• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2010

As Korea is entering an aging society, the number of elderly people who need new denture or who have problems with their existing denture or adjacent tissue is increasing and it will double in 2018. Therefore, denture clinician system will lessen patients financial burden and introduce market economy to the dental prosthesis field. Therefore, Korea needs to adopt denture clinician system as soon as possible as USA or Canada to increase people s accessibility in quality and quantity. Denture clinician will determine the size and shape of denture after performing oral examination, make impression using various materials, fabricate denture, deliver and adjust completed denture to the patient, repair denture, and carry out financial management in the denture fabricating company or manage human resources. Considering denture clinicians services, American and European education system seems to be close to our system. Therefore, in this study, basic curriculums of several countries in Europe and America were reviewed and curriculum that meets Korean situation was suggested.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.97-113
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• 1997

It is very important to estimate the patients satisfaction level with medical services, to classify the objectvies according to the patients characteristics and sub-satisfaction factors. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affecting satisfaction in oriental hospital. The 549 patients' hospitalized in five oriental hospital in Taegu city and one oriental hospital in Kyungbuk province were selected for this study. The results summarized are as follows. l. The general characteristics of 549 objectvies were included gender, age, education, occupation, income level, length of stay, health status of hospitalized, and expectation for medical care. 2. Patients characteristics affecting patients total satisfaction, as for age(b=0.05), health status of patients(b=-0.052), and expectation for medical care(b=0.117) were significant, while gender, education, job, income level, and length of stay were not. As the factors according to patients satisfaction, accessibility(b=0.09l), doctor's kindness(b=0.357), staff kindness(b=0.137), nurse's skills(b=0.111), hospital facilities(b=0.211), and medical fee(b=-0.160) were significant. In total patients' satisfaction, Doctor's kindness was the most significant of prediction variables. In general the factors affecting In-patient satisfaction of oriental hospital was highly associated with doctor's kindness.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was conducted to explore foreign immigrant mothers' experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing. Methods: Ten married female migrants were selected by a purposive and snowball sampling method. Data were collected during the period from September to November, 2009 by individual in-depth interviews and all interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Results: Ten categories were induced: In pregnancy and childbirth domain, social support-request help to their own parents, social support-depending on husband and mother's in law, Enduring emesis-gravidarum in strange environment were extracted. In Chid-rearing domain, child-rearing overburden, lack of self-confidence on maternal role, child-rearing difficulties due to language barrier, lack of information and education on child-rearing, lack of accessibility to public health care services, expectation of child's assimilation in Korea, financial strain in child-rearing. Conclusion: This study provides basic knowledge regarding married female migrants' experiences related to pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing. The findings of the study will help health professionals designing effective interventions for married female migrants with difficulties related to child care, parenting, rearing.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.227-237
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the utilization and its determinants of rehabilitation services of people with disabilities in a rural area. Methods: From March 2 to April 1, 2011, we interviewed 101 disabled people with either physical disabilities or brain lesions. The subjects completed questionnaires about the utilization of rehabilitation services, general characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education level, economic status, health insurance, housing, and employment) and disability characteristics (type, level, comorbidity, reason for the occurrence of the disability, self-rated degree of disability, and daily life care giver). Frequency, Pearson's chi-square test, and a multiple logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: This study showed that 70.3% of the people in this rural area with disabilities were using rehabilitation services. The two most common reasons for not using the services were "doubt about the effectiveness of the service" and "no facilities nearby." The facilities that the disabled people were currently using, in the order of most used to least, were general hospitals or clinics, rehabilitation centers, oriental medicine clinics, and public health centers. Only 19.7% of those who received rehabilitation responded that they were satisfied with the service. Significant factors in the utilization of rehabilitation services were sex, employment, self-rated economic status, and the reason for the occurrence of the disability. Women, people who were currently working, people who were of middle or higher economic status, or people who had acquired a disability were significantly more likely to use the services. Conclusions: A large number of people with disabilities in a rural area use rehabilitation services at present, but accessibility and satisfaction were low. Quantitatively and qualitatively, rehabilitation services for disabled people in a rural area should be centered around Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR). Effective strategies, for example reaching those who have not used the rehabilitation services, will be needed to improve services in rural areas.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.569-592
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• 2018

This study purported to investigate the current state of human rights of older adults residing in rural areas of Korea. The study utilized, as an analytic framework, 4 priority directions (1. "older persons and development", 2. "rural area development", 3. "advancing health and well-being into old age", and 4. "ensuring enabling and supportive environments") with 13 task actions recommended by Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA). Furthermore, the study examined gender differences in all items included in the analytic framework. Data was collected by the face-to-face survey on 800 subjects aged 65 and over. Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA 13.0 program. The main results were summarized in order of 4 priority directions as follows. First, average working hours per day were 6.2, and men reportedly participated in economic activities and needed job training more than women, while women participated in lifelong education programs more than men. Awareness of fire and disaster prevention facilities was low in both genders. Second, accessibility to the support center for the elderly living alone as well as protective services for the vulnerable elderly was found to be low. IT-based services and networking were used more by men than women, and specifically, IT-based financial transactions and welfare services were least used. Third, medical check-ups and vaccinations were well received, while consistent treatments for chronic illnesses and long-term care services were relatively less given. In addition, accessibility to mental health service centers was considerably low. Fourth, although old house structures and the lack of convenience facilities were found to be circumstantial risk factors for these elders, experiences of receiving housing support services were scarce. The elderly were found to rely more on informal care, and concerns for their care were higher in women than men. Plus, accessibility to elderly abuse services was markedly low. Based on these results, discussed were implications for implementing policies and practical interventions to raise the levels of the human rights for this population.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.3 s.62
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• pp.460-470
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• 1998

