• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.218-231
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• 2001

Background : The purpose of this study was to investigate the understanding and the attitude of Korean hospital CEOs toward the healthcare quality improvement. Methods : A mailed questionnaire survey to the CEOs of hospitals with 400 beds or more was conducted between September 15 and October 30, 2000. Of the 108 hospitals eligible for the study, 58 participated, yielding a response rate of 54 percent. Result : The hospital CEOs have expressed that their hospital management was arduous job, and they had been pressured by increasing competitions among healthcare providers. They indicated that the low fees of health insurance made their hospital management difficult. The results also indicated that there was general consensus that the improvement of service quality was important in encouraging their organizations, but the investment of manpower and equipment ranked higher than the improvement of service quality. The majority of the CEOs have good understanding about quality improvement activities. However the facts that in general QI must be focused at the process of services and customer satisfaction, meanwhile quality improvement activities are helpful for the organizational productivity embarrassed them. The hospital CEOs responded that there were successful changes in terms of quality of care, patient satisfaction, and process efficiency after QI activities, but no increase in patient number and profit. Lack of understanding to QI activities and limited budget seem to attribute unsatisfactory outcomes. Conclusion : The majority of Korean hospital CEOs have a good understanding and attitude about QI activities. As mentioned in the result, despite of several limitations, several facts regarding the CEOs of hospital in Korean can be elucidated. (1) The general cognition of the QI project is relatively high, and it is accepted with positive concern, (2) the priority of the QI project, however, is not set higher than other projects and (3) the specific concepts of the actual QI project such as customer (patient)-focused work driving, the recognition of the work accomplishment, and the importance of rewards have not sufficiently understood.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.105-115
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• 2018

The study selected two regional public medical centers(G, N) in Jeollabuk-do to recognize problems and provide solutions for regional medical centers. The medical centers were analyzed, focusing on availability of medical personnel, budget and management thereof, medical treatment performance, public project performance, and patient satisfaction. The results showed that the medical centers were understaffed with doctors compared to private hospitals or national university hospitals and suffering financial debt. The number of patient with medical benefit was increasing in the medical center G, whereas it was decreasing in the medical center N. Patient satisfaction survey showed that the medical center G was scoring similar to the national average, whereas the medical center N was scoring slightly less than the average. Policies needed for development and efficient management of Regional public medical centers are clarification of Regional medical centers identity, modernization of medical equipment and facilities, recruitment of competent medical personnels, specialization of hospitals and establishment of stronger referral system. The regional medical centers should secure financial supports for public service from regional and national governments, and establish revenues from funerary service, leasing service, and national projects participation.

• Proceedings of The Korean Society of Health Promotion Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.197-230
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• 2005

