• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.341-350
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• 2015

This study aims to understand main contents of the National Mental Health Strategy and changes after mental health reform through the National Mental Health Strategy in Australia, and to find some convergence policy implications on mental health policy in South Korea. The direction of reform has changed considerably over the 20 years that the National Mental Health Strategy has been in place including the National Mental Health Policy(1992, 2008), the National Mental Health Plan(1993~2014), COAG National Action Plan on Mental Health(2006~2011), the Roadmap for National Mental Health Reform 2012-2022. The National Mental Health Strategy has advocated fundamental change in the national spending on mental health, mental health service provision, the expansion of community-based mental health services and care system, NGO, consumer and carer participation in mental health care.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.41-49
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• 2013

Purpose: Economic and social pressures are driving Korea to reform its mental health services. However, it is not easy for the governments to find to the proper method for the mental health service network. This study is to find the mental health service network in Japan. Methods: The survey was conducted by researches and field studies. 1) Researches for mental health service network and facilities. 2) Field study is for Mental Health and Welfare Network in Tokyo. Results: The result of this study can be summarized into three points. The first one, Reform measures are beginning to promote the concept of "normalization" in japanese society. The second one, Facilities of Mental health and welfare system designed by level that can be providing places for people with mental problems. The third one, Facilities consist of barrier-free environment for people with mental problems.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.379-381
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• 2019

Korea's healthcare is in great danger of sustainability. In 2020, the baby boomer will begin to be older, and there is no promise that the total fertility rate of 1.0 or less will rebound, and Korea's economic growth rate is predicted to be less than 2%. Together with these phenomena, Plan for Benefit Expansion in Nation Health Insurance (Moon Jae-in Care) will seriously threaten the sustainability of health insurance finance. In addition, health care in Korea has many problems: excessive medical utilization, rapidly increasing elderly medical costs, concentrating patients into big hospitals, low healthcare personnel but many healthcare facilities and equipment, bad quality of primary and mental care, and fast-growing health expenditure. For sustainability, healthcare of Korea should be reformed. The direction of the reform is people-centered and integrated healthcare in the community which is composed of empowering and engaging people, strengthening governance and accountability, reorienting the model of care, coordinating services, and creating an enabling environment.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.19-27
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• 2016

Purpose: This study shows a changing tendency of Japanese psychiatric hospitals, presenting "Visions in Reform of Mental Health and Medical Welfare", changed to "Hospitalized Medical Treatment to Living in the Community" and reducing the number of beds since 2004. Methods: This study uses a documentary survey, especially Jananese "Visions in Reform of Mental Health and Medical Welfare System" and a field survey on hospital built for early treatment and return to society after 2004. Results: Change tendencies of psychiatric hospitals are 1) diversification of isolation room and ward, 2) cluster of patient's room, 3) phased organization of space, 4)individualization. Implication: This study will be an important data for researching plan of Korea psychiatric hospital which needs to change by global tendency.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.17.1-17.6
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• 2023

The current 52-hour workweek in South Korea consists of 40 hours of regular work and 12 hours of overtime. Although the average working hours in South Korea is declining, it is still 199 hours longer than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 1,716 hours per year. In view to this, the South Korean government has now proposed to reform the workweek, mainly intending to increase the workweek to 69 hours when the workload is heavy. This reform, by increasing the labor intensity due to long working hours, goes against the global trend of reducing work hours for a safe and healthy working environment. Long working hours can lead to increased cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, industrial accidents, mental health problems, and safety accidents due to lack of concentration. In conclusion, the Korean government's working hour reform plan can have a negative impact on workers' health, and therefore it should be thoroughly reviewed and modified.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.265-269
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• 2020

Korea has failed to respond to the Middle East respiratory syndrome of 2015 and the early phase of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) of 2020. This is due to the structural problems of the Ministry of Health and Welfare that has been more increased manpower and budgets of the welfare part relative to those of the health part, and the ministers were appointed welfare experts, not health experts. In 21 (56.8%) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, the Ministry of Health operates independently, and these countries have been relatively well coping with COVID-19. The importance of the Korean health sector is increasing even further. Korea faces on the emerging infectious diseases, chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis that has been being a huge burden, and rapidly increasing non-communicable diseases, suicide and mental disorders, and some diseases due to fine dust and climate change. In addition, the rapid advancement of the aging society, the entry of an era of ultra-low fertility and low-economic growth, and the unification of the Korean peninsula are calling for a health policy reform. Therefore, the Ministry of Health should be established and systematically responsible for health policy, disease policy, medical policy, and medical security policy. Ministry of Health will be the control tower for K-Disease Control, K-Bio, and K-Health.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.155-206
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• 2023

