Unmet Healthcare Needs of Children in Vulnerable Families in South Korea: Finding from the Community Child Center Child Panel Survey.

Suyon Baek,Eun-Hi Choi,Jungeun Lee

doi:10.3390/ijerph17218241

Abstract

Presented in this paper is a study that examined the status of unmet healthcare needs of children in vulnerable families and identified factors affecting such unmet needs. The Community Child Center (CCC) Child Panel Survey data in Korea were used. A multiple stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to examine factors influencing unmet healthcare needs of children. Influencing factors comprised predisposing, enabling, and need factors based on the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization. A total of 340 sixth-graders from vulnerable families participated, and 96 (28.2%) children had unmet healthcare needs. Factors included absence of an after-school caregiver (OR = 1.95, 95% CI [1.16, 3.27]), perceived physical symptoms (OR = 1.33, 95% CI [1.02, 1.73]), parental indifference (OR = 1.33, 95% CI [1.002, 1.77]), duration of daily stay at CCCs (OR = 1.32, 95% CI [1.01, 1.71]), and satisfaction with CCC teachers (OR = 0.65, 95% CI [0.49, 0.85]). The relationship with parents and CCC teachers had the strongest influence on unmet healthcare needs of children. In order to reduce the unmet healthcare needs of children in vulnerable families, existing support structures should be expanded to offer financial and administrative support for children’s parents and CCC teachers.

Highlights

The national Health Plan 2020 in South Korea, which is used as a foundational element for many national health promotion policies, forecasts that a larger income gap will lead to greater health disparities, causing an increase in medically vulnerable populations [1]
We suggest paying more attention to the functions of Community Child Center (CCC), which could serve as a protective factor reducing the unmet healthcare needs of children in vulnerable families, since such needs were greater among children who spend more time at CCCs
Our findings demonstrated that children who were more satisfied with their teachers at CCCs were less likely to have unmet healthcare needs than those who were less satisfied

Summary

Introduction

The national Health Plan 2020 in South Korea, which is used as a foundational element for many national health promotion policies, forecasts that a larger income gap will lead to greater health disparities, causing an increase in medically vulnerable populations [1]. Based on this prospect, the Health Plan 2020 suggests the need to bolster health management for such vulnerable groups [1]. Children have a limited capacity for choosing their living environment, including family, living situation, school, and community. Children in vulnerable families present a higher mortality rate and higher prevalence rates for a variety of physical and psychological problems including obesity, asthma, depression, and anxiety [4,5,6]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion