• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.155-167
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• 2009

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate healthy city project related characteristics to members of the Korea Healthy Cities Partnership(KHCP). Methods: This study analyzed general characteristics of healthy city, characteristics of healthy city(political support, collaboration & citizen participation, healthy city project, infrastructure development, capacity building), self-evaluation of healthy city and etc by self-questionnaires from February to December, 2007, which were distributed to government workers who were in charged in health city project of 23 membership cities of KHCP. Results: The number of urban city was 11(47.8%) and that of rural municipality was 12(52.5%). Public health center was almost in charge of healthy city project(73.9%). As for the characteristics of healthy city, healthy city municipal budget(91.3%), city health profile(91.3%), technical support of cooperative university(82.6%), healthy city regulation(78.3%), citizen participation(78.3%), committee(73.9%), setting approach(69.9%) and healthy city network(69.6%) were good. But intersectoral collaboration(34.8%), long-term healthy city plan(39.1%), administrative policy or campaign promise(43.5%), programs to the vulnerable population(47.8%), department in charge(47.8%) and seminar(47.8%) were not good. Especially, characteristics of healthy city according to the existence of department in charge were significantly different in intersectoral collaboration, citizen participation, setting approach and healthy city network. Conclusions: In spite of rapid expansion in healthy cities, there were great difficulty in political support, collaboration, department in charge and programs of health equity. So we need to go a long way to achieve the vision of healthy cites by its principles and characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.77-101
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• 2009

As a case study in the field of policy implementation research, this study focuses on how the logic of consumer choice and provider competition operates on the front line of policy processing. To find the implementation process of the program, 39 interview data were analyzed, including voucher users, care workers, social workers in 4 agencies and local public officers in one of the district in Seoul, and relevant officials from the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family affairs and the Center for Social Service Management. The main results are as follows: In the level of policy implementation, user choice and competition, which was the main logic behind the implementation of the voucher program, did not occur as expected by policy makers. Instead of user choosing his/her provider, it was found that the providers were choosing its users. Secondly, the case study found that providers have formed a caucus which allocated the local users equally amongst the providers. In this process, local public officers have supported the meeting by providing them with a list of users. Such results may be interpreted as a habitual execution from the tradition of supply-side subsidy, rather than the way of implementation in the market system. Thirdly, although voucher users could not choose their preferred agency in the first stage of service, some other choices exists so that users may choose their preferred care-giver and time for service. Finally, the change of agency and care-giver in the way of delivering services were observed.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of stress on psychosocial wellbeing at the time of an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome(MERS) and to investigate the effect of resilience as a mediator on the relationship between stress and psychosocial wellbeing. Methods : Perceived Stress Scale, Psychosocial Wellbeing Index Short Form, and the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale was implemented for 156 medical persons who worked at the hospital in which exposure to MERS cases had been confirmed and 127 ordinary people. We conducted a Pearson correlation coefficient and a hierarchical multiple regression to confirm the effect of stress on psychosocial wellbeing and the mediating effect of resilience between stress and psychosocial wellbeing. Results : The higher the perceived stress, the lower the psychosocial wellbeing in both healthcare workers and the public. The higher the perceived stress, the lower the resilience and the research results showed that there was a partially mediating effect of resilience in the relationship between stress and psychosocial wellbeing. Conclusions : This study demonstrated that the degree of individual resilience can indirectly give a positive effect on the psychosocial wellbeing when people under the stress by MERS shows adverse effects on psychosocial wellbeing. This suggests that clinical intervention and psychosocial approach aiming at strengthening resilience is important to maintain mental health during crisis development.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.157-174
