• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2012

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the process and outcome of a mobile computerized system for individual home visiting healthcare. Methods: A nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design was employed for this study. The newly constructed system was administered to 80 healthcare providers in the experimental group for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, t-test, and ANCOVA with the SPSS 18.0 program. Results: In the process stage, the difference in the frequency of computerized information usage between the experimental and control groups was significant as $8.88{\pm}3.20$ and $7.08{\pm}2.92$, respectively (t=3.90, p<.001). In the outcome evaluation stage, all kinds of healthy lifestyle such as alcohol use, nutrition, weight management and mental health were not improved. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the revised mobile computerized system was an effective device for individual visiting healthcare providers. Further advanced strategies for using this system should be developed and applied in a broad range of community healthcare.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.879-883
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• 2012

Cervical cancer is caused by HPV infection and can be prevented by early vaccination. Objective: To assess Syrian women's level of knowledge and determinants of good knowledge of cervical cancer, HPV infection and its vaccines. Methods: A cross sectional survey was undertaken among mothers with daughters in sixth grade classes enrolled in primary schools in Aleppo city, Syria. Samples were selected through cluster sampling and data collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Less than a third of the mothers had heard of HPV infection and vaccines against cervical cancer and levels of knowledge were generally low. Good knowledge was associated with high education level, higher family monthly income, having few - less than four children, positive history of cervical cancer screening, and working or having relatives working in the medical field. The main source of information was television and few reported health care providers as a source of knowledge on HPV infection and vaccine. Conclusion: Since knowledge of HPV infection and its connection with cervical cancer and its vaccine are low, more efforts must be made to educate Syrians prior to introduction of any HPV vaccination programme. Public health efforts must focus on educating mothers, the public as well as health care providers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.198-202
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• 2014

Background: The economy is being lifted by the new concept of robotics, but we cannot be sure of all the possible benefits. At this early stage, it therefore becomes important to find out the possible benefits/limitations associated with robotics, so that the positives can be capitalized, established, and developed further for the employment and motivation of employees in the health care sector, for overall economic development. The negatives should also be further studied and mitigated. Methods: This study is an exploratory research, based on secondary data, such as books on topics related to robotics, websites, public websites of concerned departments for data and statistics, journals, newspapers and magazines, websites of health care providers, and different printed materials (brochures, etc). Results: The impact of robotics has both positive and negative impacts on the employment and motivation of employees in the retail sector. So far, there has been no substantial research done into robotics, especially in the health care sector. Conclusion: Replacing employees with robots is an inevitable choice for organizations in the service sector, more so in the health care sector because of the challenging and sometimes unhealthy working environments, but, at the same time, the researchers propose that it should be done in a manner that helps in improving the employment and motivation of employees in this sector.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.267-274
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• 2011

Objectives: We examined health care disparities in Korean urban homeless people and individual characteristics associated with the utilization of health care. Methods: We selected a sample of 203 homeless individuals at streets, shelters, and drop-in centers in Seoul and Daejeon by a quota sampling method. We surveyed demographic information, information related to using health care, and health status with a questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was adopted to identify factors associated with using health care and to reveal health care disparities within the Korean urban homeless population. Results: Among 203 respondents, 89 reported that they had visited health care providers at least once in the past 6 months. Twenty persons (22.5%) in the group that used health care (n = 89) reported feeling discriminated against. After adjustment for age, sex, marital status, educational level, monthly income, perceived health status, Beck Depression Inventory score, homeless period, and other covariates, three factors were significantly associated with medical utilization: female sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR, 15.95; 95% CI, 3.97 to 64.04], having three or more diseases (aOR, 24.58; 95% CI, 4.23 to 142.78), and non-street residency (aOR, 11.39; 95% CI, 3.58 to 36.24). Conclusions: Health care disparities in Seoul and Daejeon homeless exist in terms of the main place to stay, physical illnesses, and gender. Under the current homeless support system in South Korea, street homeless have poorer accessibility to health care versus non-street homeless. To provide equitable medical aid for homeless people, strategies to overcome barriers against health care for the street homeless are needed.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.32-46
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• 2023

Purpose: Fire response education is critical for healthcare providers working in hospitals to ensure a safe environment for patients and staff. However, a comprehensive review that thoroughly examines the contents, methodologies, and outcomes of fire response education in hospitals is currently lacking. Methods: We conducted a scoping review by adhering to the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. We searched five electronic databases for literature published after 1990, using the key categories of "hospitals," "fires," and "education." As a result, we identified 15 relevant articles that met our inclusion criteria for the review. Results: Of the 15 articles, 12 had adopted a quasi-experimental design and the remaining 3 had employed a true experimental design. The majority of these studies (11 out of 15) were conducted in the United States, with 4 studies forming committees or teams dedicated to education. Simulation methods were used in 13 studies, while 2 studies had employed a combination of methods. All studies focused on first-response procedures based on RACE (Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish/Evacuation). Outcome measures included the learners' overall experience, performance in the educational settings, and performance in the field, with all studies reporting positive results following the educational interventions. Conclusion: Our review highlights the importance of multi-professional and multi-departmental educational strategies based on institutional-level initiatives for healthcare providers to create a safe hospital environment.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.405-413
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• 2022

