Private religious practice, spiritual coping, social support, and health status among older Korean adult immigrants.

This study explored the role of spiritual factors and social support on the health status of 246 older Korean adult immigrants age 65 years or older. Ordinary least squares regression results revealed that private religious practice, spiritual coping, and social support were significantly associated with improved health status. However, stressors such as the lack of English proficiency and transportation, longer residency in the United States, and financial problems were significantly associated with lower health status. Social workers need to consider providing appropriate spiritual interventions and social support programs for older Korean adult immigrants so that they may better handle their stressors and health problems.

Attitudes toward hepatitis B virus among Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean Americans in the Houston area, Texas.

We explored attitudes about prevention, screening and treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese communities. We use qualitative methods in 12 focus groups (n = 113) of adults who self-reported their ethnicity to be Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese. We use grounded theory (i.e., consensus-building between co-coders about recurring, emerging themes) for analysis. Diet, nutrition, fatigue and stress were misidentified as HBV causes. Improving hygiene, diet, exercise, and holistic methods were misidentified as viable HBV prevention methods. Common screening problems included not affording test and not understanding test results. Participants shared reasons for using complementary and alternative medicine--when Western medicine fails or becomes unaffordable. Participants sought information from medical providers and fellow community members, but also from the internet. Many of the attitudes and opinions that emerged may deter participation in HBV screening, prevention and treatment, insofar as community members may factor them into healthcare decision-making, choose alternative but ineffective methods of prevention and treatment, and undervalue the benefits of screening. More patient education in both traditional and new media is necessary for clarifying transmission, screening and treatment misunderstandings.

Art, class and gender in Joseon dynasty Korea: representations of lower-class women by the scholar-painter Yun Duseo.

This paper examines several pioneering genre paintings by the important scholar painter Yun Duseo (1668-1715), with its focus on their artistic sources which have not yet been explored so far. Painted on ramie, 'Women Picking Potherbs' is one of the most intriguing examples among Yun Duseo's oeuvre, which encompasses a broad variety of themes, including genre imagery, landscapes, portraits, dragons, and horses. Even among Yun Duseo's genre paintings, 'Women Picking Potherbs' is extraordinary, as recent scholarship regards it as the earliest independent representation of lower-class women in the history of Korean art. In particular, Yun Duseo painted two women who were working ourdoors to gather spring potherbs. In a conservative Confucian society, it was extraordinary women who were working outdoors. Hence, Yun Duseo occupies a highly important place in Korean painting. Furthermore, even though Yun Duseo came from the upper-class, he often painted images of lower class people working. It is possible that Yun Duseo was familiar with the book titled "Tian gong kai wu" (Exploitation of the Works of Nature) which was published in the 17th century. By identifying the probable body of his artistic sources in the book known as "Tian gong kai wu," it will be possible to assess the innovations and limitations found in 'Women Picking Potherbs'.

Agricultural illustrations of 19th century Korea: 'Imwon gyeongjeji' (Treatises on Management of Forest and Garden) by Seo Yugu.

The generative relationship between text and image has long been established. Its structure evolved historically as a result of varying understandings of the functions of art and technology. Agriculture illustration, which emerged in China during the Song dynasty, is a prime example of this creative dialogue in which aspects of both disciplines were combined. Political, technological, and aesthetic concerns informed the reformulations of this new genre. This paper will address agricultural illustrations on nineteenth-century Korea, when notable changes occurred in the visualization of agricultural texts. It will explore changes in the understanding of the roles of agriculture, technology, and labor through an analysis of shifts in modes of illustration and the texts selected. The relationship between technology and visual representations during late Joseon Korea will be contextualized through an exploration of the evolution of technical drawing in East Asia. This paper will suggest that the recognition of imagery's ability to convey textual and technical information provided an important alternative paradigm for the presentation and use of knowledge.

Countercurrents from the West: "blue-eyed" Zen masters, Vipassana meditation, and Buddhist psychotherapy in contemporary Korea.