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• 1998

A survey was conducted to study the influence of socia-demographic factors on health-related behaviors. from June 1 to July 31, 1996. The study population was 1,903 adults in Kyongju City. A questionnaire method was used to collect data. Health-related behaviors included 24 items for men and 26 items for women. The followings are summaries of findings : The compliance of health promotion activities was higher when the age was older in men, when married, when having no religion and when the education level was higher than the other groups. And it was significantly higher when the income was lower in men and higher in women, in the residents living in apartment, in white collar workers, in the chronic ill people and when the body weight was lower than the other groups. Notable differences were found in the composition of health behavior factors for socio-demographic characteristics. Men used more tobacco, coffee and tea, salt and alcohol than women. However, the practice rates of regular exercise and physical examination were higher in men than women. On the other hand, the practice rates of fruit/vegetable intake, milk drinking and regular tooth brushing were higher in women than men. When the age was old, the amount of fruit/vegetable intake, the frequency of physician visit and health check-up, and regularity of meal were increased. When the income was high, the use rate of seat-belts, the amount of coffee, milk, fruit/vegetable and red meat intake were increased. The frequency of regular exercise. tooth brushing, health check-up, pap test and breast self examination were higher in the rich than the poor. When the education level was high, the frequency of regular exercise and tooth brushing, and the use rate of seat belts were increased, and the amount of alcohol consumption and salt intake were decreased. These findings suggest that socio-demographic factors are significantly associated with the patterns of health behaviors. In conclusion public health programs and individual counseling efforts should be multifaceted and behavior-specific to encourage to practice healthy life-style.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1013-1024
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• 2017

Objectives: The study investigated health professionals working in the metropolitan area and Jeolla-bukdo, South Korea, from April 30 to May 17, 2017 to understand their views on the issue of including dental hygienists in the scope of medical personnel of South Korea. Methods:A total of 270 surveys were analyzed in this study. The survey consists of 5 questions on general issues; 10 on the awareness of present work of dental hygienist; and 1 on opposition or approval about including dental hygienist in medical personnel. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows 18.0, as well as frequency analysis, cross analysis and logistic regression analysis. Statistical significance level (${\alpha}$) is 0.05. Results: 1. Broken down by gender, male subjects showed more oppositions against including dental hygienists in the category of medical personnel while female subjects showed more favorable opinions (p<0.05). In terms of academic background, those who had graduated from graduate school or higher showed a higher propensity for opposition while those who had graduated from a 3-year college showed a higher tendency for approval on the idea (p<0.05), In terms of occupational type, health professionals showed more opposing views whereas medical technologists showed more approvals than others (p<0.001). 2. With respect to the awareness of work specialty and proficiency of dental hygienist according to general characteristics, the higher the age, the higher the awareness level was. In terms of the occupational type, medical technologists were found to have higher awareness level than health professionals (p<0.001). 3. With respect to the relationship between general characteristics and view on including dental hygienists in medical personnel, the occupational type of health professional was found to have 6.33 times more oppositions than medical technologists. When the awareness level on proficiency of dental hygienist was low, opposition was 6.52 times more frequent (p<0.05). Conclusions: Based on the findings above, the inclusion of dental hygienists in medical personnel seems necessary in properly establishing the specialty and role of dental hygienist in the dentist medical environment of the country in order to enhance national oral health related preventive dental service and expand the demand. To this end, it is necessary to provide nationwide promotion, work to change the awareness of health professionals in other occupational types, and facilitate public promotion for legal ground establishment.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2021

