• Perspectives in Nursing Science
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.30-38
• /
• 2014

Purpose: In recent years, many attempts have been made to examine the effects of forest therapy on health and to develop related policies. This study aimed to explore the current status of health promotion programs using forests provided by public health centers and to identify program diffusion strategies employed within different communities. Methods: For this descriptive study, we analyzed the 5th regional public health care program plans and explored the perceptions of health care workers attached with the programs using open-ended questionnaires and a focus group interview. Results: This study confirmed the necessity for health promotion programs using forests, as well as administrative and educational demands for such programs. The target population of the programs ranged from individuals with specific diseases to healthy local residents. In addition, the programs covered a wide range of topics, including disease management and health promotion strategies. However, the number of well-structured regional specialized programs remained limited. Collaboration among local governments, schools, and public health centers was found to be ineffective. Conclusion: To further disseminate health promotion programs using forests, the central government will need to develop well-structured programs, provide funding and resources to support local governments, and focus on raising public awareness of the health benefits of forest therapy.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.35-51
• /
• 2003

This study purports to develop a quality assessment tool for the process of health promotion programs at public health centers(PHC). The draft of the assessment tool developed by the literature was distributed to 242 staffs who were in charge of the health promotion programs at PHCs for evaluating the feasibility of the tool on September and October 2002. The major results of the study were as follows; The quality assessment tool developed in the study consisted of four domains: strategic planning, program management, monitoring and evaluation, and resources and information. The strategic planning dealt with the function of the planning staff and committees, community data analysis, the feasibility of the program, and the approach methods for attaining the goal of the program. The program management included the items on the qualification and power of the program staff. The monitoring and evaluation included the items on the reporting and communication among program units, and feed back after monitoring. Finally, the resources and information dealt with community networking, clients' response, and consulting activity of the staff. The validity of the tools was tested and partly supported by both formative and criterion-related methods. The assessment tools developed in this study could be used by health promotion workers in the self-evaluation of the program quality. In conclusion, the quality assessment tool developed in the study will be a good safeguard for assuring the quality of the process of health promotion programs.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.429-443
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This study examined the influencing factors of caregiver burden on the oral health-related quality of life of the spouse of an elderly person with dementia at home. Methods: The participants were 115 spouses of dementia patients registered at dementia safety centers in five health centers in D city. Data were collected from June through December in 2019, using questionnaires of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49) and Burden Interview (BI). The data were analyzed using an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 Program. Results: A negative correlation was observed between the oral health-related quality of life and caregiver burden (r=-37, p<.001). The caregiver burden (β=-.28, p=.001), subjective health status (β=.39, p<.001), and dental clinic visit (β=-.25, p=.002) explained 33.0% of the variance in the oral health-related quality of life. Conclusion: The development of nursing care for spouses of dementia patients will be needed to reduce the caregiver burden and enhance subjective health status and dental clinic visit, which influence the oral health-related quality of life of spouse of elderly people with dementia at home.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.111-119
• /
• 2016

Background: Shift work and/or sleep quality may affect health. We investigated whether shift work and sleep quality, separately and jointly, were associated with abnormal levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), and low-and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in 360 police officers (27.5% women). Methods: Triglycerides, TC, and high-density lipoprotein were analyzed on the Abbott Architect; low-density lipoprotein was calculated. Shift work was assessed using City of Buffalo payroll work history records. Sleep quality (good, ${\leq}5$; intermediate, 6-8; poor, ${\geq}9$) was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire. A shift work + sleep quality variable was created: day plus good sleep; day plus poor sleep; afternoon/night plus good; and poor sleep quality. Mean values of lipid biomarkers were compared across categories of the exposures using analysis of variance/analysis of covariance. Results: Shift work was not significantly associated with lipids. However, as sleep quality worsened, mean levels of triglycerides and TC gradually increased but only among female officers (age- and race-adjusted p = 0.013 and 0.030, respectively). Age significantly modified the association between sleep quality and TC. Among officers ${\geq}40$ years old, those reporting poor sleep quality had a significantly higher mean level of TC ($202.9{\pm}3.7mg/dL$) compared with those reporting good sleep quality ($190.6{\pm}4.0mg/dL$) (gender- and race-adjusted p = 0.010). Female officers who worked the day shift and also reported good sleep quality had the lowest mean level of TC compared with women in the other three categories (p = 0.014). Conclusion: Sleep quality and its combined influence with shift work may play a role in the alteration of some lipid measures.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.27-34
• /
• 2021

The senior welfare centers should provide integrated welfare services to the elderly whose needs are in change. So this paper tried to find a direction for improvement by identifying the spatial organization of the centers which are in Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang. Classification of spaces of senior welfare center followed the guidelines 2020 for senior welfare center from Ministry of Health and Welfare which are consultation, medical rehabilitation, day or short-term protection, social education, home welfare, employment, welfare and public relations and PR planning and by adding management and public space. The above factors are invested and analyzed. The results of the survey and analysis of seven senior welfare centers are as follows. First, in the survey, the spatial organization of the senior welfare centers surveyed showed that the larger the size is, the dominantly lager the social education space is. Second, the space for day or short-term care, and employment is less than 1% of the total area, and most senior welfare centers do not have a basic space for this. Third, the space related to home welfare and counseling is very small, and more than half of the senior welfare centers do not have space related to it.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.30-38
• /
• 2019