By expanding health insurance, customers will carry a smaller burden of medical costs. As a result, the number of visits to a physician increase and this result in the improvement of medical accessibility. But medical care utilization may be changed not only by insurance status but also by socio-demographic factor, economic status and other factors. The question thus remains, at which level of accessibility and what price of medical care service in health insurance will the customer and the medical care service be satisfied. The price of medical care service ls comprised of the customer's out-of-pocket money and the costs not covered by health insurance. If the price of medical care services in health insurance are appropriate, medical care utilization should not differ because of the difference in income status or the acuteness of illness. But If the price is not adequate, low income groups will receive relatively low medical care utilization, particularly in the case of chronic disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the differences in medical care utilization among the various income groups and those with varying acuteness of illness. The major hypotheses to test in this study are : (i) whether there are differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist, (ii) whether differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist with the hospital type. (iii) whether differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist with the acuteness of illness and with age. The data was collected from the JongRo District Health Insurance Society in Seoul. A total of 118,336 persons were selected as the final sample for this study. The major findings of this study were as follows; 1. The volume of ambulatory utilization among users was statistically significant by income level. 2. Among different income groups, the volume of ambulatory utilization was statistically significant by the acuteness of illness. 3. Higher income groups with chronic diseases had a greater volume of ambulatory utilization than other groups.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.184-194
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• 2019

Background: The extent of coverage rate of the public health insurance is still insufficient to meet healthcare needs. Private health insurance (PHI) plays a role to supplement coverage level of national health insurance in Korea. It is expected that reduce unmet need healthcare. This study was aimed to identify relationship between PHI type and the unmet healthcare need and its associated factors. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2014 Korea Health Panel Survey using nationally representative sample was analyzed. Respondents were 8,667 who were adults over 20 years covered by PHI but have not changed their contract. According to the enrollment form, PHI was classified into three types: fixed-benefit, indemnity, and mixed-type. To identify factors associated with unmet needs, multiple logistic regression conducted using the Andersen model factors, which are predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors. Results: Our analysis found that subjects who had PHI with mixed-type were less likely to experience unmet health care needs compared than those who did not have it (odds ratio, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.98). As a result of analyzing what affected their unmet healthcare needs, the significant factors associated with unmet medical need were gender, marital status, residence in a metropolitan area, low household income, economic activity participation, self-employed insured, physically disabled, low subjective health status, and health-risk factors such as current smoking and drinking. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that having PHI may reduce experience of unmet healthcare needs. Findings unmet healthcare needs factors according to various subjects may be useful in consideration of setting policies for improving accessibility to healthcare in Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.700-711
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usability of the mobile app 'Allive' to improve accessibility to resources and mental health services among sexual violence survivors. Participants include survivors of sexual violence as well as service providers at sexual violence crisis intervention centers. The usability test was conducted as a quantitative and qualitative evaluation after study participants used the app in a real-life environment. The results of usability testing highlighted the positive and beneficial impact on mental health function as well as accessibility to essential resources for those who have experienced sexual violence.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.7-19
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• 2023

Purpose: Mobility impairment persons are all people who experience mobility difficulties in their daily lives, which makes up about 30% of the population in Seoul Metropolitan City; this number is expected to increase with population aging. As the number of mobility impairment persons in need of vision correction increases, it is necessary to create the Universal Design guidelines and to provide the foundation to access convenience facilities at the entrance of optical shops, a health and medical institution. Methods: Of the 2,282 optical shops located in Seoul, 252 optical shops were chosen for data collection of actual photos, from April 10, 2022 to September 4, 2022. Based on the photographs, the height difference between the entrance and the sidewalk, safety handles, and opening and closing methods of entrances were investigated, as these factors correspond to the accessibility and the mobility of the mobility impairment persons. Results: Of the 252 optical shops surveyed, 114 (45.2%) have resolved the problems of height difference through improving horizontal accessibility (61) or using ramps (53). 36 (14.3%) optical shops chose automatic doors for opening and closing methods of the entrance. Implications: The rate of installation of access convenience facilities for the entrance of optical shops is slightly lower than the rate of installation of ramps, surveyed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is necessary to apply the Universal Design to access convenience facilities for the entrance of optical shops for not only the mobility impairment persons but all people, regardless of age or ability, to conveniently access healthcare services.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.207-218
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to provide preliminary data for political measures to minimize the variations by understanding the regional variations and trends of hospital services for heart diseases, and analyzing the factors that could occur any variations. The various data collected from nation-wide inpatient services conducted separately by small region show that there have been some differences in income level, supply of medical resources, standardized rate of hospitalization by sex and age, health level in the residence, and the length of stay per head. Then it indicated that the number of special medical equipment per 10,000 people and the rate of vigorous physical activity have the highest influence over the regional variations in using hospital services. On the other hand, the number of sick-beds per 10,000 people, the number of special medical equipment, and the present smoking rate have significant degree of influence on the length of stay per head. Thus, it is imperative for the authorities to set aside health promoting policies and to distribute the medical resources equitably throughout the country and to enhance the accessibility of local residents to the health care services.