One surprising and yet relatively unknown aspect of contemporary Korean Buddhism is the significant influence of American and European Buddhism. Between 1989 and 2009, South Koreans witnessed well-educated "blue-eyed" monastic residents via the Korean media, and the emergence of new bestsellers by authors like Thich Nhat Hahn and Jack Kornfield, written initially for Western audiences but since translated into Korean. The new teachings from the West have inspired a sudden growth of interest in vipassana meditation as an "alternative" to Kanhwa Son practice, and the emergence of a new academic field: Buddhist psychotherapy. This new wave of transnational influence from the West has changed not only the way Koreans practice Buddhism but also how they perceive Buddhist history and their own identities. In addition, the perceived "prestige" of Buddhism in the West has provided a new rhetorical strategy to defend Buddhism against other religions, particularly Korean evangelical Christianity.

Factors influencing the general well-being of low-income Korean immigrant elders.

This study explores factors that influence the general well-being (anxiety, depression, positive well-being, self-control, vitality, and general health) of low-income Korean immigrant elders by interviewing 206 older adults living in Los Angeles County and Orange County, California. Ordinary least squares regression results reveal that lack of English proficiency and longer residence in the United States were significant predictors of higher anxiety, higher depression,lower self-control,lower vitality, and lower general health among Korean immigrant elders. Losing a spouse was a significantly negative factor in vitality. Financial problems were significantly associated with lower positive well-being. Social support was a significant factor in lower anxiety, lower depression, higher positive well-being, higher self-control, and higher vitality. Spiritual coping was significantly associated with lower anxiety,lower depression, higher positive well-being, and higher vitality. The findings of this study show that low-income Korean immigrant elders are at high risk for psychological and physical health problems influenced by difficulties with the acculturation or adjustment and socioeconomic stress of living in a new society. The study discusses essential implications for culturally competent social work practice among low-income Korean immigrant elders.

A qualitative study of quality of life and the experience of complementary and alternative medicine in Korean women with constipation.

Twelve percent of people worldwide report suffering from self-defined constipation. Women experience constipation three times more than men. Many people have used complementary and alternative medicine for constipation, but there is no qualitative research about this issue. The purpose of this article was to describe Korean women's experience of treating chronic constipation with complementary and alternative medicine. A qualitative descriptive approach used in-depth, semistructured interviews with 10 Korean women in the United States who had constipation. Four themes were identified: (1) subjective definition of constipation; (2) efforts to find the reason for constipation; (3) efforts to find solutions for constipation (subtheme: frequent use of enemas, laxatives, and suppositories; expectation and disappointment for complementary and alternative medicine; finding individually effective solutions for constipation); and (4) negative impact on quality of life (subtheme: mental discomfort, changed appetite, and difficult relationships with people).Ten women reported that they had used exercise, massage, yogurt, vegetables, seeds of tangles (seaweed), mineral oil, milk with plums, mixed rice, walnuts, grapefruits, apples, oranges, aloe, oatmeal, soymilk, sweet potatoes, ground flax seed, and alcohol as a strategy for relieving constipation. Participants had also used herbs, acupuncture, acupressure, moxibustion, cupping therapy, hand acupuncture, senna tea, and soy bean past fomentation. In conclusion, living with constipation is an irritable and uncomfortable experience, and it motivated these women to select a variety of methods to reduce constipation.

Sleep patterns and insomnia management in Korean-American older adult immigrants.

AIMS: This study aimed to describe sleep patterns and insomnia management in first generation Korean-American older adult immigrants. Specifically, this research examined differences in sleep interruption factors, use of sleep promotion aids, sleep characteristics and insomnia management between men and women who are first generation Korean-American older adult immigrants. BACKGROUND: Older adults feel that their sleep is shallow, interrupted frequently and is insufficient. If sleep changes are severe, it is difficult for older adults to maintain an awakened state during the day. DESIGN: This was a descriptive survey study. METHODS: The survey included a set of four questionnaires. All measures were self-administered. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics was used to analyse demographic characteristics. The chi-squared test and t-test were used to examine the differences between men and women. RESULTS: Most subjects experienced sleep interruption (n = 43, 82.6%) and were not satisfied with their sleep (n = 42, 80.8%). A quarter of the subjects had experience with complementary/alternative therapies to manage insomnia, although 40 subjects (76.9%) wanted to use complementary/alternative therapies to manage their insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that first generation Korean-American older adult immigrant men and women report sleep interruptions and dissatisfaction with the quality of their sleep. Women were more likely in want of using complementary/alternative therapies for insomnia management than men. Women may have longed more for their traditional healthcare practices. The high degree of sleep disruption in this sample may relate to living in a different culture. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Health professionals need to assess sleep patterns and consider an array of methods including complementary/alternative therapies to manage insomnia.

Plasma n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and cardiovascular disease risk factors in Japanese, Korean and Mongolian workers.

The favorable role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been demonstrated in animal experiments and in humans in Western countries, but its effect remains controversial in Asian populations. An observational study of Japanese, Koreans and Mongolians with extended histories of remarkably different frequencies of fish intake was conducted to examine whether differences in plasma n-3 PUFA affects CVD risk factors. We conducted a cross-sectional study in workplace settings and determined body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and fatty acid composition in plasma. A total of 411 Japanese, 418 Korean and 252 Mongolian workers aged 30-60 yr participated in this study. The Japanese ate fish more frequently and had remarkably higher values of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and n-3 PUFA, and lower values of BMI and HOMA-IR, followed by the Koreans, and then the Mongolians. In age groups, the Japanese and Koreans showed a similar tendency of increase in n-3 PUFA with increasing age. General linear measurement multivariate analysis after adjustment for gender, age, smoking, drinking, exercise habits and BMI showed n-3 PUFA was associated with HDL-C and TG in the Japanese, while it was associated with systolic blood pressure in the Koreans, and TG in the Mongolians. In conclusion, an increase in n-3 PUFA was associated with HDL-C and TG in the Japanese and Mongolians, but these beneficial effects were not constant across the three Asian ethnic groups.

Evaluation of non-English dietary supplement advertisements in an ethnic minority community in America.

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to evaluate the rate at which non-English dietary supplement advertisements distributed in a sampled ethnic minority community are in compliance with the federal advertising regulations. The secondary objective was to assess the availability of supporting evidence to substantiate the advertised health claims. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The contents of dietary supplement advertisements from the Los Angeles Korea Times and the Los Angeles Korea Daily were evaluated during the month of July 2005. After removing duplicate advertisements, the percentage of advertisements making prohibited disease claims and DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) disclaimer statements was determined. The presence of data substantiating advertised claims was determined by requesting data from the manufacturers and browsing the manufacturers' websites. An observational technique was utilised for content analysis, and data analysis was conducted using quantitative descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Disease claims were present in 84.5%, while DHSEA disclaimer statements were present in only 18.4% of the advertisements. Data to substantiate the claims were provided by 53.4% of the manufacturers. The majority of the additional information consisted of repetition of the advertised claims and consumer testimonies. Experimental data were available for only 13.6% of the products. CONCLUSIONS: The high rate of non-compliance with federal regulations suggests a need for better oversight of non-English promotions of dietary supplements.

Ethnomedicine and dominant medicine in multicultural Australia: a critical realist reflection on the case of Korean-Australian immigrants in Sydney.

