• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.227-261
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• 2015

Cooperative associations are established in order to enhance the rights and the interests of their members and serve the local communities, and actually do much for the local society. And among these, consumer cooperatives are spontaneously founded, particularly in the spirit of mutual help, in order to promote the common welfare of the members. Meanwhile, because the current medical law qualifys noncommercial corporation to open medical institution, consumer cooperative and noncommercial- corporation cooperative which are established under the Cooperative Act have the right to do. However, though cooperative association should be founded for common interests of the members who are weaker parties of society, it became rapidly to be abused as means of circumvention of law. Especially as National Health Insurance Corporation stepped up the investigation and the collection of unfair profits against the hospital owned by non-medical personnel who are unable to establish a medical institution, setting up medical institutions as a roundabout way to avoid the restricts dramatically increased in number. In this study, we are going to introduce the current dualised normative system regulating the establishment of a medical cooperative association, and find a way to improve the system and make up for the week points. And we will look though the present situation about medical cooperative association's opening, operating, and closing, and review the normative and systematic improving plans.

• 한국노년학
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.927-939
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyze motivations, benefits, and satisfactions of the college student volunteers. We carry out the pre-to-post survey with 615 college student volunteers (male 245, female 367) who have participated in the mobile education program for the elderly funded by a Telecom. The instruments consist of VFI (Volunteer Functions Inventory) developed by Clary & Snyder (1999), including 30 items for motivations, 12 items for achievements, and 5 items for satisfactions of volunteering. The items for motivations and achievements are comprised of 6 subcategories: career, value, understanding, protective, enhancement, and social. The results of this study are as follows: (1) Enhancement motivation is the highest, followed by understanding, value, career, protective, and social motivation. (2) Social benefit is the highest, followed enhancement, career, understanding, value, protective benefit. (3) The difference between motivation and benefit in social category is the largest, followed by career, enhancement, value, protective, and understanding category. While benefit is higher than motivation in all other categories, motivation is higher than benefit just in value category. (4) High motivation-high benefit, high motivation-low benefit, low motivation-high benefit, and low motivation-low benefit groups are dichotomized by the median of each motivation and benefit. In all six categories, high motivation-high benefit group shows the highest satisfaction, but low motivation-low benefit group shows the lowest. In short, benefit shows stronger correlation with satisfaction than motivation does. Finally, we suggest several implications for future research and policy of college students' volunteering based on these results.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.23-39
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• 2018

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of respiratory rehabilitation using a wind instrument for patients suffering from spinal cord injuries. From January 15, 2018 to April 15, 2018, we conducted ten 1-hour sessions of a harmonica program with eight patients with spinal cord injuries with average age of 37 years who could not perform abdominal breathing by themselves. We measured and compared patients' breathing capacity before and after the 10 sessions. Designed particularly for patients with spinal cord injuries resulting in a limited range of neck movement, the study used a 10-hole diatonic harmonica whose length was relatively short. For those patients who had difficulty using their hands, a harmonica holder was provided. Participants were trained to play simple tunes. They were guided to use abdominal breathing to make sounds, with emphasis on those parts requiring long and strong breathing. The results showed that for all eight patients both their breathing volume and their inspiratory volume increased following participation in the harmonica program. Also, the program had psychological benefits (e.g., more life satisfaction and less sadness) and additional physical benefits (e.g., less dizziness due to low blood pressure and better phlegm spitting). This study offers a unique way to help patients with spinal cord injuries to improve their breathing capacity, which may also be associated with a greater quality of life.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.146-154
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• 2024

The ship management industry in South Korea has been growing steadily, leading the government to implement policies to support its development in response to changing environmental conditions. These policies aim to improve the competitiveness of South Korea's ship management industry by recognizing the importance of skilled professionals in determining its success. Plans and policies have been put in place to cultivate these professionals, but ship management companies are currently facing a serious shortage of manpower. To enhance the industry's competitiveness, it is essential to attract and retain competent ship management professionals. Therefore, this study investigates the reasons for turnover among these professionals. The research results identified four factors contributing to turnover: Work Environment, Economic Compensation and Welfare Benefits, Self-Development, and Promotion and Career Advancement. Subsequent multiple regression analysis based on these factors revealed the need to strengthen economic rewards and benefits in order to reduce turnover rates among ship management professionals. This study provides foundational data for the development of stable human resource management policies for the future of the ship management industry.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.165-177
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• 2015

