• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.639-650
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of mental health literacy, mental health status, mental health welfare center and mental health business of local public officials. The participants were 762 public officials working in G city. Data were collected from October 1, to October 26, 2019 using structured questionnaires, and IBM SPSS 24.0 statistics program was used for the analysis. As a result, the mental health status of the subjects was the most severe stress 28.1%. The mental health literacy score of the subjects was 40.99 points and mental health status was 1.66 points. And 46.6% of the respondents had never heard of mental health welfare center. As for mental health business, 57.0% had never heard of mental health counseling, and the most common route for gaining information on mental health or mental illness was TV at 65.2%. In addition, 85.0% answered that an increase in the government budget for the management of mental health and illness was necessary. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the continuous education and promotion for mental health improvement and the development of customized mental health promotion programs suitable for the public officials level through of the community mental health welfare center.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.155-168
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• 2009

The purpose of the present manuscript is to introduce positive clinical psychology. We reviewed the two main areas of positive clinical psychology: mental fitness and positive psychotherapy. The historical background of the concept of mental fitness as well as the relationship between mental fitness and mental health literacy was examined. In addition, positive psychotherapy and conventional psychotherapies were compared and contrasted in order to enhance the understanding of positive psychotherapy. Lastly we introduced the Korea University Mental Fitness Positive Psychotherapy Program. Based on this review, the limitations and future prospects of positive clinical psychology were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.313-334
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• 2013

A study aims to assess Korean mental health literacy and analyze the characteristics of vulnerable population. This study presented typical vignettes of schizophrenia, depression and alcoholism to 1,197 adults randomly. All respondents were asked for recognition of mental illness, beliefs about causes, professional help and self-help, stigma for receiving psychiatric treatment for the person described. The results showed that the recognition of mental health problem in a vignette was very poor and that personal causes were seen by public as more important than environmental and bio-genetic causes. When the public were asked about various professional therapies and self-help activities, psychotherapy was favored while other professional help were considered to be less helpful than self-help activities. Among professionals, psychiatrist were viewed as most helpful. We used cluster analysis to compare high mental health literacy group with low mental health literacy group(vulnerable population). Vulnerable population were found to be more aged and to live in county area. We proposed government initiated program for enhancing public mental health literacy.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate North Korean refugees' knowledge of mental illnesses and treatments and analyze the factors affecting this knowledge. Methods: Subjects were selected via a snowball sampling method, and the survey outcomes of 152 North Korean refugee participants were analyzed. The factors affecting knowledge of mental illnesses were analyzed via a regression analysis by constructing a multivariate model with mental illness knowledge score as the dependent variable. Results: The North Korean refugees' mental illness scores ranged from 3 to 24 points, with an average score of 13.0. Regarding the factors that influence mental illness knowledge, the subjects with South Korean spouses and those who had spent more time in South Korea had higher knowledge scores. Furthermore, the subjects who considered the mental health of North Korean refugees to be a serious issue revealed lower knowledge scores than those who did not believe it was a serious issue. The subjects who visit psychiatric clinics showed higher knowledge scores than those who do not. The South Korean subjects who had at least a college education exhibited higher scores than did those without advanced education. The subjects who are satisfied with life in South Korea manifested a higher mental illness knowledge score than those who are not. Conclusions: This study is significant as being the first study to ever measure and evaluate the level of North Korean refugees' knowledge of mental illnesses. In addition, the evaluations of North Korean refugees' mental illness knowledge and influencing factors while residing in South Korea created basic data that formed the foundation of an effort to enhance mental health literacy and provide proper mental health services. The results of this study can be utilized to solve mental health problems that might frequently occur during the unification process of North and South Korea in the future.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.276-285
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand levels of both mental health literacy of depression and intention of help-seeking, and then to identify the relationship of them in Korean older adults. Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional survey were 395 persons over 65 years old receiving customized home visiting health care services at Chungnam province. Data were collected through interviews by visiting nurses in 2011. Results: The proportion of participants with depression was 61.8% ($6.7{\pm}3.6$). 78.2% of subjects appeared to have help-seeking intention for solving depression. The proportions of participants with ability to recognize depression was 69.1%. Although the level about knowledge and belief in self-help interventions were varied according to questionnaires, subjects understood self-help intervention of smoking accurately (86.3%) and physical activity (85.5%). Ability to recognize depression, knowledge and belief about self-help managements, and opinion of medication for treatment among health literacy variables measured in this study were related to help-seeking intention. In addition, women, visual impairment, and lower depression scores were related to help-seeking intention. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that it is necessary to improve depression health literacy to manage effectively depression of vulnerable elderly in communities. These results could be used in developing mental health literacy programs.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2018

