• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.289-304
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the illness experience of married Korean women with epilepsy. Methods: Data were collected during 2015~2016 through individual in-depth interviews with 12 married women with epilepsy. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using Giorgi's phenomenological analysis to uncover the meaning of the illness experience of the participants. Results: The study results showed that the illness experience of married Korean women with epilepsy was clustered into a specific description of situated structure and a general description of situated structure. Six themes from 20 meaning units were identified: 1) Undermined self-esteem with stigma of being epileptic; 2) Limited social interaction; 3) Suffering sorrow as a 'disqualified being'; 4) Shuttling back and forth across the boundary between healthy and epileptic; 5) Desperate struggle to meet the expectation of given role; 6) Self-empowering through self-restriction and realization. Conclusion: The findings from this study show that both the enacted and felt stigma of epilepsy impact on the life of married Korean women with epilepsy. Although the participants face social and interpersonal restriction and prejudices, they try their best to fulfill their role rather than to be cared for as patients. As the stigma and hardships of the participants are related to lack of knowledge, health professionals should focus not just on clinical intervention but also on providing targeted educational programs and counseling for these women to dispel the stigma of the disease and to increase their quality of life.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.44-55
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• 2008

Purpose: This study was done to assess the personal experiences of the coping process during pregnancy for single mothers. Methods: The participants were 17 single mothers who had stayed in a social welfare facility. Data was collected with an in-depth unstructured interview. Data analysis was done by the grounded theory method. Results: One-hundred twelve concepts and 49 sub-categories were confirmed in the analysis. The sub-categories were grouped into 19 categories; escape from a miserable family, wrong meeting, openness of sex, defenseless state of pregnancy, inevitable result of pregnancy, heartbreak by herself, closure, isolation, difficult situation of being alone, stigma, supporting & protecting, helplessness, seeking, empowering, feeling of loss, conflict, facing issues, assuring a fresh start and becoming-mature. "Being driven over the edge of a cliff" was the key phenomenon which the single mothers experienced during the process of pregnancy. Conclusion: The above results will help nurses assessing single pregnancy mothers' needs and developing a nursing intervention program for supporting them. Therefore, nurses will be able to stop them from "being driven over the edge of cliff". A more vigorous nursing intervention is suggested for the research of the vulnerable classes of medical health care including single pregnant mothers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.914-923
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• 2005

Purpose: Although feminism has been actively discussed and applied to nursing in Western societies since the 1980s, it is little known among Korean scholars as well as Korean nurses. This article explores the use of feminist perspectives in nursing science in other developed countries and suggests how feminism could be applied to nursing science in Korea. Method: The literature related to nursing and feminism were reviewed in terms of nursing practice, education, and research. Result: This article describes what feminism is and how feminism and nursing have evolved historically over time in other countries, especially in Western societies. In addition, it discusses how it can be applied to nursing practice, education, and research in Korea. Conclusion: Accepting feminist perspective in Korean nursing could benefit in empowering nurses by valuing nursing, by raising self-esteem of nurses, and by raising the consciousness of socio-political realities. Eventually it could benefit in changing and developing nursing science in Korea.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.49-66
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• 2015

The purpose of the study was to review literature on universal and residual services of early family-intervention. The review was focused on early family-intervention cases proven effective in empowering children, parents and families, which, in turn, brought about positive synergy effects to the community at large. Literature review was presented in the following order: first, the universal needs for early family-intervention; second, critical components and strategies of early family-intervention for successful outcomes; third, on-going international projects of early family-intervention, both universal and residual services, proven effective on a long-term basis. In conclusion, findings of the study were summarized and the theoretical, practical and political implications for Korean society were further discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.7
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• pp.2497-2507
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• 2010

The objectives of this study were to identify recognition, intention and practice to premarital examination of women and to define the predictors of intention and compliance to examination. The subjects for this study were 257 women at a university, college, a bank worker and health clinic visitor in Busan city. The date for this study was collected from August 25th to September 24th 2006 by structured questionaries, and were analyzed mean, standard deviations(SD), $x^2$-test, t-test and multiple Logistic regression using SPSS/WIN 12.0. The mean performance of the premarital examination was 28.4%. Thirty-five point five percent of unmarried women and 71.6 percent of married women had experience of heard premarital examination. The score of attitude toward premarital examination were that single women was 23.04 and married women was 22.55, respectively. The scores of behavioral control cognition between unmarried women and married women were statistically significant different. The predictor of premarital examination intention was necessity of premarital examination, and the predictors of examination compliance were experience of hearing examination and behavioral control cognition. Based on the results of this study, promoting recognition and behavioral control cognition by community healthcare organization and health professionals for empowering the premarital examination of women were needed.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.432-438
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• 2017

