• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.287-298
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• 2003

The purpose of the study was to develop an integrated prevention program to strengthen elders self-care capability and to examine its effectiveness on their psychological condition. This study used one group pre- and post-test design. Subjects were 85 elderly residents (over 65 years of age) who lived alone, and received free basic medical care and social welfare services in a rural community in Korea. Subject eligibility criteria for this study were to an elders who 1) is not currently taking any anti-depressant medication 2) is able to communicate, and 3) agrees to participate in this study. The integrated program was composed of horticulture, reminiscence, and friendship activities. Twelve sessions were provided for 12 weeks in community-based partnerships to achieve better outcomes. The intervention was case-managed by a public health nurse and aided by six volunteers. The main outcome variable was depression, which was assessed by using 15 items selected from the Geriatric Depression Scale-short form Korean version. Socio-demographic characteristics, functional status, and satisfaction with social support were used as covariates. Results showed that there was a significant intervention effect at post-intervention time point compared to pre-intervention time point(E.S. 0.94). Multiple linear regression analysis showed significant interaction effects between intervention and satisfaction with social support. These findings must be interpreted within the context that an effects of an integrated program could be more synergistically increased when social support factor is considered in the program. A community-based integrated prevention program of depression is effective for vulnerable rural elderly. It is suggested that randomized controlled trials within community setting for better methodological strength as well as multi-level outcomes on community need to be conducted in future.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.53
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• pp.129-153
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• 2003

This study examines the socio-economic impacts of recent welfare reform in the United States. Based on the neo-conservative critique to the traditional public assistance system for low-income families, the 1996 welfare reform has given greater emphases on reducing welfare dependency and increasing work effort and self-sufficiency among welfare recipients. In particular, the welfare reform legislation instituted 60-month lifetime limits on cash assistance, expanded mandatory work requirements, and placed financial penalties for noncompliance. With the well-timed economic boom in the second half of the 1990s, the welfare reform seems to achieve considerable progress; welfare caseload has declined sharply to reach less than 50% of its 1994 peak, single mothers' labor force participation has increased substantially, and child poverty has decreased. In spite of these good signals, the welfare reform also has several potential problems. Many welfare leavers participate in the labor market, but not all (or most) of them. The economic well being of working welfare leavers did not increased significantly, because earnings increase was canceled out by parallel decrease in welfare benefits. Furthermore, most of working welfare leavers are employed in jobs with poor employment stability and low wages, making them highly vulnerable to frequent layoff, long-time joblessness, persistent poverty, and welfare recidivism. Another serious problem of the welfare reform is that a substantial number of welfare recipients are faced with extreme difficulties in finding jobs, because they have severe barriers to employment. The new welfare system with 5-year time limit can severely threaten the livelihoods of these people. The welfare reform presupposes that welfare recipients can achieve self-reliance by increasing their labor market activities. However, empirical evidences suggest that many people are unable to respond to the new, work-oriented welfare strategy. It may be a very difficult task to achieve both objectives of the welfare reform((1) providing adequate income security for low-income families and (2) promoting self-sufficiency) at the same time, because sometimes they are conflicting each other. With this in mind, a possible solution can be to distinguish welfare recipients into "(Very)-Hard-to-Employ" group and "(Relatively)-Ready-to-Work" group, based on elaborate examinations of a wide range of personal conditions. For the former group, the primary objective of welfare policies should be the first one(providing income security). For the "Ready-to-Work" group, follow-up services to promote job retention and advancement, as well as skill-training and job-search services, are very important. The U. S. experiences of the welfare reform provide some useful implications for newly developing Korean public assistance policies for the able-bodied low-income population.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.241-251
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify trends in health-related interventions on children attending Community Child Care (CCC) centers, which are part of a health policy to provide after-school care for vulnerable children in South Korea. Methods: From 2007, 109 papers were analyzed using the scoping study method. Results: The number of studies increased steadily between 2007 and 2016. Most studies were based on the social sciences, and the participants were mainly elementary school students. Psychological and social interventions were the most common types of interventions with socio-psychological indicators as measurements. In addition, only a few studies had a clearly defined conceptual framework. The majority of studies did not explicitly indicate that they followed ethical considerations. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop health-related interventions for children attending CCC centers using diverse subjects, types, and evaluation methods, along with improvements in the quality of research methodology. Furthermore, it is essential to clearly articulate and implement ethical considerations in research targeting vulnerable children.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.83-116
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to raise the issue of the existing deinstitutionalization debate, considering only the shipment process to these two spaces, and still leaving the inter-facility circulation of vulnerable mental handicapped who are still hanging around the facility. In particular, we sought to supplement the discussion of deinstitutionalization by illuminating the problems of those who have to rely on facilities, as well as the mental health facility system and the homeless facility system. In the case of homeless persons with mental disabilities who repeatedly use the mental health facility system and the homeless facility system, they confirmed the pattern of using the facilities by constantly changing the place to manage the overlapping risk of mental illness and homelessness. Also it is triggered by the voluntary nature of the parties with no resources and resources. This situation appeared to be inevitable in the absence of resources and supportive systems that would actually enable a life in the community. Nevertheless, I asserted that the life of the mentally handicapped, which is circling the facility, is extremely unstable and is not desirable from a welfare point of view.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1578-1587
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• 2019

