• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.50.1-50.11
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• 2023

Background: The rise in telecommuting or non-face-to-face work owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has fueled conversations regarding the "right to disconnect." Although evidence suggests that receiving work-related communications through telecommunication devices outside of work hours may lead to various symptoms and illnesses, limited research has been undertaken on these symptoms. This study therefore aims to investigate the correlation between receiving work communications through telecommunication devices after work hours and the occurrence of work-related headaches and eyestrain in full-time, non-shift white-collar workers. Methods: This study used data from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey. The frequency of using telecommunication devices for work purposes outside of working hours was divided into five categories: "Every day," "Several times a week," "Several times a month," "Rarely," and "Never." Work-related headaches and eyestrain were categorized based on a "yes" or "no" response to the survey questions. Descriptive statistics, χ² tests, and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 27.0. Results: After adjusting for sex, age, income level, education, occupation, workplace size, work hours, and sleep disorders, the odds ratio (OR) of work-related headaches and eyestrain based on frequency of telecommunication device usage were as follows: "rarely" (OR: 1.292; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.111-1.503), "several times a month" (OR: 1.551; 95% CI: 1.249-1.926), "several times a week" (OR: 1.474; 95% CI: 1.217-1.784), and "every day" (OR: 1.548; 95% CI: 1.321-1.813). Conclusions: Employees who use telecommunication devices for work after regular hours are more susceptible to experiencing work-related headaches and eyestrain compared to those who do not. However, there is a dearth of research examining the physical and mental health impacts of using telecommunication devices for after-hours work. Furthermore, the existing preventative measures in Korea are insufficient. Consequently, it is imperative to develop effective measures and conduct additional research to address this issue.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 2018

Teachers are not completed by appointment, but gradually made through self-development and training for a long time. In order to improve a sense of responsibility of home economics teachers, and also to suggest the purpose and direction of program through job training, the needs of training subjects should be preferentially understood. Thus, this study aims to provide basic data for establishing the developmental operation measures of training for home economics teachers, by researching the needs for training performed after the qualification training for first-grade teachers, targeting the teachers participating in the qualification training program for first-grade teachers of home economics in 2017. About the half of the research subjects received the home economics training one time or less for last three years. Through the training for first-grade teachers, the technical improvement of lesson instruction was demanded the most. As professional qualifications that should be cultivated through training, the ability to develop teaching methods and teaching/learning materials was the highest. Regarding the theme of training, the development of teaching/learning materials for home economics was desired the most. They wanted the training method including direct participation with high utilization for lesson, sublation of competition-centered evaluation, preference of instructors with field experience, continuous opportunity of home economics training, and communicative training. Regarding the needs for the 2015 revised curriculum, the demand for the training of 'human development and family' area was the highest. Therefore, in order to improve the professionalism of teachers through home economics training, it would be necessary to improve the educational environment such as temporal room for training and administrative support, and also to provide diverse types of training like group training, remote training, and smartphone app training suitable for changes in the generation of teachers. Also, on top of forming communities of home economics teachers, and sharing great contents of training, there should be individually-customized training for practice and sharing lesson cases.