Objectives: Based on individual and environmental characteristics of low-income children, we developed a nutrition education program for school-aged children from low-income families according to effective use in social welfare centers. Methods: We conducted in-depth group interviews to assess program needs in 28 participants, 10 low-income school-aged children and 9 of their care givers, 9 social workers and 9 care-givers. Theoretical backgrounds of our program were heath belief model and social cognitive theory considering motivation, action and environment characteristics. Results: Based on the findings of this qualitative study, we developed major program themes and contents. Five selected key themes were 'balanced diet', 'processed food', 'food hygiene and safety', 'Korean healthy traditional diet', and 'family cooking' to induce changes in dietary behaviors. Main findings of in-depth group interviews included 'child's active participation', 'simple and easy to understand messages', and 'environmental constraints' such as a lack of child care at home, limited budget of social welfare centers, and less qualified educators for nutrition and health. Each lesson was constructed as a 1-hour program particularly emphasizing activity-based programs, including cooking and teamwork exercises. Program contents in each session consisted of activities that could induce outcome and value expectations, self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and barriers and cues to actions regarding diet behavior. Conclusions: We developed a nutrition education programthat is rarely available for low-income children in Korea, considering theoretical bases. Further studies are needed to validate our program.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.55
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• pp.231-254
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• 2003

The main premise of this study is that the assurance on human rights of the mentally ill is contradictory to 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number' or 'therapeutic benefits'. Accordingly this study aims to find out the conceptual framework of assurance and restriction on human rights of the mentally ill. Using qualitative method, this study conducted the in-depth interview with 10 general public, 9 professionals, 6 mentally ill regarding the several issues of human rights included long-term hospitalization, restriction on driver's licence, involuntary hospitalization, restriction on communication in psychiatric ward. Research results are as follows ; two sets of dimensions are inferred from the analysis of interview transcript. First dimension is the focus of justification, ranging from the emphasis on positive consequences influenced to 'the greatest numbers'(the utilitarian thought) to the emphasis on assurance of rights without any conditions(the deontological thought). Second dimension is the locus of decision, raging from the formal system included the professionals and the government agency to the informal system included the families and the mentally ill. And there are differences in attitudes toward assurance and restriction on rights of the mentally ill among general public, professionals, and the mentally ill. In detail, general public regarded that 'involuntary hospitalization' and 'restriction on driver's license' which are apt to be directly harmful to people must be justified by consequence-centered and decided by the formal system, while 'long-term hospitalization' which is less harmful to people could be justified by right-centered and decided by the formal-system. And they thought that 'restriction of communication' could be justified by right-centered and decided by the informal system. Based on the findings, this study would conclude that practical guidelines for the promotion of human rights of the mentally ill must be developed.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.513-522
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• 2019

Background: South Korea operates a Medical Aid (MA) program targeting selected low-income individuals to ensure medical service delivery to the disadvantaged while enhancing self-sufficiency of work-capable beneficiaries. However, as reasons behind welfare exits are diverse and do not always infer poverty relief or the provision of appropriate levels of health care services, this study aimed to investigate the association between changes in MA status and health care utilization. Methods: This study used the 2006 to 2015 National Health Insurance claims data. The impact of changes in annual MA status on health care utilization (yearly number of outpatient visits, inpatient visits, length of stay, and emergency department [ED] visits) was investigated using the generalized estimating equation model. Results: In 117,943 adult subjects aged 20 to 64, compared to the 'MA to MA' group, the 'MA to MA exit' group showed general decreases in utilization (outpatient visits: β=-3.93, p<0.0001; hospital admissions: relative risk [RR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-0.91; length of stay: β=-3.64, p<0.0001; ED visits: RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.77-0.90). Similar patterns were found in the 'MA exit to MA exit' group (outpatient visits: β=-5.72, p<0.0001; admissions: RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.94; length of stay: β=-5.87; p<0.0001; ED visits: RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.75-0.88). Likewise, in 74,747 older adult subjects aged 65 or above, the 'MA to MA exit' group showed reduced levels of utilization (outpatient visits: β=-1.51; p=0.0020), as well as the 'MA exit to MA exit' group (admissions: RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.89-0.95; length of stay: β, -5.45; p<0.0001; ED visits: RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.83-0.97). Conclusion: MA exit was associated with general decreases in health care utilization. Utilization patterns of individuals with experiences of receiving MA benefits should be monitored to promote the ideal use of health care services while preventing potential financial barriers present in accessing medical care.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.237-259
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• 2004

