• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2000

From 1998, Oriental Medical Physicians(OMP) is distributed in Public Health Sector. but long term plan for Oriental Medicine in Public Health is not existed. So, this study is designed for the activation of OMP Subjects in this study were comprised 3 groups of oriental medicine related persons, the group of which are Students of 11 Oriental Medical Schools, Oriental Medical Physicians in Public Health Sector, Specialist Croup of Oriental medicine Policy(total 1,458 persons). Data were collected from July 1st to November 30, 1999. Direct interview with key persons, systematic interview by using of interview protocol, e-mail and facsimile have been conducted. The results of survey were coded by Excel 5.0, and analysed with SAS 6.12 statistical package. Inter-group difference determined by T-test, and descriptive statistics have been examined. Major findings can be epitomized as follows. 1) OMP disposition to multifarious organizations and institutes such as Public Health Centers, Public Health Sub-centers, Public Hospitals, Private Hospitals in Remote-Vulnerable Area, Community Social Welfare Centers, Institutes for Heath Policy Research, etc, will promise an effective use of Oriental Medical Physician. 2) Average number of patients treated by OMP was 22.8, average budget for oriental medical department, in which OMP were affiliated, was 39.6 million Won per year. Direct cost per every patient visit was 7,210.9 Won, which is considered expensive for public health service. Therefore, development and transformation for Oriental Medical Service in Public Health Sector is desirable in economic and political aspects. 3) It is recommended that ${\ulcorner}Advisory\;Committee{\lrcorner},{\ulcorner}Planning\;Commission\;for\; Public\;Health\;in\;Oriental\;Medicine{\lrcorner}$ should be established for the activation and for the support of Oriental Medical Physician in Public Health Sector, 4) Most effective programmes for oriental public health doctor are health service programmes for the elderly, Home health visit, chronic degenerative disease control services(p<0.001). 5) Standard guideline for facilities and equipments of Oriental Medicine Department in Public Health Center is needed for optimal supply of resources and activation of public health activity.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.24-32
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• 2016

Objective: The visually impaired have limited access to health care services and related information, and thus, they can have serious hurdles against properly taking medications. Despite that it is important to improve self-care ability of the visually impaired for correct medication use, there have been few studies investigating their needs for health care services in Korea, particularly focusing on proper medication usage. This study is to explore safety-related issues regarding mediation usage among the visually impaired based on in-depth interview. We particularly focus on any obstacles for safe use of medicines including experience on medication-related adverse effects in order to provide preliminary evidence for policy measures to improve proper medication use among the visually impaired. Methods: Study sample was visually impaired individuals who resided in Seoul area and were registered in the National Association of Visually Impaired. The association helped the process of recruiting the study participants. In-depth interview for each study participants was conducted. Each interview was recorded and later converted into a written script to extract core contents for the analysis. Results: The study participants comprised of three women (42.9%) and four men (57.1%). One was in his 20's, and there were four participants in 30's and two in 40's. Fully impaired participants were majority (5 out of 7). Limitation to physical access to health care providers and health information were the key factors to hamper safe medication utilization among the study participants. Difficulty reading medication information and may take the wrong medication or incorrect doses of medication, resulting in serious consequences, including overdose or inadequate treatment of health problems. Visually impaired patients report increased anxiety related to medication management and must rely on others to obtain necessary drug information. Pharmacists have a unique opportunity to pursue accurate medication adherence in this special population. This article reviews literature illustrating how severe medication mismanagement can occur in the visually impaired elderly and presents resources and solutions for pharmacists to take a larger role in adherence management in this population. Conclusion: The visually impaired had difficulties reading medication information and identifying medicines, and took incorrect doses of medications. Public support for safe medication use and medication management among the visually impaired is necessary.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.185-193
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• 2012

