• Journal of Environmental Policy
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.69-93
• /
• 2014

The aim of this research was to develop a climate change vulnerability index at the district level (Si, Gun, Gu) with respect to the health care sector in Korea. The climate change vulnerability index was esimated based on the four major causes of climate-related illnesses : vector, flood, heat waves, and air pollution/allergies. The vulnerability assessment framework consists of six layers, all of which are based on the IPCC vulnerability concepts (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) and the pathway of direct and indirect impacts of climate change modulators on health. We collected proxy variables based on the conceptual framework of climate change vulnerability. Data were standardized using the min-max normalization method. We applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) weight and aggregated the variables using the non-compensatory multi-criteria approach. To verify the index, sensitivity analysis was conducted by using another aggregation method (geometric transformation method, which was applied to the index of multiple deprivation in the UK) and weight, calculated by the Budget Allocation method. The results showed that it would be possible to identify the vulnerable areas by applying the developed climate change vulnerability assessment index. The climate change vulnerability index could then be used as a valuable tool in setting climate change adaptation policies in the health care sector.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.63-71
• /
• 2023

Urinary incontinence (UI), affecting 3%-11% of males and 25%-45% of females globally, is expected to rise with an aging population. It significantly impacts mental health, causing depression, stress, and reduced quality of life. UI can exacerbate psychiatric conditions, affecting treatment compliance and effectiveness. It is categorized into transient and chronic types. Transient UI, often reversible, is caused by factors summarized in the acronym DIAPPERS: Delirium, Infection, Atrophic urethritis/vaginitis, Psychological disorders, Pharmaceuticals, Excess urine output, Restricted mobility, Stool impaction. Chronic UI includes stress, urge, mixed, overflow, functional, and persistent incontinence. Drug-induced UI, a transient form, is frequently seen in psychiatric treatment. Antipsychotics, antidepressants, and other psychiatric medications can cause UI through various mechanisms like affecting bladder muscle tone, altering nerve reflexes, and inducing other conditions like diabetes or epilepsy. Specific drugs like lithium and valproic acid have also been linked to UI, though mechanisms are not always clear. Managing UI in psychiatric patients requires careful monitoring of urinary symptoms and judicious medication management. If a drug is identified as the cause, options include discontinuing, reducing, or adjusting the dosage. In cases where medication continuation is necessary, additional treatments like desmopressin, oxybutynin, trihexyphenidyl, or amitriptyline may be considered.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.645-654
• /
• 2010

Objectives : This study provides dental care organization that is responsible for services of dental hygienists to measure levels of empowerment and organizational commitment to. The impact of empowerment on organizational commitment is a variable that has to validate the improvement of organizational commitment of dental hygienists to have been studied for the suggestions. The study period 2009 July 1 to August 30 at Jeonju Jeollabuk dental material and dental hygienists are working in medical institutions to target a total of 336 copies (88.4%) and for analysis of the data was studied. Methods : For data analysis SPSS (Statistial Package for the Social Science) WIN 12.0 program using frequency analysis, T-test and One-way ANOVA test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, linear regression analysis was conducted through the following. Results : 1. Demographic characteristics (education, salary, age, workplace), the empowerment and organizational commitment as the decisive factor affecting the level was a significant difference. 2. Education, salary, age and demographic characteristics of the working period of the empowerment uimiseong, yeokryangseong, self-determination, but no significant differences in impacts factors, work factors, not only was a significant difference uimiseong. 3. Demographic characteristics (education, salary, age, duration of employment, workplace), the affective commitment, normative commitment, ever, ever commitment and showed significant differences remain. 4. The higher the level of empowerment of the subjects that were higher organizational commitment, was a significant difference. 5. Empowerment and Organizational Commitment of subjects related factors were analyzed in all the variables showed a significant correlation between. Conclusions : Dental health agencies that provide services of dental hygienists to improve empowerment and organizational commitment to develop a structured management program, a dental hygienist job dental hygienist program and professional standards for the continuous and systematic research. That will be needed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.179-193
• /
• 2005

As the world's attention turns to sustainability and the considerations of cumulative effects, the concept of Strategic Environmental Assessment(SEA) has become more significant and urgent and increasing number of countries and international organizations now undertake some forms of SEA. The term SEA, however, is variously defined and understood; generally it means a formal process of systematic analysis of the environmental effects on development policies, plans, programmes and other proposed strategic actions. This process extends the aims and principles of EIA upstream in the decision-making process, beyond the project level in which major alternatives are still open. There is a shift toward more integrative approaches and greater use of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as sustainability tools in cooperation with Environmental Management System (EMS). Currently, Korea has EIA system and Prior Environmental Review System (PERS) which is different type of SEA as Environment Assessment (EA) system. APEMI IA MODEL integrated following three pillar(refer to attached figure.1) ; First pillar symbolized decision making cycle with planning process. Second pillar symbolized integrated assessment which tying SEA and EIA with specific impacts assessment(eg: social impact assessment, economic impact assessment, health impact assessment etc) in cooperation with EMS. Third pillar symbolized EA best practical procedure of International Association for Impact Assessment(IAIA). Considering the above, we applied new conceptual model(APEMI IA MODEL) into Impact Assessment for better integrated decision-making in KOREA as an alternative IA system(IS IA MODEL A and B refer to attached figure 4, 5).

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.195-208
• /
• 2009

The power plant is well known to influence air pollution as well as emission of green house gas. Because of increasing demand on electricity, the government set up the electric support action plan every 2 years. In this research, the impacts of power plants on the environment and region was studied. The study was focused on the establishment of power plant in Incheon area based on the 3rd electric support action plan. According to the 3rd electric support action plan, almost 80% of power plant in metropolitan area is planned to be built in Incheon area. The main influences of establishment of power plant are emissions of $SO_x$, $NO_x$ and PM and exceed the allocated local industry emissions, which means the emission allocation of other industry is difficult. In additions, the power plant exhaust $CO_2$ much more than other types of fuel such as waterpower generation, atomic power station. Although several supports are given in local government, these cannot cover the whole cost due to establishment of power plant. Subsequently, this study suggest the additional policy based on local consideration is needed and the current electricity distribution system should be reconsidered fundamentally in the lang term.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.513-527
• /
• 2013

Recently, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) have been of great concern in Korea, largely due to public awareness on the importance of their impacts on environmental health. A group of HAPs includes a large number of various chemicals such as VOCs, PAHs, PCBs, dioxines, furans, organochlorinated pesticides, and some heavy metals. These groups of pollutants are generally known to have genetic toxicity and to be persistent in the environment. In addition, most of chemicals belong to the category of HAPs are widely distributed not only in air, but also in water and soil environments, and has therefore undergone considerable scrutiny for the last three decades. In this article, environmental implications and management of HAPs in Korea will be reviewed, with a particular emphasis on the monitoring of HAPs in the ambient air. A number of field studies will be introduced, which were recently conducted in large urban and industrial areas. Based on the filed studies, eight pollutants have been suggested to be intensively managed as higher priority pollutants, which are benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, acrolein, trichloroethylene, benzo(a)pyrene, hexa-valent Cr, and $PM_{2.5}$. Finally, future directions for a mega scale project for comprehensive monitoring of ambient atmosphere in large urban areas will be suggested. Such an innovative project is believed to provide more realistic information on the nature of the population exposure, which can not be simply identified by emission inventories or source investigations. Therefore, any strategy for the management of HAPs should be developed by not only emission-based approaches, but also observation-based approaches.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.34 no.7
• /
• pp.1172-1183
• /
• 2004