The public assistance scheme plays more important role in income maintenance for poor elders than the public pension does due to insufficient coverage of the public pension resulted from late introduction of it in Korea. However, only limited numbers of poor elders are financially protected by the public assistance contrary to the general perception that the elderly population most benefits from public aids. Based on data set of 2000 from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study, this study analysed the size, composition and characteristics of poor elders excluded from the public assistance, and determinants of the elderly's participation in it. Findings of the study can be summarized as follows: (1) More than half of poor elders are excluded from the public assistance although their economic status is similar with that of recipients, which may cause income reversal between recipients and non-recipients. (2) It was identified that non-recipient poor elders especially those with same income level of recipients of the National Livelihood Guarantees(NLG) are actually in desperate need of public aids considering their serious financial conditions. (3) Participation in public assistance among the elderly is more affected by socio-demographic factors that reflect family conditions than by economic factors, which is mostly caused by the strict eligibility criteria of the public assistance that reinforces family duty of financial support for elderly relatives in Korea. Policy implications for more effective income security for poor elders include revising inappropriate eligibility criteria of the NLG concerning family obligations, expanding the coverage of the old age allowance for poor elders to near-poor elders, and providing work opportunities to non-recipient poor elders to supplement their income deficit.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.39
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• pp.83-113
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• 2008

The purpose of the study is to explore the mental health social workers' experiences concerning client's self-determination by grounded theory, one of the qualitative method. Although a lot of previous studies has proved that the practitioners have suffered from the ethical considerations in their practice, on which the matter of client's self-determination is centered, little attention is paid to deep exploration of practitioners' real experience about those aspects. To carry out the research question, first, through literature reviews focusing on clarify the underlying issues about client's self-determination, three intrinsic clues are found out; incompetence, medical benefits, the harm to the third party. Data obtained by in-depth interview with 10 participants are analyzed by employing the methode developed by Corbin and Strauss, which could categorize the raw data into several high-level concepts and constructs. The findings of the study show that most practitioners would consider the clients as the intrinsic subject of self-determination. Therefore, in practice, they are trying to support the client's self-determination even within the some constraints. In addition, they also experience the clients' latent potential in actualizing autonomy and self-determination, and identifies the positive effect of self-determination not only on the client's self-help and mental health but also on the practitioners themselves. The results of the study clearly suggests that it is critical to provide the practitioners with adequate ethical education and training to help them to overcome their ethical suffering concerning clients self-determination.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.5-21
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the employment policy for persons with disabilities on their employment rates. The subjects were 10 OECD counties of which policies are based on quotas or the prohibition of discrimination. The time-series data for the analysis were collected for 12 years from 2000 to 2011. A Panel-Corrected Standard Error(PCSE) analysis was conducted for the time-series cross-sectional data of this study. As a result, unemployment rates, proportions of persons with disabilities, and public expenditures on disability and sickness benefits(in % GDP) were statistically significant among control variables, while the coverages of discrimination prohibition and the types of delivery systems of vocational rehabilitation for persons with disabilities among the employment policy variables. The wider the coverages of discrimination prohibition are, the higher the employment rates of the disabled are. In addition, the employment rates of the disabled are higher in countries with specialized delivery systems for vocational rehabilitation than in countries with general delivery systems for vocational rehabilitation.