This study conducted surveys of 88 eldery people over 100 years in Gyeongnam on April to June, 2011 during 90 days. It was intended to find the factors of longevity, Activity Daily of Living (ADL), and Instrumental Activity Daily of Living (IADL). Major results of this study were as follows: The factors of longevity are getting enough sleep over than seven hours(95.5%), taking in less salty food (69.8%), optimism without even thinking about suicide (86.9%), nonsmoking habit (92%), and moderation in drink (86.4%). The most difficult part of Activity Daily of Living (ADL) is taking a bath, and that of Instrumental Activity Daily of Living (IADL) is taking a bus or subway alone. All items of ADL and IADL, female was higher than the male, but not statistically significant(p<0.05). Therefore, further study is expected to develop the supplementary policy to support the elderly people with declining to carry out physical activities. It is also expected to develop the public welfare programs and policies for the aged, allowing them to take responsibility and to participate as a member of the society.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.140-146
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• 2013

Objectives: We compared the characteristics of the pain threshold and pain experience between demented group and non-demented group. Methods: This study was part of Gangwon projects for early detection of dementia in 2010. We recruited 8302 local resident ages over 65 years old. Of theses, 1259 people who scored low MMSE were selected and 365 of them completed CERAD-K(Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease). Finally, 90 in non-demented group and 57 in demented group(mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease) were analyzed. Pain threshold was experimentally measured by pressure algometer and we investigated the pain experience, by Brief pain inventory (BPI), a self-report test. Results: In the demographic characteristics, there are more female, higher ages, lower education in the demented group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the pain threshold. On the BPI results, 'shoulder pain', 'the number of pain' and 'interference of working' were significantly more prevalent in non-demented group. However, there are no significant differences between the groups in the 'pain severity', 'prevalence of pain' and 'pain treatment'. Conclusions: Demented group report less pain experience but, still perceived pain. It support previous studies that patient with dementia have increased pain tolerance but preserved pain threshold. Thus, active pain assessment and treatment for patients with dementia is needed.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.748-758
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• 1998

The Recommended Dietary Allowances(RDAs, Nutrient standards), dietary guidelines, and food guides, each define aspects for a healthy diet in different ways. The RDA and food guide for Koreans were first established in 1962 by the Food and Nutrition Committee of the Korea FAO Association. The committee released the RDA and suggested ways to intake the recommended nutrients. Every five years, the committee has added more data and released revisions. The latest edition of the RDA is the 6th revision. In the beginning, the concept of basic food groups was emphasized as basic data for planning means based on RDA. In the 5th revision, the basic food groups and dietary guideline for public health from the Ministry of Health and Welfairs(December, 1990) suggests that, 1) Eat a variety of foods with a recommended fat intake equaling or less than 20% of total calories ; 2) Maintain ideal body weight and prevent obesity ; 3) Eat foods low in salt. Salt intake should not exceed 10g ; 4) Do not drink too much ; 5) Eat regularly and enjoy meals. After these guidelines were established, the first nutritonal education efforts guidelines were developed in 1984. Despite broad possibilities for application, they had limited use, mainly as a nutritional assessment and food balance sheet preparation. They were not well utilized in public nutritional education and nutritonal policy through the media because of the weakness of the government's food and nutriton policy. Also a lack of administrative support and dietitians in the health department and administrative organizations was partly to blame. In regard to public health and nutrition status, life expectancy has increased 10 years since the 70's and the elderly population increased threefold in 1995 compared to 1960. The common causes of death in 1996 by 19 Chapters classification, were first disease of the circulatory system ; the second, neoplasms ; the third, external causes fo mortality ; the forth, diseases of the digestive system ; and the fifth, respiratory system diseases, In food intake, grain and complex starch intake has decreased while fruit and animal foods have considerably increased. Therefore, energy from carbohydrates has decreased while energy from protein and fat has increased. Energy intakes from protein, fat and carbohydrates were respectively 12.5, 7.2 and 80.3% in 1969 but 16.1, 19.1 and 64.8% in 1995. 62.9% of the householes had the fat energy less than 20%, while 37.1% had the fat energy above 20%. The only intakes of vitamin A and calcium were below RDA levles. Therefore, nationwide attention should be focused on public nutriton education and public activities with supplementation of the RDAs, according to the food guide and the dietary guideline.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.107-112
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• 2014