Slum settlement, a direct result of the rapid worldwide urbanization is a common site in most developing countries. Uganda is among the top African countries with high number of slums. The status of Katanga slum located in the low-lands between Mulago national hospital and Makerere University is a typical of many other slums within Uganda. This project proposal seeks to tackle urbanization challenges by specializing in slum upgrading as a sustainable way of curbing the menace. An integrated toilet, biogas, poultry and backyard gardening project is proposed as a channel of boosting the Katanga slum dwellers' economic, sanitation and domestic energy status. Designed to serve up to 30 households, the project will utilize residual wastes from poultry houses and toilets to produce biogas and slurry. The biogas yield will provide clean cooking fuel and energy for lighting, while the slurry used as organic fertilizers to improve vegetable yields. The social, economic and environmental impacts of the project will empower the vulnerable women and children within the slums and reduce water pollution and land degradation. This affordable project can be applied in developing countries experiencing slum settlement challenges as a strategy for reducing urbanization pressure.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.43-49
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• 2016

This paper explains concepts and methods of indexes measuring gender gaps. There are mainly 4 indexs, GDI, GEM, GII and GGI. UNDP developed GDI, GEM and GII. WEF developed GGI. Each index has its own strengths and weak points. Therefore it is important to understand each index in detail. For Korea, as men and women have been developed equally in areas of education and health, the GDI score was in a high group. However, the GEM and GGI scores were low. This implies that in order to reduce gender gaps, it is necessary to expand gender equality policies empowering economic and political empowerment.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.82-100
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper attempts to compare five free trade agreements with gender chapters ratified by Chile and Canada and derives lessons for Korea in terms of gender-aware trade policy. While Chile and Canada have three and two FTAs with gender chapter respectively, Korea has none so far, although it has already ratified an FTA with the two countries. Design/methodology - This study first investigates all the gender-provisions with the gender chapters, conducts a comparative analysis on the five chapters as well as a case study of one target FTA's implementation and achievements, and finally suggests policy implications for Korea's trade administration as well as trade-related agencies. Findings - According to the analysis, there are three phases in terms of advancement in gender-related trade policy. As Chile is in phase two and Canada is in phase three, Korea remains in phase one. It has a ministry related to gender within the government, but not within the OMT. It has statistics on female business, but not of women traders. It has a few gender-related provisions in its FTAs, but not a gender chapter. In this sense, new mandates related to gender-aware trade policy for OMT, KITA, and KOTRA should be provided to realize the concrete economic benefits resulting from empowering women traders and policies promoting them. Originality/value - Existing studies only focus on introducing gender-related international commitments and Korea's participation in them. This paper is the first attempt to compare actual gender chapters of five FTAs ratified by two countries with the most advanced gender chapters in the world. To gain benefits from the positive gender impact of trade agreements, negotiating and signing gender responsive FTA with future partners is one of the most efficient, as well as inclusive, trade policies urgently needed for Korea.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.243-262
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• 2009

Purpose: In recent, there have been a lot of studies exploring effective methods to relieve pains and sufferings of women delivered of child. The ultimate purpose of the study is to investigate the developmental trends of the complementary alternative medicine(CAM, hereafter), which has increasingly obtained the approval of the women and therefore established the academic foundations in effect. Methods: Systematic analysis with diverse written materials concerning the complementary alternative medicine was carried out. For the analysis, materials related with the issue of the study were searched at the Pubmed, the Korea Education & Research Information Service. Results: 1. One of the results of interest is the verification of the fact in that diverse complementary therapies are nowadays substantially applied to the many situations of delivery and childbirth. 2. The results showed clearly that CAM has several prominent influences on the whole process of the delivery: from the reduce of the pains and the time for delivery, to increasement of the satisfactional level of the mother. 3. According to the results, the emphasis of CAM is mainly placed not just on the relieving of pains and sufferings of the mothers, but on empowering them to face them with self-confidence. 4. The results of the study suggest strongly that the professionals should provide mothers with useful information and methods to help them to get through the pains during the delivery period. Conclusion: The result of the study is to suggest persuasively that more systematic attention should be paid to the researches exploring effectiveness and stability and safety of CAM.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.167-175
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• 2024

Objectives: Rural housewives are integral to household management and family care, yet their sedentary lifestyles present significant health risks. This study used the transtheoretical model (TTM) to investigate strategies that encourage and maintain regular exercise habits among rural housewives. Methods: A semi-experimental study was conducted in 2021 with 114 housewives aged 30 to 59 who attended rural health centers in Gorgan, Iran. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. Data collection involved a validated questionnaire that gathered demographic information and constructs of the TTM. The intervention group participated in a comprehensive educational program, which included four 60-minute sessions. Data were collected again 6 months post-intervention and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS version 21. Results: The study encompassed women with an average age of 39.75±6.05 years, the majority of whom had educational levels below a diploma, and over 90% were married. We observed strong correlations between the processes of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance. At the outset, there were no significant differences in demographics or model structures between the 2 groups. However, 6 months post-intervention, the intervention group exhibited statistically significant differences in the mean scores of model structures, stages of change, and body mass index (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of physical activity training for rural housewives. The findings suggest that the educational intervention, which utilized the TTM, significantly impacted the participants' model structures and their stages of change.