulty rate was 46.78%, and regional variations were significant with EQ 3.46, CV 0.18. Characteristic factors that have significant effects on mastication difficulty rate included sex ratio, elderly population and the number of dentists per 10000 people. Conclusion: As a result, there were variations among mastication difficulty rates in 229 primary local governments across the country, and the distribution of health care resources by the characteristics of the local environment by region affected mastication difficulty rates. Accordingly, it is required to provide political supports to overcome regional inequality of oral health levels and develop cooperative system between local governments and local dentists.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2021

Due to the increasing interest in wellness aroused by the aging population and the pursuing feature of active old age, Korean elderly set importance on long life with their healthy condition. Following the change in the paradigm of the medical delivery system from hospital-oriented, treatment-oriented to personal-centered and self-care, Service design application of Smart Healthcare for the elderly became valuable. Smart Healthcare is a healthcare service provided through the fusion of ICT technologies including mobile/wearable devices, IoT, big data, and information technology, and it is utilized to prevent diseases managing abundant health information and living habits. As a methodology for delivering such Smart Healthcare to the elderly, Service design can be adopted. Therefore, this study would like to present the perquisites of Smart Healthcare design for the elderly through analyzing the results from in-depth interview methods between the elderly and medical staff. As a result of this study, guidelines for Service design application of health vulnerability management for the elderly utilizing smart phones were presented. Therefore, this study presented four prerequisites composed of 'high level of supplementation and ethical decision making', 'improvement of inequality in accessibility and experience', 'resolving problems in policy implementation' and 'user-friendliness' for the Smart Healthcare service design for the elderly. Overall, Service design is expected to play an innovative role in improving the quality of life for the elderly through the process of collecting and delivering information on Smart Healthcare centered on the experience of the elderly.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.49-63
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• 2023

This study investigates the occupational mobility patterns of young wage employees at the local level of the labor market and empirically examines the interplay between worker-level and local labor market-level determinants between 2010 and 2020. The 4th to 14th waves of the Youth Panel 2007 were integrated with the Korea Network for Occupations and Workers and the Local Area Labor Force Survey for estimation using hierarchical linear model. Our results indicate that Gross Regional Domestic Product per capita is key determinant of occupational upward mobility. Also, Estimates of employment size, population density, and the unemployment rate of local labor market have different effects depending on the education level and occupational location of youth workers, suggesting that the effects of structural factors of local labor market may not be distributed equally among all youth wage workers. The findings have policy implications regarding the recent rise in inequality and polarization in local labor markets.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.1-19
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• 2022

As the untact culture spreads, the digital divide, which is a problem of access to digital information for the vulnerable, can appear as information inequality in various fields, including the social and cultural field. This study identified the digital divide level for the vulnerable population and analyzed the effects of information accessibility, demographic and social characteristics, and physical and mental health characteristics on the information level. As a result, the higher the accessibility of information, the smaller the digital divide and the greater the digital utilization, so it is necessary to increase the accessibility of information devices and increase the ability to utilize them. In addition, the higher the age, the more women than men, and the lower the income level, the greater the digital divide, so it is necessary to increase digital capabilities through detailed class-specific programs for the vulnerable. Finally, it was found that the digital divide and the level of digital literacy had a significant effect on the life satisfaction and daily life satisfaction of the vulnerable. The expansion of competency-building education programs to enhance information utilization capabilities by changing the paradigm to a digital inclusion policy should be continuously operated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.10a
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• pp.161-163
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• 2021

This urban centralization is expected to develop rapidly, with 75% of the population living in the city by 2035. Large cities are becoming unsustainable due to side effects such as environmental pollution, severe traffic jams, excessive energy depletion, and destruction of the natural ecosystem. In addition, the happiness index of citizens of large cities is also falling because of high crime rates and safety accidents, the work-life imbalance caused by inequality and polarization, and overly competitive education. To solve this problem, Smart City, an IT-based future city model, was born. The Korean government is also actively attempting to improve urban competitiveness and promote sustainable development through efficient construction and operation of smart cities as a national focus project. To support the effort, we review the basic directions and strategies of Sejong City's Smart City service infrastructure based on the comprehensive national land plan, Smart City plan, and Smart City strategy plan.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.181-209
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• 2012

Employment form and gender as stratification factors may generate health disparities in Korea. Previous studies have examined the existence of health disparities by employment form and gender. However, few studies examined how the health disparities can be reduced effectively. This study intends to confirm the existence of health disparities between employment-gender groups and explore the effective health resources which can reduce the possible disparities. Using a national probability sample of Korean adults collected in 2011, we attempts to test the interaction effects between employment-gender groups and health resources on self-rated health. For health resources, 24 variables of five dimensions(social relationship, psychological resource, activity factor, health behavior, and usage of medical service) are taken into account. In results, first, the health levels of the other three employment-gender groups are worse than that of male-regular workers. Second, the effective health resources which can reduce the health disparities are different across the employment-gender groups. An effective health resource for female-nonregular workers is a peaceful relationship with her children. Effective health resources for male-nonregular workers are peaceful relationships with his parents and siblings, low stress, religious activity, and exercise. An effective health resource for female-regular workers is interpersonal trust. These results imply that personal or social interventions for health of specific disadvantaged groups need to focus on specific resources which are more effective for the groups.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.85-109
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• 2012

This qualitative study explored a middle-aged lesbian's life and her identities by the oral life history approach in feminist epistemology, where the participant is not the object but the subject of knowledge. The participant kept her own perspective that her homosexuality was not intrinsic but constructed. In her life's history, she was a "docile body" accepting socially constructed historical meaning of homosexuality, as well as a "resistant body" protesting against social discrimination and oppression for homosexual population. She overcame an embedded negative recognition of her scaled injured body and her sexuality as "deficient". Finally, she showed an amazing resilience and an indomitable spirit for reconstructing the meaning of her body as "blessed." Beyond the deficient body, as an active agent not the pathologic sexual minority, she could cultivate compassion and empathy for others. From the results, it is important how to place gender and sexuality in the context of social work theory and practice. Sexuality, not sexual orientation, is 'our' collective agenda to address the social problems which were associated with social hierarchy, inequality, and injustice.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.75-96
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• 2013

This paper is to conceptualize the urban social circulation of water from the social constructivism and political ecology, and to analyze the history of development of social circulation of water, that is, the modernization process of water in Daegu. The development of social circulation system of water in Daegu can be divided into 4 stages, that is, the beginning stage of modernization of water mainly during the period of Japanese colonization, the take-off stage from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, the stage of reflexive modernization from the late 1980s to the 1990s, and that of neoliberalization of water since the 2000s. It can be seen that the development of social circulation system of water in Daegu has contributed the increasing urban population and economic development, especially supporting the spatial expansion of the city and the way of modern way of urban life. But the social circulation system of water in Daegu seems to meet with a lot of problems such as relocation of the water intake station, over-equipment of filtration plants, distrust on tap water, inequality of water use, readjustment of water charge, liquid waste from industrial complexes within the urban area, creative destruction of waterfront environment, and privatization of water.