In keeping with the increasing demand for medical services in accordance with the economic development, the use of oriental medicine is on the rise year by year. In particular, it is a tendency that the elderly over age 65 prefer the oriental medicine to the western medicine in Korea. Under the circumstance, changing into an aging society, the importance of oriental medical services has been growing. In this regard, this study evaluated the quality of medical services by conducting the density analysis and the accessibility analysis of oriental medical clinic targeting Jinju, which is one of local small and medium-sized cities. The study results reveal that oriental medical hospitals accounted for 27% of the entire medical facilities in Jinju, and there was an imbalance in the quality of the oriental medical services according to districts(called dong) because oriental medical hospitals were mainly concentrated in the central commercial areas. In particular, in terms of the analysis on the accessibility of an aging population over age 65 to the oriental medical hospitals, over 50% of the whole districts (dongs) in Jinju were blind spots in medical services, showing a very vulnerable condition. Accordingly, it is judged that systematic measures for improvement in support of the oriental medical services in local small and medium-sized cities should be provided in Korea when we consider the characteristics of Korea where an aging population is rapidly increasing.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.37-52
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to provide the valid data about residential-linked pension insurance development. The development was a part of national housing projects, which was an incentive for rural living of retired people, in order to relieve residential issues of elderly and revitalize rural communities by residents moving from cities. The insuring intent, decisive insuring factors and the residential service demand degree of people preparing retirement were analyzed. Data was collected in October, 2007. 364 Sample Subjects lived in Seoul Metropolitan area. Firstly, more than 90% of respondents had intention to purchase a residential-linked pension insurance and about 50% of them necessarily desired receiving premium for moving in. This indicated that it could be developed as an insurance which helped to meet housing expenses by housing-linked system, and in the mean time, it met the original purpose of pension insurance as the pension benefit could be guaranteed for all the insurance subscribers. Secondly, the respondents, whose income and private assets were higher, were able to pay more for insurance compared to average. Therefore, It was necessary to regulate monthly insurance bill and the payment period according to asset states of insurance subscribers after establishing certain amount of total insurance payment. Thirdly, by and large, it indicated the tendency that the less they prepare for older age the later they wanted to move into the pension insurance residence. It was inferred that in the case of insufficient preparation for older age, people preferred preparing behind time by postponing move in to moving in early to enjoy retired life, due to uncertainties. lastly, the respondents understood the significance of health, medical treatment and emergency management service and these two services were preferred as essential provided services. Because of the necessity of developing residential-linked pension insurance was found to be positive, further research to find the real cost, directives for operation and institutional support for this type of pension insurance might be needed.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.13-29
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to describe about elders with dementia, their families, and their living environment by visiting the households where demented elders resided. The findings will be used as a basis to develop future individualized adjustment programs for demented elders and their families living in communities. The study participants were 64 demented elders and their families who were registered to a dementia counseling center at Nam-Gu community health center located in Inchon, Korea. Data were collected for two months, from May to June 2001. The length of data collection for each home visit ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Conclusion are as follows based on these study findings: Those demented elders had more than one chronic health problem in addition to their pre-existing dementia condition. Two thirds of the demented elders were not receiving any specific treatment for dementia. They showed a moderate level of independence in basic ADL, but were mostly residing at home because of lack of ability to perform more delicate and complicate routine daily activities by themselves. In addition, the primary caregivers were not well adjusted to the care-giving activities for their demented family members due to the lack of knowledge and information about dementia. The caregivers were mostly women including daughters-in-law, woman spouses and daughters, over a half of whom perceived their physical and mental health status as poor. Their image toward the demented elders was considerably negative. while their level of knowledge on dementia was moderate. The burden for the care-giving was high, whereas their coping method was passive. As the difference in image toward elderly before and after the onset of dementia in their family member increases, the caregiver burden also increased. The main resource of social support for the caregivers was their children. The caregivers showed high level of needs for knowledge and information on dementia, and day care service was the most preferred type of service by the caregivers. There was lack of safety in the living environments for the demented elders and their families, and in the surrounding environments to prevent dementia-related symptoms. Considering that home-based family care-giving is the most culturally appropriate model of providing care for the demented elders in Korea, we need to develop and apply an individualized adjustment program for the demented elders and their families.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.137-151