The net function of the domestic medical insurance system is highly regarded, but due to the problem of incomplete coverage, the public wants to secure coverage through private medical insurance subscription. As a result, the subscription rate of private medical insurance has recently increased, and the billing rate has also increased. As the number of people seeking private medical insurance increased, workers at private medical insurance companies are experiencing increased job stress and side effects, especially for insurance reviewers who are in charge of paying insurance, such as communicating with customers who claimed insurance and contributing to the company's profit. In response, this study analyzed the effects of job stress on mental health of insurance reviewers and conducted a descriptive survey study to reduce job stress of insurance reviewers and promote mental health. The analysis shows that job stress for insurance reviewers has a significant impact on mental health (+). In detail, job stress has a significant impact on all four factors: social performance and self-confidence, depression, sleeping disturbance and anxiety, and general well-being and vitality. This study showed that job stress in insurance reviewers has a significant (+) impact on mental health. Job stress can cause side effects in organizational aspects, such as reducing enthusiasm for job performance and increasing turnover and resignation rates, but it can also worsen individual physical health and cause diseases such as depression and anxiety, causing mental health to be impoverished. Therefore, in order to prevent this, appropriate work stress prevention methods and countermeasures should be provided to help reduce work stress and improve mental health.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.139-146
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• 1976

This survey attempted to determine the overall health situation in Kyunggido in terms of sickness prevalence, sickness distribution, demand for medical care by type, and utilization of medical care. The survey was conducted on 766 households, or 4,065 people, from July 1-31, 1975. The findings from the survey are as follows: 1) In terms of age distribution, 28.7% of the sample was from 10-19, the 40-49 age group was the next largest group, and those over 60 made up 7% of the sample. 2. The education distribution is as follows, 30.4% completed primary school, 22.4% had no formal education, 20.6% attended but did not onplete primary school, and 1.8% attended unversities or higher. 3) In terms of occupation, 55.9% were unemployed or family employees, which represents a large dependent population, 30.4% of the workers were employed in farming or fisheries. 4. The marital status is as follows, 58.8% of the women were married, 32.3% unmarried, and 7.5% divorced. 5) The prevalence rate of mouthy illness was 19.7% of 100 infant, 42.8% became fatally ill within the first year of life. This is a very high percentage compared with more developed nations. 6) Of those reportion on illness, 54.6% sought treatment. The rate of treatment was highest in infants at 77.7%. Us age increased, demand for treatment decreased to 43.1% for those in the aldest age group. The oldest age group also had the highest rate of non treatment at 56.8%. 7) The demand for medical care showed that 65.6% utilized drug stores, 20.2% utilized hospitals and clinics, 5.4% used herbdrug-stores and herb clinices, and 3.9% relied upon folk medicine and withch craft. 8) The utilization of medical facilties by sex is as follows, 65.1% of the men and 66.0% of the women used drug stores, and 19.2% of the men and 20.2% of the women used hospitals and clinics. However, more men (3.5%) were hospitalized than women (1.8%) 9) In terms of out-patient care, the largest age group of males was 10-19 (28.2%), and the largest age group of females was 0-9 (30.8%). There was no sex difference in the use of western pharmacies. Menaged 30-39 and women aged 50-59 were the most frequent users of herb clinics. 10) The rate of receiving treatment at drugstore hospitals went towards declining level in the second case of what While increaing much more at herb clinics and folk medicines in the second case than the first one. 11) After primary utilization of hospitals, 32.7%. of the adults aged 20-59 used drug-stores as a secondary source of care, and 12.8% of children and youth under age 20 continued receiving care at hospitals. 12) After primary utilization of drug-stores, 32.5 % of the adults continued to seek care at drug stores and 1.8% used hospitals. 4.2% of those over age 60 utilized folk medcine and witch craft.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1359-1366
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine the blood pressure, serum lipid levels and obesity indices according to smoking status, and the effects of smoking cessation on blood pressure, serum lipid and obesity indices. The 2,230 male workers aged 30-59 years were observed the age, smoking status, SBP, DBP, TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, AI, BMI, body fat rate and waist circumference, from April to July, 2011. As a results, the mean score of SBP, DBP, TC, TG and BMI were significantly higher in smoking group than non-smoking group, but HDL-C were significantly lower in smoking group than non-smoking group, the distribution of hypertension was significantly higher in smoking group than non-smoking group. The abnormal levels of TC, TG and HDL-C were significantly higher in smoking group than non-smoking group, and the distribution of obesity was significantly higher in smoking group than non-smoking group. Age adjusted odds ratio(ORs) was significantly increase in smoking group than non-smoking group: hypertension(3.59 times), hypercholesteremia (1.49 times), hyperlipidemia(1.81 times), low HDL-cholesteremia(1.58 times), high level of atherogenic index(1.27 times). Above results suggested that the smoking related with blood pressure and serum lipid levels.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 1980