일본의 Soyo town에서 진행된 건강도시사업은 건강증진 프로그램 모형을 통하여 건강한 도시를 건설하겠다는 슬로건을 가지고 주민들이 참여하여 자신의 건강관리능력을 함양하고 서로의 장점을 공유하는 것을 사명으로 하고 있다. 또한 삶의 질 향상, 주관적 건강상태 향상, 삶의 만족도 향상, 정서적 유대감 향상, 수입증가 그리고 조기사망의 감소를 구체적 목적으로 설정하고 있다. 이러한 목적을 달성하게 위한 매우 실제적이며 수량화된 목표들이 설정되어 있다. 1992년에 사전조사를 실시하고 1996년과 2002년에 사후 조사를 실시하였다. 프로그램 내용과 과정에는 보건의료전문가와 시설에 대한 정비, 평가에 대한 계획, 학교를 포함한 포괄적인 보건의료시스템이 포함된다. 모든 부문은 자신들이 설정한 보건정책 결과에 대하여 모니터링을 진행하며 적절한 정책을 다시 설정하고 수량화된 목표를 설정하며 프로그램을 수행한다. 프로그램 수행의 가장 중요한 원칙은 사업의 기획, 수행, 평가 과정에 주민이 최우선적으로 참여한다는 점이다. Soyo town은 사업을 위하여 학교 및 지역 내 사조직과 협력하고 모든 사업의 기획과정에 다양한 구성원들을 참여시켰는데 이는 건강자원 개발에 있어 매우 중요하게 실천되어야 하는 문제이다. 특히 모든 Soyo town의 주민들이 참여하는 것을 원칙으로 하였다. 주민들은 건강관련 자원의 배치상태와 과학적 근거를 고려하여 효과적인 사업을 선정하는 것을 포함한 모든 사업의 과정에 참여하였다. 바람직한 생활양식을 향상시키기 위하여 식품회사, 자원단체 그리고 사회적 관계망 그리고 지역의 단체급식시설, 식당 등이 파악되었으며, 요양원, 가사도우미, 공중보건간호사, 방문간호사, 사회사업가로 구성된 보건의료 시설과 인력들이 협력하였다. 사업이 주민의 건강을 향상시켰는가와 건강향상에 사업이 효과적이었는지를 판단하기 위해서 평가가 진행되었는데, 서비스 제공자 뿐 아니라 소비자와 주민들도 평가를 수행하였다. Soyo town의 건강도시사업의 평가 결과, 조기사망률이 1988년 22.1%이 1992년 18.2%로, 1998년 15.6%로 감소하였다. 또한 주관적인 건강상태는 1988년 48%에서 1992년 67.1%로, 1998년 71.5%로 증가하였다. 전반적으로 주관적 건강상태, 사회적 관계망, 보건의료서비스에 대한 접근성은 증가하였으며, 조기사망, 의료비용은 감소하였다. 한편 보건의료부문의 질적인 향상을 가져왔으며, Soyo town은 건강한 도시의 명성을 얻게 되었다. 사업의 효과성을 향상시킨 요인은 주민 개개인들에게 사업의 기획과정에 처음부터 참여할 기회가 주어졌다는 점과 자원개발에 있어 기존자원의 재개발에 우선순위를 두었다는 점이었다. 효과적인 사업의 수행을 위하여 행정부, 주민, 건강관련 단체들은 수단과 방법에 관한 정보를 교환하는 것이 중요하다. 사업의 기획단계에 모든 이해당사자들이 참여하여 각자의 역할분담을 명확히 하는 것이 필요하며, 건강증진은 개인의 노력 뿐 아니라 사회적 환경의 개선과 자원의 개발을 통해서 달성되는 것이므로 주민들은 건강증진을 위한 환경개선을 위해 노력도 병행되어야 한다.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.521-528
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• 1999

Cardiovascular disease is very prevalent in Korea, and many risk factors, if properly identified are possibly corrected. However, the study results on prevalence and distribution of risk factors may not be reliable while the risk factors of disease are always issued on health promotion projects conducted recently in a community. The subjects of this study were 854 adults who participated in the health and nutrition survey in a community. They were aged between 20 and 69 and sampled representatively. This study intended to estimate the prevalence and the distribution of risk factors of cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity. Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure levels were estimated at $123.9{\pm}2.2mgHg(men)$, $117.9{\pm}1.7mgHg$(women), and $80.4{\pm}1.5mg(men)$, $74.9{\pm}1.1mgHg(women)$, respectively. Glucose level was estimated at $99.1{\pm}2.3mg/dl$ in men, and $95.7{\pm}1.7mg/dl$ in women. The estimated level of total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were $183.4{\pm}3.8mg/dl(men)$, $181.7{\pm}3.1mg/dl(men)$, and $122.0{\pm}4.5mg/dl(women)$, and body mass index was estimated at $24.0{\pm}0.4kg/m^2$ in men and $23.9{\pm}0.4kg/m^2$ in men and $23.9{\pm}0.3kg/m^2$ in women. The prevalence of hypertension was 20.5% for men, and 14.4% for women. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was estimated to 6.9% for men, and 6.1% for women. The estimated prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 3.8%(men), 3.9%(women). The rate of obesity was estimated to 28.5%(men), 28.4% (women), respectively. The levels of blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol were higher in men than in women in almost all the almost ate groups. The prevalence of hypertension for men is about 20%. It was found that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus for males aged between 40 and 59 was rapidly increased. The risk factor with highest prevalence was obesity, and hypertension and diabetes mellitus were the second and third most prevalent.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.441-452
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• 2020

The assessment of the river environment is widely applied as a method to establish the purpose and direction of river rehabilitation projects. This includes surveying and assessing the current state of the river environment and determining whether a previous river project was properly executed. The city of Seoul executed ecological river rehabilitation activities for the tributaries of the Han River from the 2000s following a masterplan to recover the physical shape and ecological functionality of damaged rivers. After the rehabilitation activities, the river environment had been changed substantially. In this study, physical properties, water quality properties, and ecological properties were assessed for 28 tributaries underthe control of the city of Seoul, and then those 3 properties were synthetically reassessed. From the result of the study on the physical properties, it was found that mostrivers had II-III grades. As for water quality properties, rivers had III-IV grades. The damaged rivers showed low grades of D-E based on the Aquatic Ecosystem Health evaluation. Accordingly, we concluded that all rivers of Seoul City have an unhealthy environment in terms of water quality and Aquatic Ecosystem Health, therefore it is regarded that long-term and systematic improvements are required.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.211-219
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• 2022

