• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the factors affecting mental health in the use of social welfare services by male elderly, and to provide basic data that are helpful for integrated mental health promotion programs suitable for each region by comparing and analyzing the Yeongnam-Honam. Results: As a result of the analysis, when comparing the two regions, annual income, age, and physical health were found to be the influencing factors among the personal characteristics of male elderly in the Yeongnam, and caring services were found to be the influencing factors of social welfare services. Among the personal characteristics of male elderly in Honam, annual income, age, and physical health were found to be the influencing factors, and caring services were found to be the influencing factors of social welfare services. Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, three implications are presented as follows. First, it suggests that mandatory checkups are required not only for the physical health of male elderly, but also for the mental health. Second, the necessity of social welfare service policies that link health and welfare is presented. Third, the necessity of specialized mental health and welfare services by region is presented.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.49-61
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• 2014

Due to the rapid population's aging, the life span's expansion and social & cultural characteristics, the standards of age classes in senescence are changed. Thus, this study aimed to identify the influential factors on health care utilization in the elderly by age class, and targeted 2,937 adults in their ages over 55 years old from the Korea Health Panel's 2009 Yearly Integrated Data. This study investigated the target health care utilization in the elderly in relation with the gender, the education level, the health-care insurance type, the income, the current job state, the chronic disease. In order to analyze the influential factors on health care utilization in the elderly, the multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to the data. As the results from this study, Concerning the influential factors on the health care utilization, the income, the subjective health state, the chronic disease and the regularly meals for the young-old influenced. Concerning the influential factors on the health care utilization, the subjective health state for the old. Concerning the influential factors on the health care utilization, the subjective health state, the income for the older-old influenced. Concerning the influential factors on the health care utilization, the education level, the spouse, the economic activity and the drinking oldest-old influenced. Therefore, it will need to provide systemic health-care & medical services, to develop health-care & medical programs and the health-care & medical policies and to execute them according to the age classes in senescence.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.233-246
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• 2014

This study investigates the level of satisfaction with quality attributes of meal services for low-income children in Wonju, Korea. Based on interviews with 287 subjects (users of meal boxes: 17.4%, card users: 82.6%; boys: 48.4%, girls: 51.6%; elementary school students: 44.4%, middle school students: 33.0%, high school students: 22.6%; two parents household: 29.8%, single- or no- parent household: 70.2%) through consent from their guardians, some key characteristics of the subjects and the relationships between their characteristics and the level of their satisfaction with meal services were examined. According to the results, the level of satisfaction ranged from 54.7% to 66.0% (those respondents indicating "very good" and "good") indicated that the meals were generally acceptable. The highest level of satisfaction was for sanitation (66.0%), followed by taste (64.0%), ease of choosing preferred menu items (61.9%), a proper temperature (61.9%), a sufficient amount (60.8%), diversity (56.3%), the comfortableness of the dining area (54.7%), and sufficient nutrition (41.0%). For these eight quality aspects of meal services, users of meal boxes were more likely to be satisfied with the comfortableness of the dining area, whereas card users, with the taste and temperature of the food. The type of meal service, the attitudes toward talking to friends about supporting meals, and subjectively perceived health status had significant effects on the level of satisfaction with meal services.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Folic acid supplementation before pregnancy is known to significantly reduce the risk of having a baby with neural tube defects (NTDs). Therefore, it is important for women to be aware of the effects of folic acid supplementation before pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness and preconceptional use of folic acid and to assess the current knowledge about folic acid among low-income pregnant women in Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2012. Five hundred pregnant women were selected from the waiting list for the Nutriplus program implemented in public health centers using a multistage clustered probability sampling design. Data from 439 women were analyzed after excluding ones with incomplete answers. RESULTS: Among women who responded to the questionnaire, 65.6% had heard of folic acid before pregnancy, and 26.4% reported on the preconceptional use of folic acid. Women with a university degree or higher education were more likely to be aware of folic acid and to take folic acid in the preconception period. In a multivariate logistic regression, when age, education level, household income, employment status, gravidity, parity, and folic acid awareness were included in the model, folic acid awareness was a strong predictor of preconceptional folic acid use. As of interview, 85.4% and 77.7% of women were aware of the NTD-preventive role of folic acid and the appropriate time to take folic acid, respectively. The main sources of information on folic acid were healthcare professionals (41.2%), friends and family members (31.2%), and the media (26.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that public health strategies are needed to increase the preconceptional use of folic acid among Korean women.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.3-10
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• 2013

The principle of aging-in-place should be fundamental in designing post-retirement homes to support baby boomers' healthy aging in their current living conditions. This study investigated Korean-American baby boomers' opinions about their life images in their post-retirement homes and the needs for supportive services therein. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and a total of 247 responses were used for statistical analyses. As the most important life image for their post-retirement homes, baby boomers emphasized the living environments offering various recreational activities. They indicated the post-retirement homes close to their children or family members as the next important life image. These opinions differed depending on their socioeconomic characteristics. In particular, baby boomers with higher-income preferred housing environments offering diverse recreational activities while those with lower-income preferred the housing close to more employment opportunities. In terms of supportive services available in the post-retirement homes, they wanted 'healthcare assistance services' and 'diverse recreational programs.' Gender, educational attainment, and annual income affected their preferences in these services, though. Based on the findings, this study concluded that post-retirement housing environments should create spaces to accommodate various recreational activities and include places for them to work in near-home environments. In the community, various need-based customized recreational activities and educational programs should be planned considering different socioeconomic characteristics of baby boomers. All these considerations will provide supportive residential environments for their successful aging in place.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.110-143
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• 1996

