The change of society has brought about various health problems which have become to demand comprehensive health services not only for individuals but also for families and communities as the unit. To meet the societal needs W Hospital in a rural Korea established a Department of Community Health Nursing Services and provided nursing services to patients under a early discharge program. This study is to evaluate the community health nursing services carried out the department in general, and has following specific objectives: 1. To learn attitude of the consumers and the "referers" toward early discharge program. 2. To find out attitude toward home care and cure services. 3. To find out the consumers and the "Referers" attitude toward the 15 selected home care and cure activities by public health nurse. 4. To investigate possibility of charging fee for the 15 selected home care and cure activities by public health nurse. Three different study population were chosen: namely the consumer, the "referer" 1 and II. Excluding families moved out and not able to be contacted, the total families (77) referred to the department during the study period of September 1974 - December 1975 are defined as the consumer. Thirty seven nurses among 81 nurses who have been working in W Hospital since the inception of the Community Health Nursing Service Program were ramdomly selected. Thirty two nurses were defined as the "referer" I, because 5 questionnaires were not able to be collected. Twenty four doctors out of 37 who have been working since the Community Health Nursing Service Program started, and who were able to contact were called as the "referer" II. Data collection method employed for the consumers was direct interviewing with prepared interview schedules, and for the "referers" questionnaire method was utilized. x2 test and 100-percentage were employed in analyzing the data. The study findings are follows: 1. Attitude toward early discharge: Above 85% of the consumers and the "referers" approved the early discharge program. 2. Attitude toward the home care and cure services: Above 75% of the consumers and the "referers" showed positive attitude toward the home care and cure serviees by public health nurses, 3. Attitude toward 15 selected home care and curative activities by public health nurses: On the average more than 50% of the consumers and the "referers" expressed an affirmative attitude to perform 15 selected home care and cure services by public health nurses, 4. Attitude toward charging fee for 15 selected home care and curative activities by public health nurses: Above 85% of the consumers thought that they would pay for the services. Only 12.8% of the consumers and 5% of the "referers" what to have the services for nothing. Based upon the findings of this study; That is, the home care and cure services to be given by public health nurse were positively responded by the consumers and the professionals, one can conclude that the services provided by the Department of Community Health Nursing Service of W Hospital have been well accepted, and that early discharge program of hospital is believed to be a means to lessen the expenses of patients from hospitalization and to promote recovery from illness. It is recommended that hospital centered cure services should be reconsidered and scrutinized to meet community health needs. NOTE ; "Referers" are nurses and doctors who refer the early discharged patient to the Department of Community Health Nursing Service.
Colorectal cancer is second only to lung cancer as a cause of death due to cancer in the united States. Studies have shown that fecal occult blood(FOB) tests are effective in detecting colorectal cancer in its early stages. To motivate worksite FOB testing, a randomized controlled trial was conducted. Employees 40 years or older from three federal agencies in Washington State were randomized to a control group(n=139) which received a letter stating the availability of the FOB test at the worksite clinic or to an intervention group(n=139) which received the letter about facts on colorectal cancer and a Colorectal Cancer Risk Appraisal. The Colorectal Cancer Risk Appraisal included a feedback on an individual's risk of developing colorectal cancer compared to his/her peers in terms of 'normal', 'moderate', or 'high' risk status. After 3 months, a follow-up questionnaire was sent to all participants to measure the effectiveness of the intervention. In the analysis of the three major outcomes, two possible confounding factors(dietary fat and family history of colorectal cancer) were controlled by logistic regression. Based on a review of the worksite clinic records, the intervention group had 4.3% higher compliance rate with the FOB test during the follow-up period compared to the control group(p=.10). The largest effect of the intervention was on the employees' intention to get a FOB test within the next year(62.6% in the intervention group vs. 36.2% in the control group, OR=3.18, p<.001). In the final Multivariate logistic model, the employees who were more likely to intend to get a FOB test within the next year were in the intervention group ; were at 'moderate' or 'high' risk of colorectal cancer ; knew more about the availability of the FOB test at the worksite clinic ; and had a FOB test during the last tree years.
A computerized Community Health Posts information system was developed in 1991 by Yonsei University, College of nursing and disseminated to more than four hundred Community Health Posts. The content of was published in the journal, The Korean nurses in 1995, volume 34, number 4. Successful adoption to the computer program is related to many factors, such as personal factors and environmental factors. For the computer program to succeed it must be significantly related to the users and therefore it is necessary to analyze these related factors. This study describes the status of the utilization of computer programs in Community Health posts and analyzed the factors related to utilization of the computer program. Of the 801 community health practitioners, 656 responded and data were analyzed using SPSS computer programs. Respondents were from six provinces and about 85% had been working as CHPs for more than five years and 84.1% had graduated from a community college. Of these 656, 42.1% had a computer and about 60% had funding aid from the community or government. The percentage using the community health post's computer program was 22.3%. Community health practitioners were most often using the following content of the computer program ; treatment activities (65.5%), medication management (53.5%), counselling and education (46.4%), bookkeeping (39.5%), chronic disease management (28%), and insurance billing (15.9%). The factors which were significantly related to the computer utility were degree of support from province, years of working, and age. The Community health practitioners who had more support from the province, who had fewer working years, and were younger used the computer program more frequently.
There is no national system to manage, evaluate, and analyse the information about accidents, even though it is necessary for accident prevention policies and health promotion of the general public. The existing studies are, also limited as they focus only on particular group (for example: inpatients, emergency room patients) or on particular geographic areas. Thus the results of the studies cannot be applied to the general public. In order to overcome these limitations, this research focuses on data collection and analysis from accident information for the general population. By providing the analysis on types and causes of accidents, this research aims to produce the basic data neccesary for accident prevention policy development. The specific aims of this research are to: 1. Analyse the actual occurrences and characteristics of accidents. 2. Suggest for the accident prevention policies and safety education. Accident report form three major newspaper printed in Korea between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1993 were collected, and the cause, place, time, and personal injury related to the accidents were classified and then analyzed by descriptive statistics. The results of this research conclude: 1. The number of accidents reported by the three newspapers were 2155. 2. The highest proportion of accidents were as follows; occurred during the June-August(31. 2%), Sunday (24.8%), and 5 p.m. (7.6%) of the day. 3. The highest proportion of the accident occurred in Seoul(33.1%), Kyunggi province (14.5%), Kangwon province(7.8%), and Kyungnam province6.7%) were next highest. 4. The main causes include car accidents (32.4%), drowning(10.9%), falls(8.8%), explosion(7.1%), and poisoning (5.8%). 5. Slightly more than half of injuries(50.5%) and about two fifths of deaths(40.3%) were caused by car accidents. Therefore, the most serious type of accidents were car accidents. 6. The number of males in accidents were almost three times higher than that of females (males: 72.3%, females :27.7%). 7. The age group from 10 to 19 years old represents the highest proportion(21%) of accidents. 8. The number of the accidents in Korea, based on the information collected from the newspapers, is estimated to be 14,367 per year. The number of injuries is estimated to be 88,480 persons, and the number of deaths 29,007 respectively. It is said that ninety percent of accidents can be prevented. Several accidents prevention policies are suggested here. 1. Safety education should be done more actively throughtout life, with special emphasis on safety education for children. 2. Safety measures for children(halmets for cycling, children car seats, seats belts, and so on) should be emphasized. 3. An injury surveillance system should be initiated. The initiation of injury reporting system in each factory and school could contribute considerably to the reduction of accidents.
PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a cognitive behavior program on cognition, depression, and activities of daily living in elderly with Cognitive Impairment. METHOD: The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. There were 21 subjects in the experimental group and 19 in the control group among 40 senior residents in a Hall for the elderly in the city of S. The subjects scores ranged from 15 to 23 on the MMSE-K(Korean Version of Mini-Mental State Examination) over age 65. The length of time for data collection and intervention was from Jun 26 to September 1, 2006. The cognitive behavior program consisted of 'Facing problem behavior', 'Searching for a coping skill', and 'Training in the coping skill'. It was applied to the experimental group twice a week, fifty minutes per session for six weeks. RESULT: Cognition(t=-4.232, p< .001) and IADL(t=-2.939, p< .01) in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Depression in the experimental group was significantly less than the control group(t=3.870, p< .01). However, ADL in the experimental group was not significantly higher than the control group. CONCLUSION: These findings confirmed that a cognitive behavior program contributed to improving cognition and IADL, and to reducing depression in the elderly with Cognitive Impairment.
The purpose of this study was to compare stress levels of elementary students according to three regional levels: a large city, a medium-sized city, and a rural area.
This was a descriptive comparative survey using a convenience sample of 1,161 5th-and 6th-grade students. The stress level was measured by a stress scale that consisted of 65 items regarding personal characteristics, family, school, and peer factors. The data were analyzed by χ2-test, t-test, ANOVA and multiple regression using the SPSS 10.0 statistical program.
Overall, the mean stress scores reported by the participants were near the middle of a 5-point scale and the level of familyrelated stress was highest, followed by peer, school, and individual-related stress. Sixth-graders and female students showed higher stress levels than 5th-graders and male students, respectively. The participants reporting unsatisfaction with their lives and those living in large cities tended to have significantly higher stress levels.
Grade, gender, life satisfaction, and regional levels were all significant factors associated with high stress levels among elementary students. Development of stress management programs for this specific population, especially targeting students who are female and living in large cities, is needed.
The purpose of this study was to compare smoking control strategies between Korea and the United States. Korea and other developing countries may learn from the experience of the United States in dealing with the growing epidemic of cigarettes. In particular, smoking control objectives, structures, laws and regulations, funds, programs and activities, research, and surveillance systems were compared. The comparison was conducted at the federal, states/provincial, and county levels of the two countries. The data were collected through various governmental websites, contact with people directly, and a literature review. Based on the comparison, seven recommendations for smoking control strategies were made primarily for Korea.
This study was conducted to understand the health status and health behaviors of preschoolers to provide baseline data for developing health promotion programs.
