Ju Young Yoon

Purpose: This study aimed to classify patterns of Personal Assistant Service (PAS) among adults with disabilities in Korea using latent class analysis (LCA) based on the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (BMVP). Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using data from the Disability and Life Dynamics Panel (2018-2023). The most recent observation per individual was selected to ensure analytic independence, yielding 482 adults. LCA was performed using six service use domains. Multinomial logistic regression examined factors associated with class membership, and modified Poisson regression assessed associations between latent classes and five health behaviors. Results: Three classes were identified: Comprehensive Support (36.3%), Physical and Social Support (36.1%), and Household Support (27.6%). Compared with non-users, service users showed greater socioeconomic and health vulnerability, including more severe disability, lower income, living alone, lower social support, and higher depression. Women and individuals with greater disability severity and daily-living limitations showed higher odds of belonging to the Comprehensive Support class. After adjusting for covariates, the Comprehensive Support class showed a significantly lower prevalence of physical activity and alcohol consumption compared to the Household Support class, while previously observed differences in fast food intake were attenuated.Conclusion: PAS is associated with health behaviors among adults with disabilities, although current service structures may not fully address health enhancing behaviors. Expanding PAS to include tailored physical activity support, health management, and psychosocial care may help reduce health disparities among adults with disabilities.

Background: Adults with learning disabilities experience persistent health inequalities and often face communication barriers and fragmented care. Hospital passports have been promoted to support person‐centred care and reasonable adjustment, yet their use remains inconsistent. Methods: A systematic literature review with narrative synthesis was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched from inception to November 2025. Peer‐reviewed qualitative, quantitative, and mixed‐methods studies examining hospital passport interventions for adults with learning disabilities were included. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Due to study heterogeneity, a narrative synthesis was conducted. Findings: Nine studies published between 2004 and 2024 were included. Hospital passports varied in format and length but commonly included personal details, communication preferences, medical history, and support needs. Passports were perceived to improve communication, reduce repeated explanations, and support more person‐centred care. However, sustained use was limited by frequent updating requirements, patients forgetting passports, stigma concerns, time pressures, limited staff training, unclear responsibility, and lack of integration into routine clinical workflows. Conclusions: Hospital passports may support communication and reasonable adjustments for adults with learning disabilities, but their impact depends on organisational commitment and effective implementation within healthcare systems. Protocol Registration: PROSPERO (registration number CRD420251177371). Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution.

Purpose: This study examined the direct and indirect associations among health literacy (HL), its determinants, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in individuals with physical disabilities based on the Integrated Model of Health Literacy (IMHL). Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 441 adults with physical disabilities obtained from the 2021 Korea Health Panel Survey. Based on the IMHL, path analysis was conducted to examine the direct and indirect associations of situational determinants (usual source of care, need for care) and societal and environmental determinants (employment status, unmet healthcare needs) on HL and HRQoL. Results: Among the participants, 44.0% were classified as having inadequate HL and 22.3% as problematic. Need for care was negatively associated with both HL (β = − 0.12, p = .002) and HRQoL (β = − 0.33, p < .001). Unmet healthcare needs also had a significant negative direct association with HRQoL (β = − 0.17, p < .001). Employment status (β = 0.15, p < .001) and HL (β = 0.13, p = .005) were positively associated with HRQoL. HL partially mediated the relationship between need for care and HRQoL (β = − 0.02, p = .044). Conclusion: These findings highlight the role of HL in relation to HRQoL among individuals with physical disabilities. Improving HRQoL in this population may require approaches that go beyond individual-level HL promotion and also address support for care-dependent individuals and structural factors, including healthcare accessibility and employment opportunities.

Because disability support workers play a key role in supporting the healthcare of people with disabilities, it is important to educate them on how to assi

Staff in supportive housing for people with disabilities face challenges in delivering effective health management, highlighting the need for a health information communication and management platform (referred to as “the platform”). This study aimed to identify factors influencing staff’s intention to use the platform by applying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, with the addition of eHealth literacy. A self-report questionnaire survey was conducted from August 1 to September 30, 2024. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression. The 200 participants consisted of 70 men (35.0%) and 130 women (65.0%). Significant positive correlations were found between intention to use the platform and all UTAUT variables (p < .001). Multiple regression analysis showed that voluntariness (β = 0.58, p < .001), performance expectancy (β = 0.20, p < .001), facilitating conditions (β = 0.12, p = .040), and eHealth literacy (β = 0.10, p = .042) significantly predicted staff’s intention to use the platform, explaining 67.7% of the variance. Voluntariness, performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and eHealth literacy significantly influence staff’s intention to adopt the platform, offering key insights for developing a user-friendly platform for supportive housing for people with disabilities.