BACKGROUND: Viewed through the micro focus of an interpretive lens, medical anthropology remains mystified because interpretivist explanations seriously downplay the given context in which individual health seeking-behaviours occur. This paper draws upon both the interpretivist and political economy perspectives to reflect on the ethno medical practices within the Korean-Australian community in Sydney. METHODS: We draw on research data collected between 1995 and 1997 for an earlier study of the use of biomedical and traditional medicine by Korean-Australians in Sydney. A total of 120 interviews were conducted with a range of participants, including biomedical doctors, traditional health professionals, Korean community leaders and Korean migrants representing a range of socio-economic backgrounds and migration patterns. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: First, the paper highlights the extent to which the social location of migrants in a host society alters or restructures their initial cultural practices they bring with them. Second, taking hanbang medicine in the Korean-Australian community as an illustrative case, the paper explores the transformation of the dominant biomedicine in Australia as a result of the influx of ethnomedicine in the era of global capitalism and global movement. CONCLUSION: In seeking to explain the popularity and supply of alternative health care, it is important to go beyond the culture of each kind of health care itself and to take into consideration the changes occurring at societal, national and global levels as well as consequential individual response to the changes. New social conditions influence the choice of health care methods, including herbal/alternative medicine, health foods and what are often called New Age therapies.

Ethnicity, health and medical care: towards a critical realist analysis of general practice in the Korean community in Sydney.

This paper investigates the use and provision of biomedicine among Korean-Australian men on the basis of interview data from all of the eight Korean-speaking doctors practising in the Korean community in Sydney in 1995. From the viewpoint of these general practitioners, an analysis is made of the processes Korean men go through in adjusting to a new country, being involved in constant hard manual work and long working hours, and explores how they make use of all available resources to stay healthy. The Korean men have fully utilized the 'freely' available medical services under government-subsidized Medicare, bearing in mind that health is a capacity to work under the current environment, although illegal migrants restrained themselves from using it until they obtained legal status. Korean-speaking medical practitioners have been able to provide their fellow Koreans with 'culturally appropriate' health care, with the key factor being the absence of a language barrier. The level of patient satisfaction is high, possibly due to the excellent understanding the doctors have of the social aspects of illnesses, although the doctors do not go beyond curative medicine in their practice. However, the increasing number of Korean-speaking doctors in the small Korean community means that there is competition for patients. Consequently, the medical care is highly entrepreneurial. Referral by Korean doctors to practitioners of Korean herbal medicine is also a notable feature of the health care sector of the Korean community, especially as this offers Korean patients 'satisfactory' health relief for problems that are not easily relieved by doctors in the biomedical system.

Barriers to care and control of high blood pressure in Korean-American elderly.

OBJECTIVES: To identify barriers to achieving optimal management of high blood pressure (HBP) among hypertensive Korean-American elderly (KAE). METHODS: This study used data on a subsample of 146 hypertensive KAE from a total of 205 KAE in Maryland who participated in a cardiovascular health assessment study. The study group consisted of 56 males and 90 females with a mean age of 69.8 +/- 6.6 years. The PRECEDE-PROCEED model guided selection of study variables. RESULTS: Many KAE with HBP had no regular HBP care (66%) and did not achieve HBP control (92.5% of KAE with HBP and 77.6% of KAE on HBP medications). Lack of health insurance emerged as a strong barrier to receiving adequate HBP care. Other barriers to HBP care included not having a Korean doctor and not having a regular medical checkup. While 22.4% of KAE on HBP medication had controlled blood pressure (BP), those with more visits to traditional Asian medicine doctors were less likely to have achieved HBP control. CONCLUSIONS: The study unveils some of the multilevel barriers to care and control of HBP uniquely experienced by KAE and suggests the need for developing interventions to assist KAE in managing HBP.

Medicinal efficacy of plants utilized as temple food in traditional Korean Buddhism.

We investigated the medicinal efficacies of plants used as food in 27 Korean Buddhist temples from 1997 to 2002. We studied 161 species of plants belonging to 135 genera in 65 families. Twenty-one plant parts were utilized as food in 42 different preparations. Approximately 82% of the plants studied had medicinal effects, with a wide range of efficacies (126 types). Of the medicinal plants, 52% were used for digestive problems, circulatory illnesses, and respiratory diseases. These results demonstrate that a high proportion of the food consumed in Korean temples is medicinal, and is used for a wide variety of diseases.

