Current Status of Traditional Korean Medicine Services in Public Sector: A Study for Integrating Traditional Korean Medicine into Community Care System.

Soo-Hyun Sung,Jihye Kim,Sun-Woo Jeon,Danny Oh,Angela Dong-Min Sung,Jang-Kyung Park,Jung-Youn Park,Minjung Park,Eun-Jin Lee,Kyeong Han Kim

doi:10.3390/healthcare9050493

Abstract

Korea is currently executing a pilot program for community care of its aging population and aims to implement community care systems on a national scale by 2025. This study examines the traditional Korean medicine (TKM) service to be provided within community care by understanding the current status of TKM services. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHW) sent official letters to 242 local governments (cities, districts, and counties) from October to November 2019 to survey the status of the public TKM services provided in 2018. The items of the survey included basic demographic information as well as information that could reveal how the program was implemented. In 112 local government jurisdictions (response rate 46.3%), a total of 867 TKM service programs were in place. As a result of the survey, it was revealed that they did not have any service manuals or evaluation results. To provide home-care-based TKM service for the elderly as an integrated part of a community care system, it is necessary to develop, distribute, and evaluate a standard service manual including an evaluation index by the central government.

Highlights

With the development of medical technology, human life expectancy has increased dramatically, thereby resulting in a worldwide trend of an aging population [1,2]
Community care, which is understood as home care, is a community-led social service policy that provides integrated support covering healthcare, housing, care, recuperation, and independent living so that an individual may receive services that fit their needs, and they can live as a member of the local community [5]
The Current Status of All of the Traditional Korean medicine (TKM) Services Provided in Local Communities

Summary

Introduction

With the development of medical technology, human life expectancy has increased dramatically, thereby resulting in a worldwide trend of an aging population [1,2]. Community care, which is understood as home care, is a community-led social service policy that provides integrated support covering healthcare, housing, care, recuperation, and independent living so that an individual may receive services that fit their needs, and they can live as a member of the local community [5]. In 2012, the Japanese government implemented a community-based integrated care system that provides seamless community healthcare resources for elderly people with chronic diseases and disabilities [8]. The Canadian government started the home and community care program in 1999, while the federal government established the master plan for home and community care (2013–2023) so that local governments can provide home care and community service for people with disabilities and the elderly [9]. The care or recovery after certain diseases or conditions types of community care include palliative care [10], stroke rehabilitation [11], dementia [12], multiple chronic conditions [13], hip fracture [14] and sarcopenia [15]

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