Purpose: Care coordination is a key function that enables consistent and integrated care by connecting various medical, welfare, community resources throughout a patient’s healthcare journey. This study was aimed at examining the provision of care coordination and its associated factors among adult patients with hypertension or diabetes who have a usual source of care, using Andersen’s Behavioral Model. Methods: A total of 2,576 adults with hypertension or diabetes who reported having a usual source of care were analyzed by using data from the 2021 Korea Health Panel Survey. Both patient-level and provider-level variables were categorized into predisposing, enabling, and need factors based on Andersen’s model. Complex sample logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: Only 44.7% of participants reported experiencing care coordination. The likelihood of receiving care coordination was significantly lower among females, and higher among those not currently employed, those not engaging in regular physical activity, individuals with multiple chronic conditions, and those whose usual source of care was a general practitioner. Conclusion: Care coordination is essential for ensuring continuity of care and effective management among patients with chronic conditions, and it is influenced by both patient and provider characteristics. As Korea prepares to launch a nationwide community-based integrated care system in 2026, care coordination will serve as a vital foundation for linking local resources and delivering comprehensive care. Based on the patient and provider factors identified in this study, effective support at the policy and system levels will be necessary to operate and sustain this function.

Purpose: This study conducted a work-system analysis using the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) framework to assess the flow of health-related information, and the current status of health management tasks for individuals with disabilities (IWD) in supportive housing.Methods: This qualitative study utilized focus groups. Participants included a head of supportive housing, a team leader, a care coordinator and three personal support workers for IWD. Semi-structured interviews were guided by the SEIPS framework to explore the components of persons, tasks, tools and technology, organization, and environments.Results: This study identified five key themes within the five SEIPS components: (1) disparities in role identity and health literacy among staff, (2) challenges in health care support reflecting a person-centered approach, (3) barriers in health-related information exchange and communication tools, (4) needs for organizational strategies or information communication, and (5) needs for integrating health-related information across external healthcare institutions. Additionally, 10 sub-themes were identified.Conclusions: These findings provide a comprehensive system-wide perspective and offer insights into the systematic approaches needed to improve healthcare processes and structures within disability supportive housing. Specifically, healthcare providers and effective tools for integrating health-related information are identified as critical components.

Background: The number of vulnerable older adults is expected to continue to increase, highlighting the urgent need to develop comprehensive social care measures to address frail older adults’ needs. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of a community health nurse-led, multi-faceted, group-based frailty prevention program on functional capacity, frailty, and metabolic health among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This quasi-experimental study uses a single-group, pretest-posttest design. Community dwelling older adults (≥ 65 years) were recruited from 13 counties using convenience sampling (N = 92). The 8-week program consisting of health education and exercise sessions was conducted by two per community health nurses with groups of 5 to 10 participants per county. Results: This study included 92 participants (mean age: 76.98 ± 5.43); 89.13% female. The intervention resulted in significant improvements in functional capacity, as measured by the TUG test time and grip strength (categorical) (t = 7.47, 95% CI [1.21, 2.08], p-value < 0.001; χ²=22.51, p-value < 0.001). Frailty showed significant improvements in both continuous (t = 7.17, 95% CI [1.34, 2.24], p-value < 0.001) and categorical indicators (χ²=29.71, p-value < 0.001). Among metabolic health indicators, only blood sugar levels showed significant improvement (χ²=8.95, p-value < 0.001). Conclusions: Although the absence of a control group limits the ability to draw direct causal inferences, improvements in health-related outcomes were observed to be associated with the intervention. Community health nurse-led, multi-faceted group interventions that are implemented based on a high understanding of county resources and participants may be an effective approach for developing health promotion programs for vulnerable older adults in community settings. Clinical Trial Number: Not applicable.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the factors influencing medication adherence among hypertensive older adults, focusing on health literacy and other variables, using the WHO framework for adherence to long-term therapy. Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted on the 2021 Korean Health Panel Survey data comprising 2,411 adults aged 65 years and older receiving medication for hypertension. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, and multinomial logistic regression were performed using SPSS 28.0. Results: Health literacy significantly differentiated the perfectly adherent group from the highly adherent group but was not significantly associated with non-adherence. The non-adherent group showed heterogeneous traits, suggesting that structural improvements or interventions tailored to behavioral mechanisms may be necessary for health literacy to be effective. Conclusion: Health literacy may contribute to refining adherence quality among already adherent individuals, whereas structural or tailored interventions may be required for non-adherent groups. These findings underscore the intervention strategies adapted to adherence profiles.