Background: Police officers' stress perception, frequency of stressful events (stressors), and police work characteristics may contribute to poor sleep quality through different mechanisms. Methods: We investigated associations of stress severity (measured by stress rating score) and frequency of stressors with sleep quality and examined the influence of police work characteristics including workload, police rank, prior military experience, and shift work on the associations. Participants were 356 police officers (256 men and 100 women) enrolled in the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress Study from 2004 to 2009. A mean stress rating score and mean frequency of stressors occurring in the past month were computed for each participant from the Spielberger Police Stress Survey data. Sleep quality was assessed using the global score derived from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index survey. Linear associations of the stress rating score and frequency of stressors with sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score) were tested. Age, sex, race/ethnicity, and smoking status were selected as potential confounders. Results: The stress rating score was positively and independently associated with poor sleep quality (${\beta}=0.17$, p = 0.002). Only workload significantly modified this association (${\beta}=0.23$, p = 0.001 for high workload group; p-interaction = 0.109). The frequency of stressors was positively and independently associated with poor sleep quality (${\beta}=0.13$, p = 0.025). Only police rank significantly modified the association (${\beta}=0.007$, p = 0.004 for detectives/other executives; p-interaction = 0.076). Conclusion: Both police officers' perception of stress severity and the frequency of stressors are associated with poor sleep quality. Stress coping or sleep promotion regimens may be more beneficial among police officers reporting high workloads.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.465-476
• /
• 1999

The purpose of this study was to analyze on child counseling services of child welfare policy in Korea. Furthermore the results of analytic research were done to serve as the basic data for guidance and policy of Korean child welfare in future. The analytic data of this study were used from yearbook of health and welfare statistics(1998), ministry of health and welfare, republic of Korea. The main results obtained were as follows. 1. There were 47 guidance centers for children in Korea, and public guidance centers were 9, and private 38. 2. There were much more guidance centers in Holt Children's Services than in any other centers. 3. In terms of the occurrence of the cases, common children were about 40%, and juvenile delinquents, the scum of the street, and runaway children were from 17 to 20% of the total cases. In conclusion, government and nongovernment should provide various counseling services for the children. The data are discussed with respect to the implication of child welfare policy for attaining counseling services.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.48 no.6
• /
• pp.265-270
• /
• 2015

The recent Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak has originated from a failure in the national quarantine system in the Republic of Korea as most basic role of protecting the safety and lives of its citizens. Furthermore, a number of the Korean healthcare system's weaknesses seem to have been completely exposed. The MERS-CoV outbreak can be considered a typical public health crisis in that the public was not only greatly terrorized by the actual fear of the disease, but also experienced a great impact to their daily lives, all in a short period of time. Preparedness for and an appropriate response to a public health crisis require comprehensive systematic public healthcare measures to address risks comprehensively with an all-hazards approach. Consequently, discussion regarding establishment of post-MERS-CoV improvement measures must focus on the total reform of the national quarantine system and strengthening of the public health infrastructure. In addition, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must implement specific strategies of action including taking on the role of "control tower" in a public health emergency, training of Field Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, establishment of collaborative governance between central and local governments for infection prevention and control, strengthening the roles and capabilities of community-based public hospitals, and development of nationwide crisis communication methods.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.61 no.5
• /
• pp.135-149
• /
• 2018

Growth charts are curves or tables that facilitate the visualization of anthropometric parameters, and are widely used as an important indicator when evaluating the growth status of children and adolescents. The latest version of the Korean National Growth Charts released in 2007 has raised concerns regarding the inclusion of data from both breastfed and formula-fed infants, higher body mass index (BMI) values in boys, and smaller 3rd percentile values in height-for-age charts. Thus, new growth charts have been developed to improve the previous version. The 2006 World Health Organization Child Growth Standards, regarded as the standard for breastfed infants and children, were introduced for children aged 0-35 months. For children and adolescents aged 3-18 years, these new growth charts include height-for-age, weight-for-age, BMI-for-age, weight-for-height, and head circumference-for-age charts, and were developed using data obtained in 1997 and 2005. Data sets and exclusion criteria were applied differently for the development of the different growth charts. BMI-for-age charts were adjusted to decrease the 95th percentile values of BMI. Criteria for obesity were simplified and defined as a BMI of ${\geq}95th$ percentile for age and sex. The 3rd percentile values for height-for-age charts were also increased. Additional percentile lines (1st and 99th) and growth charts with standard deviation lines were introduced. 2017 Korean National Growth Charts are recommended for the evaluation of body size and growth of Korean children and adolescents for use in clinics and the public health sector in Korea.

• Proceedings of The Korean Society of Health Promotion Conference
• /
• 2005.09a
• /
• pp.153-195
• /
• 2005

There has been 10 years since The Health Promotion Act was legislated. The government began to establish a health promotion fund on the basis of Health Promotion Act in 1995, and to manage and operate the fund from 1998. It is evaluated that health promotion program have had various outcomes in many aspects. First, there has been growing awareness of the impotance of health promotion through the establishment of Health Plan 2010 and the effort to actualize the Plan. Second, the importance of securing health equity and identifying health determinants have been recognized during the planning process of Health Plan 2010. Third, the health promotion program have mainly focused on improving healthy life style of the population. As a result, desirable health behavior change of the population could be expected from the result of 2005 National Health and Nutrition Survey. Fourth, public health centers began to play a crucial role in implementing health promotion programs, and began to build infrastructure for health promotion programs. Fifth, the outcomes of health promotion programs by public health centers and private health organizations have been increasing. Finally, training for health promotion personnel and their participation in the program could be the foundation for the higher level of outcome achievement from the health promotion programs. Important challenges for future health promotion would be identification of the determinants and risk factors of health in Korea, establishment of local health promotion plan, building infrastructure for health promotion, creation of specific action model by public health center, development of diverse health promotion programs and health promotion program for the elderly, conducting research for evidence concerning major factors reducing the need for health care through prevention disease activities, and establishment of evaluation and feed back system for health promotion programs.