Software education enhances creative thinking and critical thinking for students living in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and helps them choose jobs in software-related industries. This study is an example of software education applied to the vulnerable students of the child welfare center to narrow the software gap and achieve the equity in education. This education was conducted in Unplugged activity, Entry coding, and Physical computing classes for 170 students from 20 institutions in South Chungcheong Province, North Chungcheong Province, and Daejeon city in Korea. The curriculum utilized a total of four types of student and teacher level materials, with a total of 10 hours of classes per child welfare center. In addition, the surveys of the students and institutions confirmed that this education influenced their interest in software education and their desire for continuous software education.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.495-503
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• 2023

Objectives: While older adults using community care services are known to be vulnerable for depression, community care utilization (CCU) may help to improve the mental health of these elderly. To date, however, it is much less clear how CCU affects depressive symptoms in the elderly population. This study focuses on the trajectory of depressive symptoms across years of CCU among older adults in Korea. Methods: Using the 2006-2019 Korean Welfare Panel Survey, this study is focused on elderly born in 1940 or earlier and selected 3281 persons for baseline interviews in 2006. This consisted of 35 800 person-year observations during a period of 14 years. Panel data analysis were employed to construct years of CCU. Results: After controlling for covariates, linear term of years using community care was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, but a quadratic term was positively significant. The trajectory of depressive symptoms across the years of CCU follows a U-shaped curve. Older adults in the first year of using community care reported the highest level of depressive symptoms. However, a significant and steady decrease in depressive symptoms was observed during the following 9 years of CCU, which then gradually increased. The level of depressive symptoms at the 14th year of using community care remains significantly lower than the level at the outset of its utilization. Conclusions: This finding implies that CCU could be beneficial for improving mental health among older adults.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

This study aims to analyze the trend of changes in the elderly living arrangement over the past 20 years and the reasons why the elderly choose these changes. The subjects of the survey were households aged 65 years or older in Korea. Data from the survey of Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted in 2004, 2014, 2020 were used for the analysis. The result of analysis was as follows; First, since 2000, the number of elderly households living with their children has been rapidly decreasing, while the number of elderly couple households and single elderly households is gradually increasing. Second, elderly living alone appeared more in rural areas, women, older people, and elderly with low education. They are in a vulnerable position that needs help. Therefore, welfare policies for the elderly should be focused on elderly single households. Finally the reason for choosing elderly single household in 2020 was that the voluntary choice by the individual accounted for a much higher rate than the unintentional choice by the children. In addition, the life satisfaction of the elderly who arbitrarily selected the living arrangement was higher than that of the elderly who deliberately chose the living arrangement.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.267-290
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• 2011

This research attempts to analyze the effects of demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors and social/familial supports on health inequalities among Korean elderly. For this end, this study adopts the multiple linear regression analysis to process data on population aged over 65 contained in 'The Third Korea Welfare Panel Study' published in 2008. The following are the results. First, the less educated they are, the smaller income they earn, the less they drink, the less satisfied with relationships with their family members, the more they turn out to feel depressed. Second, the less educated they are, the smaller income they earn, the less they drink, the less they are satisfied with relationship with family members, the more they benefit from social welfare services, the worse they turn out to rate their health. Based on these findings, three following suggestions could be forwarded. First, vulnerable aged groups including female elderly, low-income elderly, less-educated elderly need customized social supports. Second, new social policy for households is required to enhance elderly people's satisfaction with their family relationships with the rapid trend of a growing number of nuclear families and aging. Third, social welfare service programs need to be reevaluated to enhance their function for the aged.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.261-268
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• 2024

This study focused on social connection apps and support among various measures to prevent 'killing and abandonment of infants', which has recently become a social issue. The research method attempted to show the necessity of a social-linked app by analyzing the contents of 12 cases with peculiarities in the infant murder process in the judgment after 2021. Infanticide mothers were found to be economically and socially vulnerable, and they killed infants to continue their lives. Focusing on the mind of human respect rather than the judicial meaning of punishing crime, the development of social connection apps and support services that allow both mothers and infants to be healthy and socially protected were proposed. The first is a great transformation of economic support and awareness for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. Second, it is necessary to develop a confidentiality counseling and information app that can comprehensively support medical directions and social welfare in consideration of the health status of the fetus and women and the socio-economic situation. Third, it is proposed to promote the use of the Internet such as joint childcare facilities of social communities, child protection institutions, and adoption systems. The government should investigate the reasons for not being able to register birth, the root causes of killing and abandonment of infants, and come up with practical plans and policies for them.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.19-28
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• 2017

This study is aiming to suggest baseline date for the establishment of policy alternative to make healthy consumption life of the elderly through investigating and analyzing actual condition of consumption related with the awareness of health functional food such as purchase behavior and consumer's problems about health functional food. Under the assumption that the vitalization of health functional food market will become an important market in the present and in the future, the fundamental marketing information about elder consumers is more important than any other information that is essential for successful marketing to domestic corporations and senior policy experts. In addition, there was a fundamental significance to provide necessary basic data for health promotion of the elderly by offering information about rights and interests of elder consumers who are members of vulnerable social group or right choice of purchasing or intake. The limitations of this study are as follows. First, the subjects were selected who live in Gangwon-do with the age of 60 and over due to the limitation of sampling, and that might be shown local characteristics. Therefore, the study result could not be generalized on behalf of all elderly in Korea and it is difficult to apply the result to more segmented market. To solve this problem, studies containing sampling by regional groups might be needed.