The Impact of Free Learning Semester on Youth Career Development - A Comparison of Two Middle Schools in Daegu, South Korea -

Stigmatization is part of the everyday lives of children with disabilities, their families, and their friends. Negative social encounters, even with perfect strangers, can dampen joyful occasions, add stress to challenging situations, and lead to social isolation. This book describes a program of research spanning a decade that seeks to understand disabilities in their developmental and cultural contexts. The authors are especially interested in understanding adults’ socialization practices that promise to reduce stigmatization in the next generation. Guided by developmental cultural psychology, including the concept of “universalism without uniformity,” the authors focus on the understandings and responses to disability and associated stigmatization of elementary-school educators practicing in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. Educators from all four cultural groups expressed strikingly similar concerns about the impact of stigmatization on the emerging cultural self, both of children with disabilities and their typically developing peers. Educators also described culturally nuanced socialization goals and practices pertaining to inclusive education. In Japan, for instance, educators emphasized the importance of peer group belonging and strategies to support the participation of children with disabilities. In the U.S., educators placed relatively more emphasis on individual development and discussed strategies for the equitable treatment of children with disabilities. Educators in South Korea and Taiwan emphasized the cultivation of compassion in typically developing children. The understanding gained through examination of how diverse individuals address common challenges using cultural resources available in their everyday lives provides important lessons for strengthening theory, policy, and programs.

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Retirement Age and Housing Consumption: The Case of South Korea

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031286 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1286

Author(s):

Chunil Kim ◽

Hyobi Choi ◽

Yeol Choi

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Group Living ◽

Peripheral Region ◽

Housing Tenure ◽

Housing Consumption ◽

Household Expenditures ◽

Housing Tenure Choice ◽

Populated Region ◽

The Impact ◽

Real Assets

South Korea became an aging society in 2000 and will become a super-aged nation in 2026. The extended life expectancy and earlier retirement make workers’ preparation for retirement more difficult, and that hardship might lead to poorer living conditions after retirement. As annuity payments are, in general, not enough for retirees to maintain their previous standard of living after retirement, retired households would have to liquidate their financial and real assets to cover household expenditures. As housing takes the biggest share of households’ total assets in Korea, it seems to be natural for retirees to downsize their houses. However, there is no consensus in the housing literature on housing downsizing, and the debate is still ongoing. In order to understand whether or not housing downsizing by retirees occurs in Korea, this paper examines the impact of the timing of retirement on housing consumption using an econometric model of housing tenure choice and the consumption for housing. The results show that the early retirement group living in more populated region does not downsize the house, while the timing of retirement is negatively associated with housing consumption for the late retirement group living in the peripheral region.

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Projecting the long-term benefits of single pill combination therapy for patients with hypertension in five countries

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/ehjci/ehaa946.2781 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽

Author(s):

C Borghi ◽

J.G Wang ◽

A.V Rodionov ◽

M Rosas ◽

I.S Sohn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Combination Therapy ◽

South Korea ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Clinical Outcomes ◽

Funding Source ◽

Combination Therapies ◽

Private Company ◽

Treatment Pathways ◽

Single Pill ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background It is well established that single pill combination (SPC) therapies have the potential to improve patient adherence versus multi-pill regimens, thereby improving blood pressure control and clinical outcomes in populations with hypertension. Purpose To develop a microsimulation model, capturing different treatment pathways, to project the impact on clinical outcomes of using single pill combination therapies for the management of hypertension in five countries (Italy, Russia, China, South Korea and Mexico). Methods The model was designed to project health outcomes between 2020 and 2030 for populations with hypertension managed according to four different treatment pathways: current treatment practices [CTP], single drug with dosage titration first then sequential addition of other agents [start low and go slow, SLGS], free choice combination with multiple pills [FCC] and combination therapy in the form of a single pill [SPC]. Model inputs were derived from Global Burden of Disease 2017 dataset, including demographics, health status/risk factors, transition probabilities and treatment attributes/healthcare utilization, and the model incorporated real-world challenges to healthcare delivery such as access to care, SBP measurement error, adherence and therapeutic inertia. Simulated outcomes of mortality, incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), stroke and ischemic heart disease (IHD), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to these conditions were estimated for population of 1,000,000 simulated patients for each treatment pathway and country. Results SPC therapy was projected to improve health outcomes over SLGS, FCC and CTP over 10 years in all five countries. SPC was forecast to reduce mortality by 5.4% (Italy), 4.9% (Russia), 4.5% (China), 2.3% (South Korea) and 3.6% (Mexico) versus CTP and showed greater projected reductions in mortality than SLGS and FCC. DALYs were projected to be reduced with SPC therapy by between 5.7% (Italy) and 2.2% (South Korea) compared with CTP and reductions in the incidence of clinical events were also projected with SPC therapy, with decreases in the range of 11.5% (Italy) to 4.9% (South Korea) versus CTP. Conclusions Ten-year projections of clinical outcomes associated with different anti-hypertensive treatment pathways in five countries indicated that both combination therapies (FCC and SPC) are likely to reduce the disease burden of hypertension compared with conventional management approaches, with SPC showing the greatest overall benefits due to improved adherence. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): Sanofi, Gentilly, France

