• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 1999

Poverty directly affects health and well-being, The poor population has a higher rate of chronics illness. higher infant morbidity and motality rates. shorter life expectancy. more complex health problems. and greater physical limitations resulting from chronic disease. In order to activate primary health care for the poverty in urban area the following measures should be taken : 1. Health center must be expended or establish subhealth center. 2. Health center must monitor neighbour's workplace's health management for their working population. 3. Health centers must do active home visiting nursing care for the urban-poor. 4. Health center must carry out flexible problem-centered practice according to the area. 5. For the urban-poor's health care must have organization of the health center & practice according to community's characteristics. 6. Public health care must be closely connected with welfare. 7. For the health care of the urban-poor must demand active community participation. 8. Health center is closely connected with Community hospital. 9. Active management of public health resource system is demanded.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2003

Recently, there has been an increasing need for long-term care and comprehensive health care services in community settings. The Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced the Hospital-Based Home Nursing Care Program in 2000. Before this initiative, there was a Home Nursing Demonstration Center, affiliated with the Seoul Nurse Association, had offered home nursing services with the financial support from the local government. since 1993, the Center's nursing staff has been engaged in a general hospital in an effort to provide home nursing care services within Korea's health care system. The purpose of this study was to analyze and identify characteristics of community-based home nursing care supplied by a community-based home nursing team engaged in a general hospital. Also. visit nursing care services provided by public health centers were evaluated in terms of accessibility and supply versus demand, to enhance the accessibility of low-income patients living in Seoul to home nursing care services. Data were collected from home nursing insurance reimbursement claims submitted by the community-based home nursing care team from March 1 to October 30 in 2001 and a questionnaire survey on home-visit nursing services of 25 public health centers in Seoul. The subjects consisted of 197 patients and 12 public health centers. The result were as follows. First, medical institution's community-based home nursing care program was better in technical quality than health-center-based home-visit nursing care. In addition. the pattern of the subject patients was similar to that of hospital-based home nursing care program. Second, there was a high demand for community-based home nursing care while only a small number of home-visiting nurses served at public health centers in Seoul. As a result, many patients could not receive adequate care. Finally, we suggest that community-based home nursing care program should be introduced in the national health system to meet the at-home care needs of severely ill low-income patients. Furthermore, to better utilize home nursing and visit-nursing care resources and offer continued care for patients in community settings, an efficient referral network should be built among related institutions. This would require improvement of reimbursement system and amendment of the law related to health insurance system and community-based home nursing care services.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.1 s.94
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• pp.49-56
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to survey the distribution patterns of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and formaldehyde in the various indoor environments using cluster analysis. We investigated VOCs and formaldehyde in subway stations, underground shopping areas, medical centers, maternity recuperation centers, public childcare centers, large stores, funeral houses, and indoor parking lots from June,2005 to May,2006. Concentration of TVOCs in maternity recuperations was 2,605.7 ${\mu}g/m^3$ that was higher than the guideline and other facilities. TVOCs in public childcare centers was 1,951.6 ${\mu}g/m^3$ also it exceeded the guideline. Moreover, concentration of TVOCs in every facility exceeded the guideline of Department of Environment, Korea. In case of formaldehyde, mean concentration, 336.5 ${\mu}g/m^3$, in only public childcare centers exceeded the 120 ${\mu}g/m^3$ of the guideline. Finally, by applying cluster analysis, three pattterns of the indoor air pollutions were distinguished. In the results of analysis, concentrations of TVOCs and formaldehyde of cluster 3 were higher than cluster 1 and 2 that were 2,561.4 ${\mu}g/m^3$ and 184.9 ${\mu}g/m^3$, respectively.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.347-365
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• 1995

