J Korean Med Assoc.  2017 Aug;60(8):622-626. 10.5124/jkma.2017.60.8.622.

Future policy directions for planning of national responsibility for dementia care

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Neurology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. kimsh1@hanyang.ac.kr

Abstract

Dementia is one of the biggest global public health challenges facing our generation today. By 2030, Korea is projected to have the highest life expectancy in the world. The government's new plans regarding national responsibility for dementia care are well-timed strategies for patients and family members suffering from dementia and should be welcomed. The newly designed national dementia strategy of Korea may set new standards for dementia welfare policies. However, these plans should be modified after careful consideration of following aspects: financial sustainability, issues related with long-term care systems for other critical diseases, and instantaneous nationwide implementation without a period of trial-and-error learning. More gradual and steady policy initiatives is preferred. Through consensus we should strategically develop the optimal quality control system for dementia care and education program for training physicians, dementia-care professionals, and workers to be deployed in both specialized 72 public dementia care hospitals and nationwide 252 regional dementia centers. In addition, these care plans should also include health policy aiming the primary prevention to reduce future dementia prevalence while creating dementia-friendly communities and emphasizing clinical and basic research for dementia. Modifying the current plans for the Korean national dementia strategy using stepwise, well-integrated, and systematic approaches will lead to successful dementia welfare policy.

Keyword

Dementia; Care; Policy; Integrated; Health

MeSH Terms

Consensus
Dementia*
Education
Health Policy
Humans
Korea
Learning
Life Expectancy
Long-Term Care
Prevalence
Primary Prevention
Public Health
Quality Control

Cited by  1 articles

Dementia Research Using Healthcare Big Data
Hun-Sung Kim, Dai-Jin Kim
Dement Neurocogn Disord. 2019;18(3):73-76.    doi: 10.12779/dnd.2019.18.3.73.


Reference

1. Kontis V, Bennett JE, Mathers CD, Li G, Foreman K, Ezzati M. Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a Bayesian model ensemble. Lancet. 2017; 389:1323–1335.
Article
2. Statistics Korea. Current Korean population and prospective [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea;2015. cited 2017 Jul 30. Available from: http://kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/kor_nw/2/2/6/index.board.
3. National Institute of Dementia. Korean dementia observatory 2016 [Internet]. Seongnam: National Institute of Dementia;2017. cited 2017 Jul 30. Available from: https://www.nid.or.kr/info/dataroom_view.aspx?bid=160.
4. Choi H, Yang YS, Kim HJ, Na HR, Shim YS, Park KY, Yang DW, Kim SH, Han IW, Han SH, Park KH. The survey for current state and dognition of activities of daily living in dementia patients: Il-sang-ye-chan Campaign. Dement Neurocognitive Disord. 2013; 12:47–51.
Article
5. Choi H, Kim HJ, Kim KH, Oh SI, Kim SH. The consideration about usefulness of mass screening for dementia. Dement Neurocognitive Disord. 2014; 13:117–120.
Article
6. Satizabal CL, Beiser AS, Chouraki V, Chene G, Dufouil C, Seshadri S. Incidence of dementia over three decades in the Framingham Heart Study. N Engl J Med. 2016; 374:523–532.
Article
Full Text Links
  • JKMA
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr