• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.599-609
• /
• 2020

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has rapidly become a global pandemic with over 26.4 million confirmed cases and approximately 871,000 fatalities worldwide as of this writing. In the Republic of Korea, disease clusters frequently occurred in long-term care hospitals where the majority of residents are elderly with underlying medical conditions. Despite the fact that public health authorities and local community health centers have put tremendous efforts into preventing the spread of disease, positive cases have continued to occur. Thus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention rapid response team decided to conduct an environmental investigation of a long-term care hospital to identify whether environmental contamination has remained and contributed to the spread of COVID-19. Methods: An environmental investigation was conducted at Hospital A. The characteristics of the facility and its HVAC system were assessed by checking the layout and interviewing the people in charge. A total of 64 surface samples were collected from areas of concern, including patient rooms, toilets, elevators, and nurses' station. These samples were tested by a regional health and environmental research institute using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: All samples from Hospital A were confirmed to be negative. Through interviews with high-level personnel at the regional community health center, we found that extensive disinfection is frequently performed on potentially contaminated areas in Hospital A in accordance with government guidelines. Conclusion: The environmental control measures implemented in Hospital A had been sufficient for mitigating the risk of further infection, suggesting that such measures may also be effective for other long-term health care facilities.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.7-11
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study is to examine the long term care insurance system that has been 9 years and to understand issues arose during settlement of the insurance system in accordance with provision of solutions to increase the quality of elders' long term care service. Also, the study is aiming at providing contribution to both satisfaction of customers and workforces at the field along with achievement of the primary goal that the elders' care service policy was aiming at. To achieve the purpose of the study, authors gathered and analyzed reports and literatures from books published domestically, governmental open data and statistical data related to policy on long term care service insurance for elders to examine current problematic issues of long term care insurance and to explore ways to improve by having case studies of advanced countries. The result of this study shows that there are differences in the way how participants of the programs react to registering to insurance of program for supporting elderly persons' social activities and employment despite Korean government is operating the programs along general guidance for the programs as a standardized guideline.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.353-371
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to provide clues to social welfare policy making by revealing discourse on social intervention and response based on big data on elderly living alone in the COVID-19 situation. Keyword analysis, network analysis, and topic analysis were utilized to explore the ways in which news media have portrayed challenges facing older individuals and the ways in which the central and local government as well as private organization have responded to them. Results are as follows. First, networks(degree, closeness, betweenness) were formed around region, delivery, society, support, and vulnerability, suggesting an increased demand for economic assistance and social support as well as stronger service delivery systems. Second, key topics derived included "establishing public delivery systems", "establishing local networks", "Managing care gap", "Establishing a private economic support system", and "Establishing service organization system". Based on the research results, discourse on the organic role of government, communities and the private sector has been presented, suggesting policy and practical implications by proposing a discussion on how to intervene for elderly living alone in disaster situations such as COVID-19.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.199-215
• /
• 1998

The health care environment exerts tremendous influence on community health practices. Here the author mention several major factors that will influence the future plan for health service and health education; that is, economic problem, the issues of decrement of infectious disease, increment of chronic degenerative disease due to natural increase of the elderly, increased frequency of traffic and industrial accidents and the issues of medical-technological advances etc. Therefore, special efforts by health personnel should be made to develop health education and health promotion strategies on a community-wide basis. Accordingly, the flexible accessibility, convenient availability, guaranteed medical service, sufficient supply of health information, and rapidly available medicaid service for special population such as the elderly, the handicapped, the disabled and the poor are considered. Also, the financial support from the central government and local self-government and active participation of health consumer to health service are needed in Korea, The role of the health personnel is to elicit, facilitate and maintain health promoting behavior with his and her assurance for health consumers being competent and supported in the voluntary choice of their health promoting activities. The health promoting activities such as the above mentioned will be produce escalation of their life Quality among Koreans.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.104-127
• /
• 2010

To vitalize the link program of Korean long-term care insurance system to community-based services for non-eligible people, we analysed the claim data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC), and conducted a questionnaire survey to charging employees of elderly service department at local governments. The subjects were all 81,377 people, 57,454 of them were arranged to community-based services. The link program was more necessary among the missed subjects rather than the arranged people due to the need for physical or psychological assistance. By the result of the survey to the local government employees, 59.5% of subjects responded their proportion of link service was over 10% and under 20%, and 54.3% of them responded their job boundary are not clear. Major type of linking was notification the subject list to local government, 91.4%; proportion of periodical notification on the status of their service link were 57.1%, only 7.1% were followed to manage after the link. Difficult factors at the link process were pointed out the overload by other side work, deficiency of resources, rigidity of priority of link, and so on. Considering these results, to vitalize the community-based services to the non-eligible people, it may be essential the active participation of the subjects, construction of parts working in coordination among the institutions including NHIC, local governments, and service providers; development of various services for maintenance or promotion of the non-eligible peoples' health and functional status; and active participation of institutions from the third sector, and so on.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.34-43
• /
• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to suggest new direction for domiciliary care for elders provided by public institutions in rural areas. Method: The participants in the study were elders using one of 11 public health care institutions, of which 8 operated day care services exclusively, and 3 operated both day care and short-term respite care services. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire that included items on general characteristics of the service users, conditions of the services, personnel, financial status, facilities, and perception of the tasks of the staff. Result: The service content of the day care centers included Western and Chinese medical service, physical services, activities of ADL, nursing care services, meal services and transportation services. Domiciliary care centers provided a wide variety of health and social welfare service for elders. Personnel consisted of 3 to 8 staff for day care centers and 7 to 10 for domiciliary care centers. Both types of centers rely on financial support from local government for operation. The perception of the staff was the need for operation of these centers by public health facilities such as public health centers and sub-centers. Conclusion: The result suggest a need to activate the function of public institutions to provide domiciliary care for elders. For this new change, the role as a social support system must be developed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.111-119
• /
• 2007

Purpose: In this study consumers' preference for housing for elderly people was analyzed as well as the recognition by elders of silver town facilities, and their preference for service provided by silver town. The study was done to provide basic data for the development of silver town facilities that are low in cost and high in efficiency. Methods: A sample research was used in this study to analyze the understanding of old age, silver town, and service preference. Results: First, interest and intention to live in silver town was very positive, however low cost was also preferred and that is quite different to current silver towns of Korea. Second, women have more understanding of, requests for, and intention to move into silver town facilities than men. Women's demands for silver town facilities must be reflected in the development strategy of silver towns. Third, the most important part of activating silver town facilities is price strategy. Government political support is required in order to keep silver town move-in costs affordable. Fourth, silver towns must function as total service complex towns. Conclusion: This study is meaningful as efficient operation of silver town is suggested rather than facility degradation to achieve price reduction. This result is important to the development of silver towns based on consumer preference, as it suggests a development direction that is focused on securing differentiated services and programs.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.228-249
• /
• 2018

In 2015, the population of elderly people in Thailand was 16% of the total population and is predicted to be over 20% by 2021 and nearly 28% by 2031. The increase of the elderly population in Thailand has also increased the proportion of dependent elderly people, and caring for them poses many challenges for both families and the government. This descriptive method research aimed to survey the health status of dependent older people in the rural community of Lampang province in northern Thailand. The participants consisted of 62 older people and 62 primary family caregivers from Hong Ha Health Promoting Hospital, Lampang, Thailand (totaling 124 people). The researchers assessed the health status of older people and their activities of daily living (ADL). In addition, researchers assessed the health status and stress of caregivers. All the participants were interviewed about their experiences with caregiving. The results showed that most of the older respondents were female with an average age of 78.15 years. Based on the ADL assessment, 50 of the 62 older persons were homebound while the rest were bedridden. The majority of older people had chronic or long-term conditions that required hospitalization from time to time. Their frequent health problems included oral disorders such as tooth decay or caries/gum disease/no teeth, reduced sight, psychological disorders, knee pain and risk of falling, low BMI, risk of malnutrition, and urinary leakage and incontinence (58.06%, 66.13%, 62.90%, 70.97%, 38.71%, 66.13%, and 37.10%, respectively). Usual care provided by the family members included personal hygiene care, food preparation and feeding, medication management, housekeeping and organizing necessary equipment, supply of needed equipment, prevention of falls, helping with travel for medical checkups and treatment, and providing companionship. Families experienced shortages of medical supplies, daily use equipment, lack of employment, inadequate income, and difficulty accessing health care services due to lack of transportation. Some caregivers experienced caregiving stress related to a lack of social interactions as well as routine caregiving activities. Families need different types of support in order to promote the well-being of older people and caregivers. This highlights the need for a community participation model for the care of older people in order to reflect sustainable long-term outcomes.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.179-194
• /
• 1991

Despite its universal coverage of health insurance, the rural health insurance program(RHIP) stands at the crossroads in Korea. The RHIP has weaknesses in stability of financing, problems of inequities in the provision of health services and has suffered from high cost of running the program. The author has analyzed these problems from the perspective of health insurance policy and presented several options for improvement. First of all, this study urged the importance of a firm Governmental commitment of RHIP with the 50% subsidization of contributions as the Government had promised, instead of the current 40%. This can be justified from the 20% subsidization by the Government for the contributions of private school teachers and their dependents, who belong to richer segments of the population. Second, various cost containment measures ought to be sought curbing the rising demand for medical through strengthening health education and increasing individual responsibility, and tightening the claim review process. Third, this study requires the Government to run a demonstration project on the introduction of case payment system for primary health care. Fourth introducing an income-related cost sharing scheme is another possibility. Reforming the cost sharing formula for large medical expenditures is recommendable for a beginning. This measure can take the form of tax credit for medical expenditures of the poor. Fifth, the degree of financial adjustment among health insurance plans should be levelled up for enhancing stability of RHIP and social solidarity. Sixth, health policy should be redirected toward development of rural health resources and higher priority should be put on relieving difficulties in access to care. Seventh. the insurance plan owned-hospital needs to be developed or provision of health services in the medically underserved areas, and the need of such facilities is particularly acute for geriatric care, rehabilitation and renal dialysis, etc. Eighth, more generous insurance benefits are required of the elderly who are suffering the most : elimination of the maximum 180 days of benefit period and provision of glasses and artificial dentures, etc. Ninth. the economies of scale principle is working for the operating expenses of regional self-employed insurance plan. Thus, measures should be instituted to pursue an optimum size of health insurance plans. Lastly, excessive dependence on exclusion items is an evil so that some radical remedies are urgently required to cut them.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.592-606
• /
• 2015

Depression and mental illness across all age groups, and steady increasing in suicide rate are our major social problems which cause dramatically decreasing government competitiveness. While Korean government has implemented various policies to improve mental health and prevent suicide, it faces revealing issues in progress on implementation and referral management systems. The current research examined domestic and foreign cases to understand the actual status and directivity of ICT convergence plan in terms of mental health. The United States and the United Kingdom have provided convergent ICT service, telepsychiatric care to senior citizens in rural areas, children and adolescents, socially disadvantaged class, etc. In Korea, emergency-notice devices are installed to prevent suicide for single elderly people, and diverse mobile health devices are developing to cure depression and Alzheimer's disease. ICT convergent mental health care service is needed to save socioeconomic costs and realize universal welfare for an aging society. Social consensus on sharply conflict issues, medical law and medical devices about telepsychiatry service, effectiveness studies on users' unique psychiatric characteristics by life cycle, and region-specialized strategies for the least densely populated rural regions with lower access to medical care should be considered.