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1994 - VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1
95.34.1 - Korean - Joong-Don KWON, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea) The determinant model of caregiver burden in caring for the demented elderly in Korea
In Korea, it is the family who takes care of its elderly and, in the case of the mentally handicapped, the burden can be tremendously heavy. The author undertook a series of interviews with people who have assumed responsibility for elderly dementia sufferers in an attempt to identify the determinants which result in this burden becoming particularly heavy and to define some strategies enabling it to be alleviated. He demonstrates how important it is, in any evaluation or intervention in this field, to take into consideration the degree to which the person suffering from dementia is handicapped and the personal worries of the person looking after him or her. He would like to see specialised services being developed, aimed at alleviating the burden of the families who take in an elderly handicapped person. (KOREA, AGED, DEPENDANTS, MENTALLY DISABLED)
95.34.2 - Korean - Young-Ja HAN and Jung-Ja NAM, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea) A study on the world anti-smoking policies and the related laws
The authors draw up a list of the effects of smoking on health (cancer and various chronic diseases) and on the economy and make a review of the various types of anti-smoking policies and laws in Korea and elsewhere. Korea is a record-holder for its numbers of male smokers. It would appear to be particularly recommended to aim any anti-smoking policies at teenagers. The authors invite the Korean government to follow the example of numerous countries which have already been successful in implementing well conceived, properly targeted policies, backed up with significant financial means. (KOREA, SMOKING, HEALTH POLICY)
95.34.3 - Korean - Seonwoo KIM, Seewon RYU and Youngchul CHUNG, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea) The information system of the primary clinic service in health center and health subcenter
The strengthening of the preventive medicine services in hospitals and public clinics should contribute to the health budget being alleviated. These services should offer the means of reaching all the individuals in every community and of carrying out all necessary checks on tuberculosis, venereal disease, leprosy, and other chronic diseases. With this aim in mind, the information system has a crucial role to play and the authors propose some standardisation procedures which are aimed at developing anti harmonising the system and at improving its efficiency. (KOREA, HEALTH SERVICES, PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, INFORMATION SERVICES)
95.34.4 - Korean - Na-Mi HWANG, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea) Analysis of influencing factors on caesarean section rate for the adequate delivery services at general hospital
The significant increase in the frequency of caesarean sections (from 9.6% in 1986 to 28% in 1993) has been a subject of serious preoccupation for the Korean health services. The present article is dedicated to the factors which influence this phenomenon within the framework of 217 general hospitals in the country. The author observes that the rate of caesarean sections varies considerably from one hospital to another and that there is a relationship between some of the hospital's characteristics and its rate of sections. He concludes that the health insurance system has contributed to the increase in the frequency of caesareans and suggests some steps to counteract this trend. (KOREA, HOSPITAL BIRTHS, CAESAREAN SECTION)
95.34.5 - Korean - Hye-Ryun KIM, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea)
A consideration on the national nutrition policy and its development strategies
The author describes the current status and recent trends of the links between food and health in Korea and suggests some strategies for intensifying and re-orienting the national nutrition policy. He emphasises, in particular, the urgent necessity (following the example of the OECD countries) to influence the population's eating habits in order to prevent chronic and degenerative disease. He details the steps which the Korean government should take with this aim in mind. (KOREA, FOOD POLICY)
95.34.6 - Korean - Moon-Hee SUH, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea)
Effect of marital relationship on self-assessed health level of the currently married women