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Modelling the impact of rapid diagnostic tests on Plasmodium vivax malaria in South Korea: a cost–benefit analysis

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004292 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. e004292

Author(s):

Jung Ho Kim ◽

Jiyeon Suh ◽

Woon Ji Lee ◽

Heun Choi ◽

Jong-Dae Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Plasmodium Vivax ◽

Diagnostic Tests ◽

Cost Benefit Analysis ◽

Malaria Incidence ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Medical Costs ◽

Rapid Diagnostic Tests ◽

Benefit Analysis ◽

The Impact

BackgroundRapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are widely used for diagnosing Plasmodium vivax malaria, especially in resource-limited countries. However, the impact of RDTs on P. vivax malaria incidence and national medical costs has not been evaluated. We assessed the impact of RDT implementation on P. vivax malaria incidence and overall medical expenditures in South Korea and performed a cost–benefit analysis from the payer’s perspective.MethodsWe developed a dynamic compartmental model for P. vivax malaria transmission in South Korea using delay differential equations. Long latency and seasonality were incorporated into the model, which was calibrated to civilian malaria incidences during 2014–2018. We then estimated averted malaria cases and total medical costs from two diagnostic scenarios: microscopy only and both microscopy and RDTs. Medical costs were extracted based on data from a hospital in an at-risk area for P. vivax malaria and were validated using Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data. We conducted a cost–benefit analysis of RDTs using the incremental benefit:cost ratio (IBCR) considering only medical costs and performed a probabilistic sensitivity analysis to reflect the uncertainties of model parameters, costs and benefits.ResultsThe results showed that 55.3% of new P. vivax malaria cases were averted, and $696 214 in medical costs was saved over 10 years after RDT introduction. The estimated IBCR was 2.5, indicating that RDT implementation was beneficial, compared with microscopy alone. The IBCR was sensitive to the diagnosis time reduction, infectious period and short latency period, and provided beneficial results in a benefit over $10.6 or RDT cost under $39.7.ConclusionsThe model simulation suggested that RDTs could significantly reduce P. vivax malaria incidence and medical costs. Moreover, cost–benefit analysis demonstrated that the introduction of RDTs was beneficial over microscopy alone. These results support the need for widespread adoption of RDTs.

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A Study on the Impact of R&D Intensity on Business Performance: Evidence from South Korea

Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity ◽

10.3390/joitmc7020135 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 135

Author(s):

Hun Park ◽

Jun-Hwan Park ◽

Sujin Lee ◽

Hyuk Hahn

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Research And Development ◽

Business Performance ◽

Decision Makers ◽

The Other ◽

Research Groups ◽

Innovative Firms ◽

The Impact ◽

Knowledge Services

The role of R&D (research and development) intensity on the effect of knowledge services on the business performance of firms has been discussed by using PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA methods. Research groups were divided into two groups, innovative and non-innovative. Respondents were classified into innovative firms if their R&D intensity was over 3% and vice versa. PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA results were compared for two groups and valuable insights were extracted. For innovative firms, knowledge services seemed to be verified and processed by the decision makers and utilized to achieve their business performance. On the other hand, a large number of non-innovative firms seemed to have a stronger tendency to utilize knowledge services directly for their business without sufficient verification by the decision makers.

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