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent of inequality in health outcomes and the distribution of health services according to health need under National Health Insurance System in Korea. For the empirical analysis, data were collected through an interview survey during one month of October, 1994. Interview were conducted with a total of 10, 875 of the employees and the self-employed selected through cluster, systematic sampling. The major findings of this research are as follows: 1. The analysis of the differentials in morbidity rates by socio-economic group showed that health inequality in the pro-higher groups existed in all self-reported morbidity indicators. 2. The findings of the conventional use measures showed that the lower socio-economic groups had more ambulatory and inpatient services than the higher groups. In contrast to the level of the medical care utilization, however, the higher socio-economic groups were more likely to use the high-quality source of care in terms of their treatment place compared to the lower groups. 3. By using the need-based use measures, the results were different from each use-disability ration indicator. Using the use-disability ration measured by physician visits per 100 restricted-activity days in the population, it was found that there was no evidence favoring the higher socio-economic groups. In contrast, the use-disability ration based on physician visits per a chronic patient in one year displayed that there was remarkable relative difference by income group as well as the evidence of the pro-higher income groups. 4. The results of logistic regression analysis and two-stage estimation method indicated that although the utilization is significantly affected by type and duration of insurance coverage, the use or nonuse of service and the volume of physician care consumed is determined by health need and demographic characteristics rater than economic status. In sum, these findings suggest that physician service is equitably distributed according to health need under national health insurance system in Korea. As there were some evidences of inequality including the differential in physician visits of chronic patients by income group, however, the government should strengthen the activities to guarantee the equity of health services utilization.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.475-482
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• 2005

As Korea has approached the aging society, older Koreans have become an important force in restaurant sales today. To succeed with this silver market, it is important for restaurant managers to know who they are and which factor influence the older Koreans' eating-out decision making process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the elderly consumers financial independency on restaurant selection process. Data were collected from 178 older consumers above 55 years old and analyzed using the descriptive statistic analysis, MANOVA, and one-way ANOVA. The results showed that the elderly consumers financial independency significantly influenced the decision making process in determining where they eat out Significant differences were found between high income group and low income group in the Problem Recognition Step(Wilks' Lambda=0.776, F=3.796), Information Search Step(Wilks' Lambda=0.779, F=2.959), Alternative Evaluation Step (I :Wilks' Lambda=0.835, F=1.748/ II :Wilks' Lambda=0.764, F=3.212), and Purchase Decision Step(Wilks' Lambda=0.849, F=2.412), except the Post-Purchase Behavior(Wilks' Lambda=0.933, F=1.179). The more financially independent older consumers were, the more directly they were involved in the eating out decision making process. Older consumers with higher income and more personal property were likely to 'propose to eat out by themselves'(F=10.986), to obtain restaurant information from the 'printed materials'(F=9.707), to consider 'convenient location' as most important factor when they eat out(F=5.594), and to go to 'family restaurant'(F=7.067), 'Japanese restaurant'(F=7.391) and 'fine dining restaurants'(F-=6.382). In conclusion, we found that the elderly consumers financial independency did influence the eating-out decision making process. Considering that older Korean will become a financially independent consumer and will be eating away from home more often, food service operations should actively position themselves for this market and develop the market-driven menus and services to meet their needs and expectations.

• 한국노년학
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1119-1135
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• 2012

The single and the married couples elderly are rapidly increasing in the next twenty years. Due to the size of these group, their level of living, life satisfaction, income and medical security and welfare services utilization have been a social issue in Korea. For these reasons, the purpose of this study was to analyze the determinants of welfare services utilization by the single and the married couples elderly. Their analyses were composed of a cross-tabulations and t-test, analysis of variance, duncan test, multiple regression analysis using 5'th Wave Korea Welfare Panel(2010). Data were collected from a survey of 2,716. The results showed that the elderly single women had the lowest level of income and health, the elderly single men needed the help about the emotional support for improvement of family and social relations. The married couples elderly are young and the participation rate of job opportunities for the elderly is high, relatively. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that the level of income and medical security and the satisfaction of family relationships were important factors as related to the welfare services utilization.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.129-146
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• 1997

The purpose of this paper was to discover the importance and degree of satisfaction toward medical service perceived by clients and analize some characteristics and any siginificant difference by deomographic and social variables. In addition the subjects were divided into groups(i. e. satisfied and dissatisfied groups) and tested significant difference between two groups, The results can be summerized as follows: 1,. While the importance of over attributes of medical services percevied by customs was higher the degree of satisfaction was relatively low. 2. According to our analysis the degree of satisfaction toward hospital facilities and staff appeared to have relatively have relatively heavy weights compared to total satisfaction scores. 3. As far customers' quality evaluation about medical service is concerned the importance and degree of satisfaction could not be discriminated by demographic variables except education and income level. 4. The discrepancy of satisfaction s ore between satisfied and dissatisfied group was the highest in hospital facilities compared to other three sectors.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.163-180
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• 1997

The purpose of this study were to identify the differences between the demand for education program and the demand for counseling program of family welfare and to analyze the relation between demographic characteristics and the demand for family welfare service program For these purposes, total sample of 909 women those residing in Seoul, Inchon, Taejun, Taegu, Pusan, Kwangju, Chungju, Junju and Choonchun, were selected. Statistics were frequencies, means, percentile, cross-tabulation, t-test and Anova. The results were as follows. First, in family welfare service program on children and adolescents, the improvement in family living, consumption, retirement planning, health management, protection of environment and resource, volunteering and the advance of living culture, the demand for education program were higher than the demand for cunseling program. In particular, demands for both education program and counseling program on children and adolescents were the highest. Second, age, residence and income had very significant effects on the demands for both education program and counseling program. By understanding these differences in the demand for education program and counseling program of family welfare, practitioners and educators may be able to develop family welfare service program to solve family problems.