An integrative review on breast cancer screening practice and correlates among Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Asian Indian American women.

Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed among Chinese, Filipino and Korean women. Despite the efficacy of breast cancer screening, Asian American women have one of the lowest rates of mammography and clinical breast exam (CBE) of all U.S. ethnic groups. I provided a systematic overview to document factors related to three modalities of breast cancer screening (breast self-exam [BSE], CBE and mammography) among four subgroups of Asian American women (i.e., Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Asian Indian). Results showed that the existing studies provided evidence of demographic correlates to screening practice; however, fewer studies focused on cognitive and social-cultural correlates, and limited results were available with Filipino and Asian Indian groups.

External Qi therapy to treat symptoms of Agent Orange Sequelae in Korean combat veterans of the Vietnam War.

We investigated the efficacy of Qi therapy as a non-pharmacological treatment for various symptoms presented by Korean combat veterans of the Vietnam War with Agent Orange Sequelae. Nine subjects volunteered to receive 30 minutes of Qi therapy, twice per day for 7 days. There was marked improvement in 89% of the patients with impaired physical activity, 86% of those with psychological disorder, 78% of those with heavy drug use, and 67% of those with fatigue, indigestion and high blood glucose levels. This data suggests that Qi therapy combined with conventional treatment has positive effects in reducing and managing the pain, psychosomatic disorders, and substance abuse in patients with Agent Orange Sequelae. We cannot completely discount the possible influence of the placebo effect, and more objective, clinical measures are needed to study the long-term effects of Qi therapy.

Factors influencing preferences for alternative medicine by Korean Americans.

Use of alternative medicine among the public has increased rapidly over the last few decades. Studies on alternative health care have been conducted on the general public and on major ethnic groups, but not on Korean Americans, who are one of the fastest growing Asian populations in the United States. This study was a cross-sectional survey of 143 Korean Americans in the Greater New York Metropolitan area; all of them were users of alternative medicine. Inter-correlations of hypothetical demographic predictors and preferences for alternative medicine were obtained. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors influencing alternative medicine preferences. Most of the respondents answered that they preferred alternative medicine because of philosophical congruence, i.e. they found alternative therapies compatible with their values, world views, spiritual/religious philosophies, and beliefs regarding the nature and meaning of health and illness. The results show that younger, well-educated respondents, with significant acculturation level, and have stayed in the US for a relatively short period of time preferred alternative medicine. The information derived from this and similar studies may be of potential value to the biomedical community, governmental agencies, insurance companies and managed care organizations.

Differential cortical responses in second language learners to different vowel contrasts.

Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure hemodynamic responses in Korean subjects learning Japanese as a second-language to Japanese phonemic contrasts that are either phonologically distinctive or non-distinctive in their first-language. These results were compared with those of Japanese native listeners reported previously. Unlike the results observed in the Japanese subjects, the Korean subjects did not show category-specific neural responses to a durational contrast that is non-distinctive in their first-language. The /a-e/ contrast elicited the larger response in the left auditory area, consistent with the results of the Japanese. These phoneme-dependent responses imply that the neuronal networks subserving the first and second-languages are either shared or exclusive according to the mutual relationship between the phonemic properties of the first and second-languages.

Korean women's attitudes toward physical activity.

In this study attitudes toward physical activity of three groups of Korean women were explored using a feminist qualitative research design. Seventeen healthy Korean women, 11 Korean women at risk of muscular atrophy, and 16 Korean immigrant women were recruited using a purposive sampling method. In-depth interviews using an interview guide were audiotaped and transcribed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the women viewed physical activity holistically, that death was viewed as the opposite of physical activity, that exercise was differentiated from physical activity, that exercise was connected to health, and that the women rarely participated in exercise because of their busy lives. The findings confirm the importance of considering the psychosocial contexts of attitudes toward health behavior.