Objectives : Health literacy can affect medical results. This study aimed to detect to the modify point of health literacy assessment tools. Methods : The general Korean Medicine service procedure was recorded and categorized. The participants were in- or out-patient of Korean Medical hospital. Written informed consents were obtained. Results : A total of 20 patients participated, with nine males and eleven females. The chief complaints were pain, growth, cerebral infarction sequela, dyspepsia, diarrhea, feeling of helplessness, mental stress, postpartum symptoms, and menstrual disorder. The Korean Medicine service were categorized into collecting patient information, relationship building, and treatment. Terms used in the service embraced general medical terms and Korean Medical terms. Conclusions : The Korean-medical health literacy assessment tool should incorporate western-eastern combined treatment and Korean medical terms.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.127-158
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• 2010

The purpose of the study was to identify the level of mental health literacy of the Korean public and to suggest implications of prevention and early intervention for depression and schizophrenia. A household survey was conducted on a stratified sample of community residents from 80 survey clusters in Seoul and the surrounding province who were 18-74 years of age (N=1,653). The data analysis revealed that the percentages of respondents who correctly identified symptoms of depression or schizophrenia were similar, 35.2% and 33.5% respectively. On the other hand, there were differences between the two illnesses in terms of respondents' perceptions of beliefs on causes and usefulness of various methods to address respective symptoms, and sources of mental health information. The authors compared the findings with the results found in other countries, and suggested policy and practice implications for community mental health prevention in Korea.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.164-174
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the rural elderly suicide literacy level upon suicide stigma and coping advice with suicidal crises (recommending professional help for a suicidal person). In particular, this study investigates the role of cultural norms (perceived social expectations for the experience of negative emotions) on suicide stigma and coping ability. Methods: A survey was conducted addressing elderly people (N=119) living in rural areas. Regression analysis using SPSS PROCESS macro was used to examine the relationships among the key variables. Results: Participants with higher suicide literacy showed lower suicide stigma, and this perception had a significant effect on enhancing their coping advice with suicidal crises. Also, perceived social expectations significantly influenced the relationship between suicide stigma and coping advice. With lower levels of social expectations, the mediating effect of suicide stigma on the relationship between suicide literacy and recommending professional help did not exist whereas the indirect effect was significant when it pertained to high levels of social expectations. Conclusion: This result signifies that suicide stigma serves as a barrier deterring Koreans from reaching out for professional help regarding their mental health. Moreover, these findings underscore the importance of cultural psychological factors such as perceived social expectations in terms of developing suicide prevention strategies.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.560-570
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of diabetic foot care education for the older adults with low health literacy. Methods: A quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest was used. The participants who were diagnosed with diabetes, were adults over 65 years old at the welfare center of Y and B city. They were divided into the experimental group (n=32) and the control group (n=31). Inclusion criteria were a score of 5 or under on the Short form of Korean Functional Health Literacy Test and 24 or more on the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination. Foot care education was conducted in a small group for 40 minutes, once a week, for three weeks. The education materials are composed of an easy term, picture and photographs to understand easily. Results: The scores of diabetic foot care knowledge (t=4.57, p<.001), foot care self-efficacy (t=6.07, p<.001), and foot self-care behavior (t=4.18, p<.001) were significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group. Foot health status was not significantly improved. Conclusion: The findings indicate that this education program can be used as a nursing intervention improving foot care knowledge, foot care self-efficacy, and foot self-care behavior in order to prevent the diabetic foot problems of elderly diabetic persons with low health literacy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.169-180
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aims to investigate effectiveness in foreign Health Promoting School through a systematic review. Methods: To perform a systematic literature survey, the researcher searched two database (PubMed and Springer Link) for literature relevant to 'health promoting schools' (published up to April 2013 from 2004). The key words used for the search were "effectiveness", "evaluation" and "health promoting school". five evaluations in this review were selected in the peer reviewed. Results: 1. The areas of standardized assessments were dealing with school health policy, physical environment, psycho social environment, community participation, Literacy on health, personal hygienic skills, academic achievement, self reported health status, and mental health. 2. There was evidence that the health promoting school has some positive influence on various domains of assessment. Conclusion: This systematic review provides evidence concerning the effectiveness of the health promoting school.