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the awareness of work-related disease prevention of farmers. Method: As a research method, a qualitative focus group interview was conducted in 18 participants. Results: Prevention and management services for work-related diseases of farmers mostly are based on research from other fields and so are not highly effective because their content is not relevant to agricultural work. It has been suggested that such program designers be required to have some appropriate related knowledge, and that incentives and a certification system for participation in such education be established. To analyze work-related diseases of farmers, fields of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation should be created. They demanded the designation of hospitals and the actualization of compensation for farmers' safety insurance. The work-related diseases to address were include musculoskeletal diseases, pesticide poisoning-related diseases (cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease), psychiatric diseases such as depression, and allergic diseases. However, this must have been the result of the harmful factors they felt during agricultural work. And for farmer patients diagnosed with work-related diseases, it was said to strengthen farmer safety insurance. Conclusion: In order to increase the safely and health effects of agricultural work, it is necessary to prevent and manage work-related diseases of farmers. Projects should be developed in consideration of cultural and economic barriers of farmers and the characteristics of the work.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.542-557
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop an evaluation tool for operation of food safety and nutrition education projects for middle class elderly using the concept of the balanced score card. Methods: After the draft of the evaluation tool for the elderly training projects was completed, it was revised into the questionnaire and the validity of the indicators was tested by the Delphi group. The validity of the indicators was rated using a 5-point scale. The Delphi group consisted of 26 experts in the education sector, 16 government officials, and 24 professionals of the related area in communities. The first round test was conducted from July 9 to July 17, 2012, and 45 persons responded. The second round test was conducted from July 18 to July 25 and 32 persons responded. Results: The indicators, which were answered by more than 75 percent of the experts as 'agree' (4 points), 'strongly agree' (5 point) were included as the final indicators for the evaluation tool: 28 items out of 36 in outcome perspectives, 9 items out of 12 in process perspectives, and 17 out of 20 items in structure perspectives. The score was allocated as 50 points for outcome indicators, 20 points for process indicators, and 30 points for structure indicators. Conclusion: Completion of the evaluation tool is a prerequisite to determine whether the program is effectively implemented. The monitoring tool developed in the study could be applied for identification of the most optimal delivery path for the food safety and nutrition education program, for the spread of the food safety and nutrition education program for middle class elderly.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.71-96
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• 2011

Within the traditional medical delivery system, patients residing in medically vulnerable areas, those with body movement difficulties, and nursing facility residents have had limited access to good healthcare services. However, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides us with a convenient and useful means of overcoming distance and time constraints. ICT is integrated with biomedical science and technology in a way that offers a new high-quality medical service. As a result, rapid technological advancement is expected to play a pivotal role bringing about innovation in a wide range of medical service areas, such as medical management, testing, diagnosis, and treatment; offering new and improved healthcare services; and effecting dramatic changes in current medical services. The increase in aging population and chronic diseases has caused an increase in medical expenses. In response to the increasing demand for efficient healthcare services, a telehealth service based on ICT is being emphasized on a global level. Telehealth services have been implemented especially in pilot projects and system development and technological research. With the service about to be implemented in earnest, it is necessary to study its overall acceptance by consumers, which is expected to contribute to the development and activation of a variety of services. In this sense, the study aims at positively examining the structural relationship among the acceptance factors for telehealth services based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected by showing audiovisual material on telehealth services to online panels and requesting them to respond to a structured questionnaire sheet, which is known as the information acceleration method. Among the 1,165 adult respondents, 608 valid samples were finally chosen, while the remaining were excluded because of incomplete answers or allotted time overrun. In order to test the reliability and validity of the assessment scale items, we carried out reliability and factor analyses, and in order to explore the causal relation among potential variables, we conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using AMOS 7.0 and SPSS 17.0. The research outcomes are as follows. First, service quality, innovativeness of medical technology, and social influence were shown to affect perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the telehealth service, which was statistically significant, and the two factors had a positive impact on willingness to accept the telehealth service. In addition, social influence had a direct, significant effect on intention to use, which is paralleled by the TAM used in previous research on technology acceptance. This shows that the research model proposed in the study effectively explains the acceptance of the telehealth service. Second, the research model reveals that information privacy concerns had a insignificant impact on perceived ease of use of the telehealth service. From this, it can be gathered that the concerns over information protection and security are reduced further due to advancements in information technology compared to the initial period in the information technology industry, and thus the improvement in quality of medical services appeared to ensure that information privacy concerns did not act as a prohibiting factor in the acceptance of the telehealth service. Thus, if other factors have an enormous impact on ease of use and usefulness, concerns over these results in the initial period of technology acceptance may become irrelevant. However, it is clear that users' information privacy concerns, as other studies have revealed, is a major factor affecting technology acceptance. Thus, caution must be exercised while interpreting the result, and further study is required on the issue. Numerous information technologies with outstanding performance and innovativeness often attract few consumers. A revised bill for those urgently in need of telehealth services is about to be approved in the national assembly. As telemedicine is implemented between doctors and patients, a wide range of systems that will improve the quality of healthcare services will be designed. In this sense, the study on the consumer acceptance of telehealth services is meaningful and offers strong academic evidence. Based on the implications, it can be expected to contribute to the activation of telehealth services. Further study is needed to assess the acceptance factors for telehealth services, such as motivation to remain healthy, health care involvement, knowledge on health, and control of health-related behavior, in order to develop unique services according to the categorization of customers based on health factors. In addition, further study may focus on various theoretical cognitive behavior models other than the TAM, such as the health belief model.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2007