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the active utilization of new health care service utilizing the ICT technology and data science such as telemedicine, smart hospital, AI dignosis has been increasingly found. In this study we examined the business model of Amazon healthcare which leads disruptive innovation in U.S. health care industry with the introduction of hybrid model of telemedicin, in-person care and customer-centric online drug delivery, home-use diagnostic kit, characterized by the integrated model combining medical care, drug delivery and the use of diagnostic kit. We showed using the multiproduct competition model that the synergy effect between the Amazon's original business areas and the healthcare business area causes the active market penetration and the increase in the customer value from utilization of the Amazon care. Using Hotelling's spatial competition model, we also showed that the competition in the health care market can be greater when consumer's choice of health care providers are available in telemedicine platform. In the long, run the issue of competition being weakened due to the exit of less competent healthcare providers may arise, to which the policymakers in the charge of fair competition in health care industry should pay attention.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.85-97
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to describe nurses' perceived needs and barriers to pediatric palliative care (PPC). Methods: Mixed methods with an embedded design were applied. An online survey was conducted for nurses who participated in the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium- Pediatric Palliative Care (ELNEC-PPC) train-the-trainer program, of whom 63 responded. Quantitative data were collected with a survey questionnaire developed through the Delphi method. The 47 items for needs and 15 items for barriers to PPC were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were collected through open-ended questions and analyzed with topic modeling techniques. Results: The mean scores of most subdomains of the PPC needs were 3.5 or higher out of 4, and those of PPC barriers ranged from 3.22 to 3.56, indicating the items in the questionnaire developed in this study properly reflect each factor. The needs for PPC were divided into 4 categories: "children and adolescents," "families," "PPC management system," and "community-based PPC." Meanwhile, PPC barriers were divided into 3 categories: "healthcare delivery system," "healthcare provider," and "client." The keywords derived from the topic modeling were perception, palliative, children, and education for necessities and lack, perception, medical care, professional care providers, service, and system for barriers to PPC. Conclusion: In this study, by using mixed-methods, items of nurses' perceived needs and barriers to PPC were identified, categorized, and weighted, and their meanings were explored. For the stable establishment of PPC, the priority should be given to improving perceptions of PPC, establishing an appropriate system, and training professional care providers.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2013

Health information technology (HIT) is one of the most familiar tools to healthcare providers. It is used in routine practice to reduce cost, to improve clinical performance, and to improve patient safety. Patient safety is the driving force of recent expansion of HIT industry. But there are many evidences that it can be harmful to patient safety. Role of HIT and HIT-related error became big issues because more and more healthcare providers and healthcare organizations are willing to adopt it. Adoption rate of HIT in Korea is higher than that of United States. But researches of HIT regarding patient safety are rare. In this article, types of HIT, their mechanisms of improving patient safety and HIT-related errors were reviewed. Status of HIT in terms of patient safety in Korea was also reviewed. Knowledge of how HIT can improve patient safety, its' limitation, and how to make it safer is crucial to whom have to use it to improve patient safety. Impact of HIT on patient safety must be evaluated actively in Korea. HIT which was proven to improve patient safety must be widely adopted. Government must prepare a strategic plan to improve HIT quality, support hospitals financially and institutionally to introduce qualified HIT, and develop HIT infrastructures and standard designed for patient safety.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.282-291
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• 2004

Objectives : The aim of this study was to investigate the functional status variables related to the care time of health professionals for patients in long-term care facilities. Methods : The functional stati of 1001 patients in 8 long-term care hospitals were examined by the Resident Assessment Instrument for Long-term Care Facility Version 2.0. The care time of health professionals for patients was calculated using data from a self-reported task survey by nurses, auxiliary nurses, private aides, doctors, physiotherapists and social workers. Results : The average care time per diem was 240.6 minutes. The care time by doctors, nurses and private aides were 11.0, 71.0 and 139.5 minutes, respectively. The lower the function of activities of daily living (ADL) and the greater the symptoms of extensive services, special care and clinical complexity, the more care time was served. On the contrary, the greater the symptoms of nursing rehabilitation, depression, cognitive disorder, behavior problem and psychiatry/mood disorder, the less care time was served. Age and gender were not significantly related to the care time. Conclusions : Developing a case mix classification system for elderly long term care patients may be helpful for both of patients and health care providers. The ADL, extensive services, special care and clinical complexity of variables should be considered in the development of a case mix system for the long term care of patients in Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.326-342
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• 2013

Background: Engaging and Involving stakeholders who have different interests in changing health care policies are difficult task. As the literature on the governance in Korean health care field is rare, this study aims to provide empirical evidence of 'governing health policy'-the ways health care policy is made, implemented, and evaluated from a political perspective. Methods: The authors of this study conducted interviews with elites in policy and clinical areas, which was considered to be the most effective approach to gather in-depth information about the background of changing payment policy as well as the barriers or contributors for making the policy sustainable. A total of 14 experts (3 government officials, 2 representatives from medical profession, 3 professors form academic field, and 6 healthcare providers from New DRG pilot program hospitals) participated in 2 hour long interviews. Results: There was a perception gap of the feasibility and substantiality of new payment system among elites. The score was higher in government officers than those in scholars or clinical experts. Next, the interviewees indicated that Korean New DRG might not sustain without significant efforts to improving democratic aspects of the governance. It is also notable that all interviewees except healthcare providers provided negative expectation of the contribution of new payment system to increase administration efficiency. For clinical efficiency, every stakeholders perceived there was no increased efficiency after introduction of New DRG payment. Like general perception, there was a wide gap between the perception of stakeholders in quality change after implementing the new payment system. Finally, interview participants negatively assumed about the likelihood of New DRG to remain a case of successful reforms. Conclusion: This study implied the importance of social consensus and the governance of health policy.