A survey was conducted to study perception and attitudes of health workers towards health center's activities and organization of health services, from August 15 to September 30, 1994. The study population was 310 health workers engaged in seven urban health centers in Taegu City area. A questionnaire method was used to collect data and response rate was 81.3 percent or 252 respondents. The following are summaries of findings: Profiles of study population: Health workers were predominantly female(62.3%); had college education(60.3%); and held medical and nursing positions(39.6%), technicians(30.6%) and public health/administrative positions(29.8%). Perceptions on health center's resources: Slightly more than a half(51.1%) of respondents expressed that physical facilities of the centers are inadequate; equipments needed are short(39.0%); human resource is inadequate(44.8%); and health budget allocated is insufficient(38.5%) to support the performance of health center's activities. Decentralization and health services: The majority revealed that the decentralization of government system would affect the future activities of health centers(51.9%) which may have to change. However, only one quarter of respondents(25.4%) seemed to view the decentralization positively as they expect that it would help perform health activities more effectively. The majority of the respondents(78.6%) insisted that the function and organization of the urban health centers should be changed. Target workload and job satisfaction: A large proportion (43.3%) of respondents felt that present target setting systems for various health activities are unrealistic in terms of community needs and health center's situation while only 11.1 percent responded it positively; the majority(57.5%) revealed that they need further training in professional fields to perform their job more effectively; more than one third(35.7%) expressed that they enjoy their professional autonomy in their job performance; and a considerable proportion (39.3%) said they are satisfied with their present work. Regarding the personnel management, more worker(47.3%) perceived it negatively than positive(11.5%) as most of workers seemed to think the personnel management practiced at the health centers is not fair or justly done. Health services rendered: Among health services rendered, health workers perceived the following services are most successfully delivered; they are, in order of importance, Tb control, curative services, and maternal and child health care. Such areas as health education, oral health, environmental sanitation, and integrated health services are needed to be strengthening. Regarding the community attitudes towards health workers, 41.3 percent of respondents think they are trusted by the community they serve. New areas of concern identified which must be included in future activities of health centers are, in order of priority, health care of elderly population, home health care, rehabilitation services, and such chronic diseases control programs as diabetes, hypertension, school health and mental health care. In conclusion, the study revealed that health workers seemed to have more negative perceptions and attitudes than positive ones towards organization and management of health services and activities performed by the urban health centers where they are engaged. More specifically, the majority of health workers studied revealed to have the following areas of health center's organization and management inadequate or insufficient to support effective performance of their health activities: Namely, physical facilities and equipments required are inadequate; human and financial resources are insufficient; personnel management is unsatisfactory; setting of service target system is unrealistic in terms of the community needs. However, respondents displayed a number of positive perceptions, particularly to those areas as further training needs and implementation of decentralization of government system which will bring more autonomy of local government as they perceived these change would bring the necessary changes to future activities of the health center. They also displayed positive perceptions in their job autonomy and have job satisfactions.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.35-54
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• 2002