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to develop a multidisciplinary team approach program for stroke survivors, and to identify its effects on their rehabilitation. The team was composed of 7 members: a rehabilitation nurse, a physician, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a therapeutic recreational therapist, a nutritionist, and a researcher. A quasi-experimental study was performed with 36 subjects: 18 in the experimental group and 18 in the control group, using a noneqivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The experimental group participated 4 times in rehabilitation programsfocused on information and emotional support provided by the rehabilation team-and received telephone counseling from the researcher. The control group did not receive any treatment. The selection criteria for the subjects in this study were: (a) patients who were diagnosed as having had an ischemic stroke within the last year, (b) patients free of any communication disorder, (c) and those having a primary caregiver who could assist in filling out the form assessing the level of ADL. The data were collected from patients who had been discharged from a tertiary hospital, between October 1st, 1999 and September 30th, 2000. The data were analysed by $X^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, ANCOVA, Wilcoxon's rank sum test, and Wilcoxon's signed rank test using an SAS program. The results were as follows: 1. In terms of physical variables (blood pressure, grasp power, and ADL) 1) There was a significant difference in blood pressure between the two groups (systolic pressure P= .012, diastolic pressure P= .050). 2) There was also a significant difference in grasp power between the two groups (affected side : P= .012, unaffected side : P= .010). 3) There was no significant change in the level of ADL between the two groups. 2. In terms of psychosocial variables (depression, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and social activities) 1) There were no significant differences between the two groups. However, all four psychosocial variables showed a tendency to improve in the experimental group, while only two variables (depression and self-efficacy) showed a simalar tendency in the control group. 2) The level of social activities in the control group decreased significantly after a month (P= .050). 3. The level of life satisfaction improved in both groups, but no significant difference was found. Stroke has high recurrence rate and requires considerable follow-up care. The program used in this study was developed and designed for stimulting the rehabilitation process of stroke survivors. Through the program period of one month (meetings were held weekly), a positive effect was detected in physical variables, although the psychosocial variables did not improve significantly. In retrospect, a one month period may not be an adequate length of time to improve the psychosocial variables, as the stroke survivors were complicated cases, and most of them were elderly. Further research is therefore recommended by increasing the length of program, so that its effect can be more noticeable.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.249-254
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• 2019

According to the recent expansion of the network environment, the spread of smart devices is continuously increasing. With the spread of smart devices such as smart phones, smart pads and wearables, changes are taking place in smart technologies and IT convergence technologies. The development of smart technology is a key element of the 4th industrial technology. The Fourth Industrial Revolution expanded the new service-based industry by adding intelligence to residential, industrial and production environments using IT convergence and smart devices. Research on providing various services using smart technologies, such as smart home, smart factory, smart farm, and smart healthcare, is being conducted in variety. In particular, There is a sharp rise in smart homes due to the proliferation of IoT devices and the growth of sensor technology, control technology, applications, data management, and cloud services. Smart home services using smart technology provide residents with convenient, beneficial services and environments. Smart home service has complemented the existing home network service, but there still are flaws to be modified. In other words, the spread of smart devices, the development of service provider-oriented services, and the interlocking of services have limitations in providing services in consideration of user environment and user state. In order to solve this problem, this study proposes a smart home service system that considers the situation of the elderly.