Purpose: Ego-integrity in Erikson's stage theory is used frequently among health team members related to the care of the elderly and has specific meanings within the context of quality of life in later life. However, the concept of ego-integrity in the elderly has not been well articulated in the literature. This study was conducted clarify and conceptualize the phenomena of ego-integrity in the elderly. Method: A Hybrid Model of concept development was applied to develop a concept of ego-integrity, which included a field study carried out in Seoul, South Korea using in-depth interviews with old adults who were admitted as a right person for research subject according to attributes of ego-integrity analysed in the theoretical phase. Results: The concept of ego-integrity emerged as a complex phenomenon having meanings in several different dimensions which encompassed several attributes. Conclusions: Ego-integrity is a concept having needs that should be treated in a specific way and it is possible to enrich the meaning and methods to manage ego-integrity in nursing interventions for promoting quality of life so that its application may have effects that have positive impacts on the elderly's well being.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.205-211
• /
• 2012

According to the Hebei Spirit incident, 12,547kl of crude oil was spilled into the sea and a total of approximately 40,000 households was damaged. Also, eleven cities and counties including "Taean" were designated as a Special Disaster District by government. Large oil pollution incidents cause severe impact on the change of the surrounding environment as well as destruction of the natural environment of damaged areas. This study analyzes the impacts on the surrounding environment of damaged areas caused by Hebei Spirit oil pollution incident, focusing on the largest damaged county called Taean. Survey was performed with items which are changes in population and local economy, effects on public health, social conflicts and etc. The result of analysis can be used as an important factor to forecast the impact on a damaged area in case of future oil pollution incidents and to establish effective policy of government.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.178-184
• /
• 2016

Objective: Tension-type headache is caused by hormones, foods, irritants, stress, obesity, fatigue, and neck and head trigger points-prolonged abnormal posture. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of relaxation approach on head posture, static postural stability, and headache in persons with tension-type headache. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Thirty-five persons with tension-type headache participated in this study. This study was a pretest-posttest with a control group design for a duration of 4 weeks (60 min/3 times/1 wk). The participants were randomly allocated to the relaxation approach group (n=18) and the control group with conventional rehabilitation including thermotherapy and transcutaneous electrical stimulation for the same period (n=17). Outcome measures involved forward head posture (FHP), foot pressure, neck disability index (NDI), and six-item headache impact test (HIT-6). Results: Relaxation approach and control groups improved significantly in the amount of forward head posture, neck disability index, and six-item headache impact test scores after training (p<0.05). The control group was found to be significantly different in the amount of FHP, backward foot pressure, NDI, and HIT-6 after training compared to before training (p<0.05). The relaxation approach group significantly improved in forward head posture, neck disability index, and six-item headache impact test compared with control group after training (p<0.05). Neck disability index and six-item headache impact test significantly improved after training compared with before training in the control group (p<0.05). However, the foot pressure was not significantly different between relaxation approach and control groups. Conclusions: This study suggests that treatment with relaxation approach combined with self-exercise would be effective in reducing the amount of forward head posture, neck disability and headache impacts.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.595-606
• /
• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the influencing factors on self care, respiratory difficulty, sleep impediment, anxiety and depression among patients with neuromuscular disease who are dependent on Home Mechanical Ventilator (HMV). Methods: 157 patients were recruited through hospital based home nursing care departments and HMV rental centers. Data were collected by questionnaires. The analytic methods were n(%)/$M{\pm}SD$, $x^2$/t-test or ANOVA and multiple linear regression. Results: Patients with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were more likely to utilize HMV, had shorter periods of morbidity and the most extended daily use of HMV. As for medical equipment, they had ambu-bag (87.2%) and oxygenator (15.4%). Reports of respiratory difficulty and sleep impediment were low. There were no significant difference. In contrast, reported anxiety and depression were high and showed significant difference between non invasive HMV and invasive HMV. Anxiety contributes to respiratory difficulty (t=3.62, p=.002), sleep impediment (t=2.06, p=.042), and depression (t=7.24, p<.001). However, home nursing care exerts a positive influence in reducing anxiety (t=-2.73, p=.008). Conclusion: Anxiety contributes to respiratory difficulty, sleep impediment, and depression. However, those who use home nursing care reported less anxiety. Home nursing care positively impacts patients dependent on HMV as a practical service and available resource.