When a person with diminished mental capacity refuses necessary medical care, normative judgments about when paternalistic intervention can be justified come into question. A typical example is involuntary hospitalization for people with mental disabilities, traditionally governed by mental health law. However, Korean civil law reform in 2011 introduced a new form of involuntary hospitalization through guardianship legislation, leading to a dualized system to involuntary hospitalization. Consequently, a conflict has arisen between the 'best interest and surrogate decision-making' paradigm of civil law and the 'social defense and preventive detention' paradigm of mental health law. Many countries have criticized this dualized system as not only inefficient but also unfair. Moreover, the requirement for the presence of 'mental illness' for involuntary hospitalization under mental health law has faced criticism for unfairly discriminating against people with mental disabilities. In response, attempts have been made to integrate guardianship legislation and mental health law based on mental capacity. This study examines the legislative process and framework of the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, which reorganized the mental health care system by fusing guardianship legislation with mental health law based on mental capacity. By analyzing the case of Northern Ireland, which has grappled with conflicts between guardianship legislation and mental health law since the 1990s and recently proposed mental capacity as a single, non-discriminatory standard, we aimed to offer insights for the Korean guardianship and mental health systems.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-137
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• 2018

Under the Korean law, there are two routes of involuntary civil commitment of the mentally-ill: involuntary commitment process under the Mental Health Act (MHA) and the guardian's commitment backed up by family court approval under article 947-2 (2) of the Civil Code. Despite of the recent fundamental revision of MHA in 2016, the Korean involuntary commitment law has still serious flaws, especially the lack of due process like prior notice, hearing, and independent guardian ad litem for the mentally-ill, which has been pointed out also by the Korean Constitutional Court. Thus, a re-revision is inevitable, and this time, we should proceed to rebuild the underlying structure of involuntary commitment. In this regard, it is crucial to eliminate the old-fashioned and unjustifiable burden as well as power of the so-called responsible person to protect the mentally-ill and to readjust the causes and standings to petition of the various types of involuntary commitment process. Also it is necessary to repeal involuntary commitment by guardian under the Civil Code, article 947-2 (2), which can no longer harmonize with modern involuntary commitment system.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.376-386
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• 2001

I. Background The problem of discharging patients from hospital have been well documented in the literature over the last 20 years. They included poor communication between hospital and community, inadequate notice of discharge, over-reliance on informal support and lack of statutory support, inattention to patients needs before leaving hospital, and wasted or duplicated visits by community nurses. Most patients discharged from hospital are able to return home with little or no support, while others will require a 'package of care' to support them back to good health. Patient with complex care needs, including the frail elderly and those with mental health problems, may require continuing care in special housing, residential, or nursing homes. With this population,effective discharge arrangement is needed and the study on this problem is urgent in Korea because the Medical Reform Project is on suspension of success. II. Results of the Study: 1. Discharge service needs assessed on 360 elderly patients who were hospitalized during the survey period at four university hospitals. Patients want to know the information on disease management after discharge. Follow-up telephone service is the most frequently checked service. 2. Multidisciplinary Discharge Planning is recommended at the hospital level to reduce the readmission and decrease the length of stay. 3. Further research is needed to validate and test the assumption of the solution which is developed in this research.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.81-97
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the awareness and direction of paramedics work and image in hospitals. Methods: From April 16 to May 5, 2015, data were collected through structured questionnaires from 45 paramedics and 81 nurses working in emergency medical institutions. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. Results: The work of paramedics is evaluated to be highly worthy at the in-hospital level rather than at the injury first-aid treatment level. It appears that paramedics are often forced to do what their hospitals tell them to do concerning matters related to conflicts with them and nurses. Paramedics stated that they experienced greater mental stress than those engaging in other professions, a finding similar to those of other studies. There was no statistically significant difference in opinions between the two groups about a desirable direction for the development of first-aid services at hospitals. More than two thirds of the respondents said that paramedics should be given the right to enter acting check for patients. Conclusion: Paramedics work is shown to differ in the opinions of paramedics themselves and nurses. Paramedics need for reform is associated with expanding the work of the law.