• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.467-484
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to explore latent classes of longitudinal medical expenses of older people and to analyze its predictors and its effects on subjective health. Among participants of the Korean Health Panel, the sample of this study includes 1,119 people who is 65-year-old or older and reported their medical expenses for nine consecutive years. The analyses were conducted in three steps. First, Growth Mixture Model (GMM) was applied to find distinct subgroups showing similar patterns in medical expenses. The results showed four groups which were classified as high medical expenditure maintenance group, medical expenditure increase group, low medical expenditure maintenance group, and medical expenditure reduction group. Second, the multinominal logistic regression found that the presence of spouse, economic participation, the number of chronic diseases, and the type of health insurance were significant predictors of latent classes in medical expenses. In particular, the greater the number of chronic diseases, the higher the likelihood of belonging to the high medical expenditure maintenance group. In addition, medical benefit recipients are more likely to belong to the low medical cost maintenance and medical cost reduction groups. Third, multiple regression analysis revealed that the older people in the groups with low or reducing expenses reported better subjective health than people with higher expenses. This study has its meanings in exploring the heterogeneity in longitudinal medical expenses among older people and its predictors and its associations with health outcome. The results of this research provide background information in establishing public health policy for older people.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.11
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• pp.321-335
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• 2020

Given that with the development of the 4th industry, interest and desire for smart cities are gradually increasing and related technologies are developed as a way to strengthen urban competitiveness by utilizing big data, information and communication technology, IoT, M2M, and AI, the purpose of this study is to find out how to achieve this goal on the premise of the idea of smart well fair city. In other words, the purpose is to devise a smart well-fair city in the care area, such as health care, medical care, and welfare, and see if it is feasible. With this recognition, the paper aimed to review the concept and scope of smart city, the discussions that have been made so far and the issues or limitations on its connection to social security and social welfare, and based on it, come up with the concept of welfare city. As a method of realizing the smart welfare city, the paper reviewed characteristics and features of a social security platform as well as the applicability of smart city, especially care services. Furthermore, the paper developed discussions on the standardization of the city in terms of political and institutional improvements, utilization of personal information and public data as well as ways of institutional improvement centering on social security information system. This paper highlights the importance of implementing the digitally based community care and smart welfare city that our society is seeking to achieve. With regard to the social security platform based on behavioral design and the 7 principles(6W1H method), the present paper has the limitation of dealing only with smart cities in the fields of healthcare, medicine, and welfare. Therefore, further studies are needed to investigate the effects of smart cities in other fields and to consider the application and utilization of technologies in various aspects and the corresponding impact on our society. It is expected that this paper will suggest the future course and vision not only for smart cities but also for the social security and welfare system and thereby make some contribution to improving the quality of people's lives through the requisite adjustments made in each relevant field.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.165-184
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• 2005

Japan has remained a welfare laggard among advanced industrial democracies. Therefore, the introduction of the public long-term care insurance(koteki kaigo hoken in Japanese) in April of 2000 looks very unique in terms of the Japanese social security tradition, because it can be interpreted as the expansion of social security system and the weakening of the market power over the livelihood of the ordinary people. In the era of globalization, in which even the highly developed welfare states are forced to shrink their social security systems, Japan, a welfare laggard, looks like being headed to the opposite direction. This article aims to define the character of the public long-term care insurance, and thereby, to evaluate the recent social policy of the Japanese government. This study follows the social democratic model in the study of the welfare state development, which assumes that, under the condition of a weak social democratic party and a fragmented labor movement, the introduction of the long-term care insurance is not equal to the improvement of the Japanese social security system. The main argument of this article is that the long-term care insurance, notwithstanding its appearance as an expansion of public sphere, is part of market-oriented neo-liberal social reforms, which have remained the main feature of the Japanese social policies since the mid-1970's. For this, this study will do a longitudinal analysis on the social consequences of the long-term care insurance incurred to the Japanese social security system for the long-term care, focusing on the income redistribution, the marketization of long-term care sector and the changes in the financial burden of the government, social insurers and general citizens.

• Issues in Feminism
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.123-158
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• 2010

For the last several months, abortion debates have sparkled in Korea. The government has escalated the need of active punishment of illegal abortions to solve low fertility problems, while some obstetricians and gynecologist have proclaimed stoppage of illegal abortions suing colleague doctors who has conducted illegal abortions. Women's rights groups and researchers have also responded to the abortion debate claiming that women's decisions over their pregnancy are important in making of abortion policies. To contribute to Korean abortion debates, his paper aims to analyze European experiences of abortion polices in relation to the consequences on women's health. For the analysis of European abortion experiences, three countries - Ireland, U.K, and Netherland -are chosen. These three countries are selected since their legal and social acceptance of abortion and the level of safe abortion system are different. Each country is reviewed by national abortion policy, legal regulation, medical system and the role of civil society. The analysis shows several implications for abortion debates occurring in Korea. Various systematic policy mechanisms - abortion on women' request, abortions without complicated doctor's referrals, transparent and anonymous counseling and information provision regarding abortion, training and education for medical professionals to guarantee high quality abortion, abortions funded publicly for women to improve their access to abortions, steady monitoring and auditing abortion procedures and outcomes for safe abortion and so on - are required in Korean society. Two track procedures - safe abortion on women's request and prevention of unwanted pregnancy - are needed for reproduction of healthy women and society.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.85-124
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• 2016