The main purposes of the nutrition and clinical surveys were to provide baseline information on the nutritional status of pre-school children in rural health demonstration project areas of the Korea Health Development Institute (KHDI) for nutrition guidance services for the MCH target group. The survey covered a total of 222 pre-school children and 135 mothers in Okgu Gun, Cholla Pukto Province from August 10 to August 17, 1979. The survey results are summarized as follows: 1) Family Environment Seventy percent of the households had more than three children, and the mean family sire was 6. Sixty-nine percent of the mothers and 47% of the fathers of the surveyed households were educated at or below the primary school level. The majority, 70% of the mothers, were aged between 20 years and 35 years. 2) Anthropometric Measurements and Hemoglobin Value 4.5% of the children were lower than 80% weight for age of the Korean standard, and 5.4% were lower than 85% arm circumference for age of the Jelliffe's standard resectively, and those were suffering from protein-energy malnutrition. Angular stomatitis were observed on 66.2% of the subjects. Mean hemoglobin value was 11.1g/100m1, and 44.2% of the subjects were categorized as anaemia. 3) Food and Nutrient Intake of animal foods was very low, ranging from 2.9 to 17%. Consumption of eggs was less than 2% of total food intake, and intake of legumes was also very scanty, between 0.8 to 3.7%. These data present evidence of very poor protein intake, quality as well as quantity. Energy intake of children was 60.0 to 64.4% of the recommended allowance, and mean protein intake only met 47.4% of the recommendation. Low intake of vitamins except thiamin were also found. 4) Mother's Nutrition Knowledge Eighty-five percent of the mothers were entirely ignorant regarding the 'five basic food group' which is most important fact on food and nutrition guidance. Mean knowledge score from 14 basic questions about food and nutrition was as low as 5.1. There was a significant positive correlation between mother's educational level and nutrition knowledge score. 5) Family Planning Variable There were significant correlation among maternal, family planning variables, and some of the nutritional and physical measurements. The study revealed that the mother's educational level and nutrition knowledge score are more crucial factors than the family planning variables on effecting food intakes on children. Recommendation : According to the results of the surveys, there were high incident rates of nutritional anaemia and angular stomatitis among pre-school children, and most of rural women had very limited knowledge about food and nutrition. As a main part of the health education activities, the community health workers should provide nutrition education to the village mothers to improve the nutrional status of young children in rural areas. Nutrional promotion at the primary health care level should be mainly based on appropriate nutrition education.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 1976

Introduction Recently, changes in the patterns and concepts of maternity care, in both developing and developed countries have been accelerating. An outstanding development in this field is the number of deliveries taking place in hospitals or maternity centers. In Korea, however, more than 90% of deliveries are carried out at home with the help of untrained relatives or even without helpers. It is estimated that less than 10% of deliveries are assisted by professional persons such as a physician or a midwife. Taking into account the shortage of professional person i11 rural Korea, it is difficult to expect widespread prenatal, postnatal, and delivery care by professional persons in the near future, It is unrealistic, therefore, to expect rapid development of MCH care by professional persons in rural Korea due to economic and sociological reasons. Given these conditions. it is reasonable that an educated village women could used as a "maternity aid", serving simple and technically easy roles in the MCH field, if we could give such a women incentive to do so. The midwife and physician are assigned difficult problems in the MCH field which could not be solved by the village worker. However, with the application of the village worker system, we could expect to improve maternal and child hoalth through the replacement of untrained relatives as birth attendants with educated and trained maternity aides. We hope that this system will be a way of