This study attempts to evaluate the respective effects of socioeconomic variables, on the one hand, and the quality of marital relationships, on the other, on the physical and psychological welfare of married women. The indicators used here for gauging the quality of a marital relationship are the degree of satisfaction which the woman feels with regard to her husband, the amount of dialogue between spouses and the number of activities which they do in common. The welfare of the wife is measured by the evaluation which she makes herself of her state of health. It is observed that, amongst women aged between 20 and 29 years old and 50 to 59 years old (who have very few young children under their responsibility), the quality of the marital relationship has relatively more influence on their health than do socioeconomic determinants. As conjugal harmony is a factor in individual and family good health, the State should take certain measures in its favour: the equality of spouses, education of female children, etc. (KOREA, HEALTH, WOMEN'S STATUS, INTERSPOUSE RELATIONSHIPS)
95.34.7 - Korean - Jin-Soo KIM, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea) Countermeasures for foreign workers
The Korean economy is currently expanding and employs more than 100,000 foreign workers. But the fact that most of them are in an illegal situation gives rise to various social problems which the government, torn between its diverging interests, is putting off doing anything serious about. The examples of Europe, Japan and other countries which have recently undergone industrialisation are not all success stories. A coherent government policy with respect to foreign manpower should take into account other dimensions than the simple needs of the economy. The author calls for a tighter control over immigration and identical social and economic security for foreign workers and Koreans. (KOREA, FOREIGN WORKERS, IMMIGRATION POLICY)
95.34.8 - Korean - Sea-Baick LEE, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea) An analysis of Korean women's reproductivities
The author of the present article studies the current trends in the reproductive activities of Korean women in terms of final family size (from a longitudinal perspective), net reproductive rates, natural growth rate (Lotka's rate) and average length of one generation. He uses the data from the Korean national fertility surveys carried out from 1970 to 1990. In a twenty year period, the gross birth rate has declined from 2.22 to 0.71 while the net rate has dropped from 1.9 to 0.69. The generation replacement threshold was reached in the early 1980s. The natural growth rate has not changed very much (from 0.3 to 0.25) while the average age of mothers at the birth of their daughters increased from 23.9 years to 25.8 years. (KOREA, GROSS REPRODUCTION RATE, INTRINSIC RATE OF NATURAL INCREASE, INTERGENERATION INTERVAL)
95.34.9 - Korean - In-Hwa PARK, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, San 42-14, Bulgwang-Dong, Eunpyung-Ku, Seoul 122-040 (Korea), and Ok Ryun MOON, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea) Policy issues and directions for the integration of north and south Korean health care system
This is a proposal for an integrated system of health care for the future united Korea. The basic principles of the system would be: the right to equal health care for all Koreans, the spread of free medical care, the strengthening of the State's role in ensuring the supply of services by means of new financing and payment procedures. The authors envisage either a progressive reunification, or an instant amalgamation of the two Korean States. In the first hypothesis, a negotiated harmonisation of the two health systems, which are extremely different, risks taking much longer. But in the case of a sudden crash of the regime in the North, the government of the new Korea should plan very carefully the various steps in the transition towards any new system. (KOREA, HEALTH POLICY)
1994 - VOLUME 14, NUMBER 2
95.34.10 - Korean - K.O. RHEE, M.K. SUH and C S. KIM Living status of disprivileged elderly persons in Korea
Using data from the 1994 survey on the living conditions of the elderly in Korea, which was carried out on a national sample of people aged 60 and over, the authors study the living conditions of the most underprivileged groups. The economic status of people, their health status and their relationships are compared by sex, age and place of residence. The probability of being economically dependent on one's children is relatively high for the oldest people and for females, but is relatively low in rural environments. The most elderly experience the least financial difficulties, but women and people in rural areas experience the most. It is also the oldest people who require most medical assistance and who are most satisfied with the assistance they receive. But they have the lowest requirements in terms of affection, as do women and rurals. The authors conclude that the social policy for the elderly should be more selective. (KOREA, AGED, LIVING CONDITIONS, SOCIAL POLICY, POVERTY)
95.34.11 - Korean - Ok-Hee PARK A comparative study on method of investigating disabled persons
