• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.89-93
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• 2008

"Personalized medicine," the goal of which is to provide better clinical care by applying patient's own genomic information to their health care is a global challenge for the $21^{st}$ century "genomic era." This is especially true in Korea, where provisions for clinical genetic services are inadequate for the existing demand, let alone future demands. Genomics-based knowledge and tools make it possible to approach each patient as a unique biological individual, which has led to a paradigm-shift in medical practice, giving it more of a predictive focus as compared with current treatment oriented approach. With recent advancements in genomics, many genetic tests, such as susceptibility genetic tests, have been developed for both rare single gene diseases and more common multifactorial diseases. Indeed, genetic tests for presymtomatic individuals and genetic tests for drug response have become widely available, and personalized medicine will face the challenge of assisting patients who use such tests to make appropriate and wise use of genetic risk assessment. A major challenge of genomic medicine lies in understanding and communicating disease risk in order to facilitate and support patients and their families in making informed decisions. Establishment of a health care system with provisions for genetic counseling as an integral part of health care service, in addition to genomic literacy of health care providers, is vital to meet this growing challenge. Realization of the promise of personalized medicine in the era of genomics for improvement of health care is dependent on further development of next generation sequencing technology and affordable sequencing test costs. Also necessary will be policy development concerning the ethical, legal and social issues of genomic medicine and an educated and ready medical community with clinical practice guidelines for genetic counseling and genetic testing.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.126-134
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• 2020

Objectives: Cancer diagnoses have a tremendous impact on individuals and communities, drawing intense public concern. The objective of the current research was to examine news coverage and content related to cancer-related issues in Korean newspapers. Methods: Primarily using the database system of the Korea Press Foundation, we conducted a content analysis of 2806 articles from 9 Korean daily newspapers during a recent 3-year period from 2015 to 2017. Thematic categories, the types of articles, attitudes and tone, and the number of sources in each article were coded and classified. Results: Many news articles dealt with a diverse range of themes related to cancer, including general healthcare information, the latest research and development, specific medical institutions and personnel, and technology and products, which jointly accounted for 74.8% of all articles. Those thematic categories differed markedly in terms of article type, tone, and the number of cited sources. News articles provided extensive information about healthcare resources, and many articles seemed to contain advertising content. However, the content related to complex social issues such as National Health Insurance did not include enough information for the reader to contextualize the issues properly or present the issues systematically. Conclusions: It can be assumed that the media exert differential influence on individuals through news coverage. Within the present reporting framework, the availability and usefulness of information are likely to depend solely on individuals' capabilities, such as financial and health literacy; this dependency has a negative impact on knowledge gaps and health inequities.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.142-162
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• 2014

Objectives: To evaluate the critical environmental factors on healthy-aging of Korean people, we investigated the significant factors influencing health status of septuagenarians living in rural area of Jeonla province, known to be one of the representative longevity regions in Korea. Methods: We divided subjects into healthy group (36M/25F) or poor-health group (26M/73F) based on self-reported health status, body mass index, a number of prescription, and blood test data. General characteristics, physical measurements, lifestyle, dietary behavior and nutrient intake, physical health and mental health data were statistically compared between the two groups. Results: Average age was not different between healthy group and poor-health group in men and women, respectively. In men, significantly favorable factors to health were observed to be higher education, regular exercise, higher grip strength and walking function, body mass index (${\geq}18.5kg/m^2$), moderate frequency of drinking and eating-out, non-smoking, normal red blood cell (RBC) count, higher serum dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAS) level, good digestive function and appetite, normal hearing function, regular meals, adequate vegetable and fruit intake, diverse food intake, adequate energy and nutrients (protein, vitamin $B_1$, $B_6$, C and E, folate, niacin, P, Zn and K) intake, higher mini-nutrient status assessment (MNA) score and low level of depression. On the other hand, in women, those were literacy, living arrangement, moderate frequency of drinking, healthy teeth, higher grip strength and walking function, bone mineral density, normal RBC and white blood cell (WBC) count, higher DHEAS concentration, higher MNA score, normal cognition and memory function, having snack and adequate fruit intake. Conclusions: These results could be useful to plan effective strategies to increase health-life expectancy of Korean old people living in rural areas.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.53-69
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors of Elderly Social Activity (Employment) Programs participatory intention of middle and old aged and to figure out the undertone of research results. To achieve this aims, we conducted a literature survey on Elderly Social Activity Programs and local informatization, and then designed a questionnaire including the demographic information and the five variables, i.e., satisfaction on local informatization, satisfaction on health condition, satisfaction on economic condition, satisfaction on human relationship, and participatory intention of Elderly Social Activity (Employment) Programs. The data were collected through online and offline survey targeted those aged over 50 and participated in information literacy program in Korea. A total of 333 valid data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS statistical packages. The results can be summarized as follows: satisfaction on local informatization and satisfaction on health condition have a statistically significant effect on Elderly Social Activity (Employment) Programs participatory intention. In the comparative analysis of two groups between economic active group and economic inactive group, only health has a statistically significant effect on their participatory intention in economic active group, not only health but also local informatization has a statistically significant effect on the their participatory intention in economic inactive group. Therefore, local informatization is an essential prerequisite and local informatization should be improved for the middle aged and elderlies who have willingness to participate in Elderly Social Activity (Employment) Programs.