improving MCH care, which is only one part of the general health services offered at the local health centre level. Problems of MCH in rural Korea The field of MCH is not only the weakest point in the medical field in our country hut it has also dropped behind other developing countries. Regarding the knowledge about pregnancy and delivery, a large proportion of our respondents reported having only a little knowledge, while 29% reported that they had "sufficient" knowledge. The average number of pregnancies among women residing in rural areas was 4.3 while the rate of women with 5 or more pregnancies among general women and women who terminated childbearing were 43 and 80% respectively. The rate of unwanted pregnancy among general women was 19.7%. The total rate for complications during pregnancy was 15.4%, toxemia being the major complication. The rate of pregnant women with chronic disease was 7%. Regarding the interval of pregnancy, the rates of pregnancy within 12 months and within 36 months after last delivery were 9 and 49% respectively. Induced abortion has been increasing in rural areas, being as high as 30-50% in some locations. The maternal death rate was shown 10 times higher than in developed countries (35/10,000 live births). Prenatal care Most women had no consultation with a physician during the prenatal period. Of those women who did have prenatal care, the majority (63%) received such care only 1 or 2 times throughout the entire period of pregnancy. Also, in 80% of these women the first visit Game after 4 months of gestation. Delivery conditions This field is lagging behind other public health problems in our country. Namely, more than 95% of the women deliveried their baby at home, and delivery attendance by a professional person occurred only 11% of the time. Attendance rate by laymen was 78% while those receiving no care at all was 16%. For instruments used to cut the umbilical corn, sterilized scissors were used by 19%, non-sterilized scissors by 63% and 16% used sickles. Regarding delivery sheets, the rate of use of clean sheets was only 10%, unclean sheets, vinyl and papers 72%, and without sheets, 18%. The main reason for not using a hospital as a place of delivery was that the women felt they did not need it as they had previously experience easy deliveries outside hospitals. Difficult delivery composed about 5% of the total. Child health The main food for infants (95%) was breast milk. Regarding weaning time, the rates within one year, up to one and half, two, three and more than three years were 28,43,60,81 and 91% respectively, and even after the next pregnancy still continued lactation. The vaccination of children is the only service for child health in rural Korea. As shown in the Table, the rates of all kinds of vaccination were very low and insufficient. Infant death rate was 42 per 1,000 live births. Most of the deaths were caused by preventable diseases. Death of infants within the neonatal period was 83% meaning that deaths from communicable diseases decreased remarkably after that time. Infant deaths which occurred without medical care was 52%. Methods of improvement in the MCH field 1. Through the activities of village health workers (VHW) to detect pregnant women by home visiting and. after registration. visiting once a month to observe any abnormalities in pregnant women. If they find warning signs of abnormalities. they refer them to the public health nurse or midwife. Sterilized delivery kits were distributed to the expected mother 2 weeks prior to expected date of delivery by the VHW. If a delivery was expected to be difficult, then the VHW took the mother to a physician or call a physician to help after birth, the VHW visits the mother and baby to confirm health and to recommend the baby be given proper vaccination. 2. Through the midwife or public health nurse (aid nurse) Examination of pregnant women who are referred by the VHW to confirm abnormalities and to treat them. If the midwife or aid nurse could not solve the problems, they refer the pregnant women to the OB-GY specialist. The midwife and PHN will attend in the cases of normal deliveries and they help in the birth. The PHN will conduct vaccination for all infants and children under 5, years old. 3. The Physician will help only in those cases referred to him by the PHN or VHW. However, the physician should examine all pregnant women at least three times during their pregnancy. First, the physician will identify the pregnancy and conduct general physical examination to confirm any chronic disease that might disturb the continuity of the pregnancy. Second, if the pregnant woman shows any abnormalities the physician must examine and treat. Third, at 9 or 10 months of gestation (after sitting of the baby) the physician should examine the position of the fetus and measure the pelvis to recommend institutional delivery of those who are expected to have a difficult delivery. And of course. the medical care of both the mother and the infants are responsible of the physician. Overall, large areas of the field of MCH would be served by the VHW, PHN, or midwife so the physician is needed only as a parttime worker.