The Human gene testing act (GenDG) in Germany starts from the characteristic features of gene testing, i.e. dualisting structure consisted of anlaysis on the one side and the interpretation on the other side. The linguistic distincion of 'testing', 'anlaysis' and 'judgment' in the act is a fine example. Another important basis of the regulation is the ideological purpose of the law, that is information autonomy. The normative texts as such and the founding principle are the basis of the classification of testing types. Especially in the case of gene testing for medical purpose is classified into testing for diagnostic purpose and predictive purpose. However, those two types are not always clearly differentiated because the predictive value of testing is common in both types. In the legal regulation of gene testing it is therefore important to manage the uncertainty and subjectivity which are inherent in the gene-analysis and the judgment. In GenDG the system ensuring the quality of analysis is set up and GEKO(Commity for gene tisting) based on the section 23 of GenDG concretes the criterium of validity through guidelines. It is also very important in the case of gene testing for medical purpose to set up the system for ensurement of procedural rationality of the interpretation. The interpretation of the results of analysis has a wide spectrum because of the consistent development of technology on the one side and different understandings of different subjects who performs gene testings. Therefore the process should include the communication process for patients in oder that he or she could understand the meaning of gene testing and make plans of life. In GenDG the process of genetic counselling and GEKO concretes the regulation very precisely. The regulation as such in GenDG seems to be very suggestive to Korean legal polic concerning the gene testing.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.573-578
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• 2014

Recently as we enter into the world of an aging society, the U-Healthcare service is newly spotlighted. In order to secure this U-Healthcare, a development of security solution that is suitable for the U-Healthcare environment is required. But the U-Healthcare environment is difficult to apply the existing security solution with the lack of standards, a security solution with high completeness was not developed. At this point, in order to structure the safe U-Healthcare environment, a generating method of an encryption key using the body information that helps the effective key management and ensuring the confidentiality of the data is proposed.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.349-359
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• 2013

The study was conducted to identify the perception of patient-safety and the level of safety care activity among nurses in small-medium sized general hospitals. Data were collected at three hospitals among 344 nurses on April 2012 and administered questionnaire regarding the perception of patient-safety and safety-care-activity. Data analyzed by using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics was used to determine comparison, correlation and association (Pearson correlation, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test, multiple regression). The results revealed that there were significant differences in the level of perception of patient-safety according to the nurses' career, time of work, and work department in their hospitals. And also there were significant differences in the level of safety-care-activity according to the nurses' age, position, marriage, the nurses' career, time of work in their hospitals. Nurses with higher perceived level of patient-safety performed more safety-care-activities. The findings of the study suggests that in order to improve the nurse's perceived level of patient-safety and safety-careactivities, the hospitals need to establish the policies that support patient-safety, improvement the environmental system, proper working atmosphere to ensure appropriate work time, regulation nurse-patient ratio are also required.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.259-276
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• 2011

If frail elderly could use home care services adequately, quality of their life might improve and their costs of service would be decreased. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors on institutionalization of elderly using home care services in Korean long-term care insurance system. This study used the data of '2009 satisfaction survey of Korean long-term care system'. The survey proceeded using sampling data by region, level of long-term care need, and insurance type among beneficiaries from August 2009 to September 2010. The onset dates of institutionalization of 1,230 participants were ascertained from long-term care insurance claim data. This study calculated hazard ratio through Cox Proportional Hazard Model. The results showed that if elderly using home care services suffer a fracture, the hazard ratio of institutionalization is higher significantly. Although not significant, if older persons have more items of damaged cognitive functions, the hazard ratio of institutionalization is higher. The results have policy implications to supplement of home care service system and postpone institutionalization of elderly.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.200-218
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• 2015

The purpose of the present study was to examine daily lives of elderly welfare recipients and their experiences with social welfare services. Researchers collected and analyzed data through individual interviews with 11 elderly welfare recipients. A major theme in the time context was "Daily lives enduring physical and mental sufferings alone and mismatches of social welfare services": 'Starting same tedious days: trading diligent work for basic living assistance', 'Forced ritual of having meals', 'Struggle with depressing night: not attentive welfare services at closing hours', 'Welfare services suspended in holidays', 'Mind and body withered by economic hardship in winter', 'Social support for enduring weary lives'. In the space context, a major themes was "Inadequate welfare services and social interaction in the context of social isolation": 'Unhygienic and unsafe living environment', 'Hiding places: spending tedious days in vacant lots', 'Community welfare centers useful only for healthy elderly', 'Differences and similarities of elderly in urban and rural areas', 'Receiving restricted medical services at hospitals', 'Hard-to-reach public institutions', 'ambivalence about living as welfare recipients'. Based on the findings, the researchers proposed implications for policy and practice to improve elderly welfare recipients' quality of life.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.97-107
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• 2018

According to the 2017 national survey of the disabled persons conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, rehabilitation centers for the disabled appeared to be the service agency that disabled women use the most. This means that rehabilitation centers for the disabled hold an important role in securing the maternity rights of disabled women. However, in the practice of welfare for the disabled, programs for securing maternity rights are inadequate, and the actual condition is not being surveyed. As a result, programs related to maternity rights based on the legal basis exist, but actual support services for resolving the difficulties related to maternity rights that disabled women experience are inadequate. Thus, the study suggests that rehabilitation centers for the disabled should pay a central role in establishing the maternity rights of disabled women and provide support services such as developing a manual on basic information about pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing, offering childbirth-related counseling, activating a self-help group, providing an individualized program for families, connecting with medical institutions, and supporting case management.