Purpose: As a part of the analysis of home-based cancer patients management of public health renters in cities, counties and districts across the nation, this study is to understand the degree of patient demands for that management and the degree and scope of the supply for the patient's demand. Methods: Developed the questionnaire which was constituted of degree of demand and supply for home-based cancer patient management and analyzed data centering on the frequencies and percentages by utilizing SPSS WIN 12.0. Results: The services provided through the home-based cancer patients management project include physical, emotional, spiritual and education/informative services. A survey was conducted for home-based cancer patients about these services, and its result showed that the degree of demand and supply was highest for emotional service, followed by education/informative service, spiritual service and physical service in the order of the demand-supply degree. When main items for each service were examined, it was found that: in the case of physical service, pain control was provided murk lower than its demand, while excretion disorder control and individual hygiene is provided murk more than its demand. In the case of emotional service, the degree of demand was overall higher than that of supply; spiritual service was provided appropriately to the degree of demand. Conclusion: This study examines the home-based canter patients management project of public health centers and compares and analyzes the degree of demand for patient services and the degree of services that are actually provided. The findings could be used as based data for the development of effective programs in future on the basis of actual demands of home-based cancer patients.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2002

The present study attempts to find the ways to efficiently manage dental caries, one of the major causes of tooth loss, and to cope with oral diseases that deteriorate oral health. For this purpose, this study seeks to obtain fundamental data needed in planning the oral health projects. The study was conducted to the first-grade elementary school students in Hwa-Seong city, Gyeonggi-do, from April 1 - 30, 2002. The result was as follows: 1) Among a total of 2,710 subjects, 598 (274 boys and 324 girls) have more than 1 permanent tooth with a caries legion whether it was treated or not. 2) The number of permanent teeth examined is 6,029, in which girls' teeth are more (3,165) than boys' (2,864). 3) Out of a total of 6,029 teeth examined, 1,106 permanent teeth (508 boys' and 598 girls') have caries legions. 4) Out of 1,106 permanent teeth with caries legions, 170 (15.4%) were treated - 67 teeth for boys (13.2%) and 103 teeth for girls (17.2%). 5) 22.1% of the children have experienced dental caries in their permanent teeth. Among them, 20.1% are boys and 24.1% are girls. 6) The rate of the permanent teeth that once had, or now have caries legions are 21.2%, among which the rate for boy's teeth is 20.1% and that for girl's teeth is 22.1%. 7) The number of the permanent teeth that had caries legions is 0.5 for all the subjects. A boy has 0.4 and a girl has 0.5 teeth with caries legions regardless of whether it was treated or not. 8) The rate of the permanent teeth with caries legions is 86.7% for overall subjects - 88.3% for boys and 85.3% for girls. 9) The rate of treated permanent teeth is 13.3% for all the subjects - 11.7% for boys and 14.7% for girls. Based on the above result, the study draws a conclusion that in order to prevent dental caries in young students and to perform an early treatment for the dental caries that already occurred an oral health office should be installed at all the elementary schools so that elementary school students don't experience a loss of time and effort for learning and suffer nutritional imbalance or disorder. Besides, the oral health education concerning the importance of dental care should be conducted to the citizens, especially to the young people, in the community as an essential project of oral health centers in the community health offices, the public medical institutions.