Parents of children attending day-care centers were recruited for the study. Participating day-care centers were selected using a stratified sampling method. Data was collected from June to August 2002 using a questionnaire.
Among 754 preschoolers, 17.3% were overweight, while 18.2% were underweight. The most frequent infectious diseases that children have had previously were hand-foot-mouth disease (20.2%) and chicken pox (18.7%). Current health conditions that children have frequently are respiratory disease (28%) and atopic dermatitis (23.8%). Only 61% brush their teeth everyday at bedtime, 54.3% wash their hands every time after returning home, 8.8% wear bicycle helmets, 9.3% use a child car seat, and 8.1% eat fruits and vegetables five times a day. Children residing in the metropolitan area were more likely to have positive health behaviors, and children of parents with an advanced college level education were more likely to have positive health behaviors than those with only a high school level education.
Based on the study results, health professionals could plan and develop health promotion programs to change unhealthy behaviors of preschoolers targeting high-risk groups.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among Korean women. Only 14% of urban women and 10% of rural women in Korea, however, participated in breast cancer screening behavior in 1998 (Korean Ministry of Health & Welfare, 1999).
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of community-based breast self-examination (BSE) education programs in Korea.
First, breast cancer risk appraisals were done with 1,977 rural women. Of the 1,977 women, nearly 30% (n= 494) had a higher or equal to borderline risk of developing breast cancer. This quasi-experimental study was conducted to target these women with a high or equal to borderline risk of breast cancer. The risk appraisal feedback and breast self-examination education were used as an intervention for breast cancer prevention and early detection.
After a 3-month follow-up, 30.5% of the women in the intervention group performed regular BSE compared to 10.2% of women in the control group. The mean knowledge score related to breast cancer and BSE was significantly higher for the women in the intervention group than that in the control group.
The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence sexual intercourse among middle school students in South Korea.
Using statistics from the 8th (2012) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted. The study sample comprised 37,297 middle school students aged primarily 12 to 15.
The significant predictors of sexual intercourse were grade, ever smoking, ever drinking, habitual or purposeful drug use, economic status, weekly allowance, cohabitation with family, and type of school.
The results suggest that intensified sex education is needed not only in the 1st grade of middle school, but also in the upper grades of elementary school. Sexual health interventions for high-risk groups may be needed, given the factors predicting sexual intercourse.
The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting the unmet healthcare needs of married immigrant women.
This study was a secondary data analysis using data from the 2009 National Survey of Multicultural Families. Data collected from 58,735 married immigrant women who had spouses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and logistic regression.
Overall, 9.9% of married immigrant women have unmet healthcare needs. The significant predictors related to unmet healthcare needs were young age, high level of education, employed, country of origin, long period of residence, low income, uninsured, urban area, low level of subjective health status, and illness experience over past two weeks. In particular, four variables (long period of residence, low income, subjective health status, and illness experience over past two weeks) significantly predicted unmet healthcare needs for women from all countries of origin.
The results of the study indicate that common predictors related to unmet healthcare needs of married immigrant women are a long period of residence, low income, subjective health status, and illness experience over past two weeks. Therefore intervention strategies to decrease unmet healthcare needs should focus on these significant predictors.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a self-care program for elders with osteoarthritis managed by primary health care workers, Community Health Practitioners (CHPs), in rural Korea.
The self-care program, consisting of 7 areas, was evaluated with a randomized experimental study for patients over age 60 with osteoarthritis in which 150 participants in the experimental group and 140 in the control group were compared. The self-care program was implemented for six weeks, 2 hours per week, at community health posts by CHPs. Data were collected using an interview questionnaire given by the CHPs and laboratory tests before and after the intervention for both groups. Propensity score matching analysis was done to test effectiveness after controlling for confounding variables.
The intervention group showed a significant decrease in the number of painful joints (
Study results indicate that training and utilizing primary health care workers in rural areas is valuable in increasing the generalization and continuity of intervention programs. As arthritis should be managed life-long, CHP directed self-care programs are useful interventions for rural elders with arthritis to learn self-care management.
The purpose of the study was to compare community residents' perceptions, participation, satisfaction, and behavioral changes between a health promotion demonstration health center and general health center.
The design of the study was ex-post facto that compared community residents in demonstration health centers and general health centers. The sample included 2,261 community residents who were conveniently selected from demonstration (792 participants) and general health centers (1,496 participants).
The results of the study were as follows: 1) Perception and participation rates of exercise, nutrition, and hypertension management programs were significantly higher in the participants of demonstration health centers than those of general health centers.; 2) Satisfaction rates of all programs except the smoking cessation program were significantly higher in the participants of demonstration health centers than those of general health centers. However, only the exercise rate among risk behaviors of participants was significantly higher in demonstration health centers than general health centers.
Systematic efforts for health promotion were effective not only in improving the community's awareness, participation, and satisfaction of the program, but also in changing health behaviors. This evidence should be used to foster and disseminate health promotion programs toother health centers to improve community residents' health status and quality of life.