This study was performed to investigate the task status and performance improvement plan of dental hygienists of Health Centers and Subcenters. The Data collected by self-administered Questionnaire survey of 203 dental hygienists of Health Centers and Subcenters located in Gyeongsangbuk-do were analyzed. The major results are as follows: For the degree of satisfaction in tasks, 73.9% of dental hygienists of Health Centers and Subcenters felt proud, 52.2% felt overwork, 32.0% hoped transferring to other worksite and the major reason of transferring was lack of promotion opportunity in officials of dental hygiene department. Dental hygienists received job education in addition continuous job education in last 3 years were 47.3%, 19.2% of dental hygienists performed the special dental health program for residents in last 3years. Almost half(53.7%) of dental hygienists replied that dental hygienists who were not engaged in dental health tasks should be engaged in dental health tasks. The major dental hygienic tasks performed by dental hygienic officials were support for dental treatment(41.6%). Dental hygienic officials answered that dental health tasks, school dental health program, vertical dental health program should be conducted as important tasks in order. And they replied that the most serious problem of dental hygienic tasks was not conducting dental health affairs due to 'lack of dental doctor'(40.9%), 'lack of concern for dental health tasks'(26.4%), and 'lack of budget and personnels for dental tasks'(19.0%), and the most important thing to improve dental hygienic tasks was 'posting dental hygienists in ministry of health and welfare(MOHW) and province', 'securing of budget and personnels for dental health tasks'.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to determine the issues of supplementation and improvement to prepare for the outbreak of new infectious diseases such as new variants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to guide work for a strategic new response to infectious disease. Public officials of Jeju Special Self-governing Province and health personnel responding to COVID-19, working at six public health centers in Jeju-do region were administered a survey about additional preparations to be made in the future, based on the period when COVID-19 was treated legally as a first-class infectious disease. Frequency analysis was conducted on the collected data. The Likert 5-point scale and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the scores for effective response to emerging infectious diseases according to demographics. Among the important factors identified for effective response to new infectious diseases, 'facilitation of cooperation with public institutions' and 'facilitation of cooperation with private institutions' had the highest scores. In the future, when a patient presents with a new infectious disease, the step that needs to be supplemented in each phase of the public health center's response is 'immediate response team operation'. Further, public health centers responded that 'expansion of dedicated personnel related to infectious diseases' needs to be improved to respond to new infectious diseases. Along with the results of this study, considering the difficulties experienced by health personnel responding to new infectious diseases in preparation for future outbreaks of new infectious diseases, and to respond effectively, detailed and clear guidelines for responding to quarantine of patients of new infectious diseases will be needed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.397-407
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate human health risk assessment of indoor air pollutants at small-sized public-use facilities (e.g., daycare centers, hospital and elderly care facilities) that the susceptible population is mainly used. Methods: To assess indoor air quality (IAQ), the concentrations of indoor air contaminants such as HCHO, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene, PM-10, CO, $NO_2$ and $O_3$ in air samples were measured according to the Indoor Air Quality Standard Method. By conducting the questionnaire survey, the major factors influencing IAQ were identified. Human health risk assessment was carried out in the consideration of type of use (user and worker) at 75 daycare centers, 34 hospitals and 40 elderly care facilities. Results: As a result of measurement of indoor air contaminants, the average concentration of HCHO and TVOCs in hospitals was higher than daycare centers and elderly care facilities, about 8.8 and 23.5% of hospitals were exceeded by IAQ standard. In human health risk assessment, for the user of daycare centers and elderly care facilities, the mean carcinogenic risk of HCHO inhalation was higher than acceptable value. Except for HCHO, other values were determined under acceptable risk. Similarly, for the worker of hospitals, the mean carcinogenic risk of HCHO inhalation was higher than acceptable value and other values were evaluated under acceptable risk. In contrast, the risk levels of other contaminants measured in elderly care facilities were acceptable. In the determination of factors influencing IAQ, the construction year, building type, ventilation time, and the use of air cleaner were identified. Conclusions: This study provides the information for establishing the plans of public health management of IAQ at small-sized public-use facilities that have not yet been placed under the regulation. The findings suggest the consideration of human health risk assessment results for the IAQ standards.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between heat-related illnesses developed in the summer of 2012 and temperature. Methods: The study analyzed data generated by a heat wave surveillance system operated by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the summer of 2012. The daily maximum temperature, average temperature, and maximum heat index were compared to identify the most suitable index for this study. A piecewise linear model was used to identify the threshold temperature and the relative risk (RR) above the threshold temperature according to patient characteristics and region. Results: The total number of patients during the 3 months was 975. Of the three temperature indicators, the daily maximum temperature showed the best goodness of fit with the model. The RR of the total patient incidence was 1.691 (1.641 to 1.743) per $1^{\circ}C$ after $31.2^{\circ}C$. The RR above the threshold temperature of women (1.822, 1.716 to 1.934) was greater than that of men (1.643, 1.587 to 1.701). The threshold temperature was the lowest in the age group of 20 to 64 ($30.4^{\circ}C$), and the RR was the highest in the ${\geq}65$ age group (1.863, 1.755 to 1.978). The threshold temperature of the provinces ($30.5^{\circ}C$) was lower than that of the metropolitan cities ($32.2^{\circ}C$). Metropolitan cities at higher latitudes had a greater RR than other cities at lower latitudes. Conclusions: The influences of temperature on heat-related illnesses vary according to gender, age, and region. A surveillance system and public health program should reflect these factors in their implementation.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.202-214
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• 2012

This paper discusses the problem of determining locations for public health-care facilities and allocating patients to the public facilities with the objective of minimizing the total construction cost. The public health-care facilities have two types of facilities: public hospitals and health centers. The public hospital provides both hospital services and homecare services, while the health center provides only homecare service. We present an integer programming formulation for the problem, and develop two types of heuristics, based on priority rules and approximate mathematical formulation. Results of a series of computational experiments on a number of problem instances show that the algorithms give good solutions in a reasonable computation time.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.231-240
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• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the oral health programs for children of the low income classes in order to prevent oral health problems and to provide the effective oral health programs in community children's centers. Methods : The subjects were 464 teachers in community children's centers in Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Jeollabuk-do. Results : There were differences between the regions(p<0.05) in oral health guidance among teachers in municipal and provincial community children's centers. The oral health education was considered as the most important thing in those who had more than 6 years career(71.8%), and followed by those having less than five years career(61.3%) and those having two years career(53.8%)(p<0.05). Although many children registered the program and newsletter was sent to the children's homes, but 70% of the children did not brush their teeth regularly(p<0.05). Regardless of region, gender, teaching career, and number of enrolled children, 90 percent or more people found that it necessary for community children's centers to collaborate with dental clinics. There were gender differences between the male and female(p<0.05). Male accounted for 42.4% response rate and female accounted for 36.4%. Approximately About 48.5% of male and 61.6% of female thought that the oral health program is the most important thing(p<0.05). Conclusions : The development of the customized oral health program is the most critical factor to the oral health behavior change in the children in the community children's centers and public dental clinics.