In Korea, a national survey is carried out every five years in order to evaluate the number of handicapped people. In 1988, the United Nations developed the DISTAT data bank in order to collect statistics on handicapped people from 55 countries. The proportion of handicapped in a population is often higher when it is estimated by means of a survey than when it is measured during a census. The differences in definition of a handicap explain partially some of the divergences between countries. This concept is both more precise and wider in the developed countries. That is why caution is necessary when comparing the proportions of handicapped people in different countries. (KOREA, PHYSICALLY DISABLED, RESEARCH METHODS, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)
95.34.12 - Korean - Suk KIM and Sang-Hun LEE A study on the actual living conditions and the supporting program for teenage family heads
Out of the 7,322 family heads aged under twenty years old who were surveyed through the governmental assistance programme aimed at them, 931 were interviewed in order to determine their characteristics and their aspirations and to explore the steps required in order to help them. 64.7% of them live with at least one member of their family (26.4% with their brothers and/or sisters). Only 10.3% have their own accommodation. A person aged under twenty becomes a family head either through the divorce the death of his or her parents or through the remarriage of the mother. Several public and private agencies come to the assistance of these families, either financially or morally. The authors believe that intra-family assistance in the home environment should be boosted. (KOREA, BREADWINNERS, MINORS, LIVING CONDITIONS, SOCIAL POLICY)
95.34.13 - Korean - Hyun-Seob CHANG and Hyun-Oak KIM Defining "quality of life" from the perspective of the family
The concept of "quality of life" is highly complex and does not have a universally recognised definition. The various indicators of quality of life which are used by researchers are either objective (living conditions) or subjective (perception of life). Studying the quality of life of Korean families demands not only that a description be made of trends in the structures of families and households and that a measurement of the degree of individuals' satisfaction be made, but also that an examination be made of the development of basic social mechanisms and the degree of families' adaptation to these societal transformations. (KOREA, QUALITY OF LIFE, FAMILY LIFE, SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS)
95.34.14 - Korean - Eun-Joo KIM A study on factor analysis of bypassing the regional medical facilities for the utilization in other health services districts
The author explores three categories of factors which can explain the fact that local medical centres are bypassed in favour of those in other regions: the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients, the medical equipment of the 140 health districts and the types of morbidity of the patients. (KOREA, HEALTH FACILITIES, REGIONALIZATION)
95.34.15 - Korean - Eun-Jin CHOI Current health problems of Korean adolescents and countermeasures
The rapid rate of economic growth, medical progress and nutritional progress have resulted in an acceleration of the growth and physical development of Korean adolescents. The main causes of death amongst youth are now accidents, suicide and cancer, which can be linked with the spread of dangerous habits such as alcoholism and smoking. Such risky behaviour can be countered with appropriate intervention programmes on a national scale. The author would recommend three strategies: a preventive education programmes specific health services at a local level and action in youth environments. Schools would obviously be the best place to begin to develop these various types of action programmes. (KOREA, ADOLESCENTS, HEALTH POLICY)
95.34.16 - Korean - Kee-Hey CHOUNG Fact finding and improvement of food frequency of obese women
A study on 150 obese women, using a control group, demonstrated that, while only 36% of obese women believe themselves to be overweight, 53% of normal women believe themselves to be fat. It is after marriage, in particular, that women start to put on weight and one-third of women will follow a diet, in general not the appropriate one in their case. The author describes the differences in feeding patterns between obese women and normal women. (KOREA, WOMEN, OBESITY, DIET)
95.34.17 - Korean - Jung-Ja NAM and Young-Ja HAN Review of survey instruments for mental health assessment of the general population
The authors begin by reviewing the survey techniques which make it possible to diagnose mental illnesses. They then analyse the global indicators of mental health and, finally, measurements of psychological troubles and of quality of life, highlighting the concepts of mental health and of mental welfare. For the authors, a proper health policy should make a regular evaluation of the population's state of mental health, as much as it would of the physical state of health. The measurement tools in this field should be improved and adapted to Korean culture. (KOREA, HEALTH CONDITIONS, MENTAL HEALTH, METHODOLOGY, MEASUREMENT)
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