The purpose of this study is 1) to investigate the feasibility on the establishment of specialized hospitals for farmers and fishermen, and 2) to suggest the operation plan of the specialized hospitals for farmers and fishermen.
Research methods include collection of existing related data, re-analysis of previous statistical data, the mail survey on the health and medical service use of farmers, analysis of foreign cases, interview, and so on. Existing related data were collected from the related research institutes and governmental organizations. The mail survey was conducted among 818 local correspondents of Korea Rural Economic Institute. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentage, and mean were used to organize and summarize the data.
In the establishment and management of specialized hospitals for farmers and fishermen, we should synthetically consider the accessibility, compre- hensiveness, sustainability, and effectiveness of health and medical services. We have two options to establish specialized hospitals for farmers and fishermen: 1) to establish new specialized hospitals for farmers and fishermen, 2) to designate medical service centers specialized in treating farmers and fishermen by supporting and funding existing hospitals. The realistic option is to provide farmers and fishermen with practical health and medical services by designating medical service centers specialized in treating them.
The diseases related to farmers and fishermen have not been officially admitted as independent occupational diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and investigate the actual conditions of occupational diseases of farmers and fishermen.
The step-by-step implementation plan required sequentially to establish the hospitals specialized in treating farmers and fishermen are as follows. The first step comprises 1) operation of task force team for medical centers specialized in treating farmers and fishermen, 2) designation and operation of research centers, and 3) pilot operation of specialized medical care centers. The second step comprises 1) enforcement of networks and operational foundation, and 2) examination on the establishment of hospitals specialized in treating diseases like agrichemical poisoning of farmers and fishermen. The third step is to establish new hospitals for farmers and fishermen in the regions with poor medical services or remote areas.


Researchers: Kyeong-Hwan Choi, Dae-Shik Park and Joo-Nyung, Heo
Research period: 2010. 5. ~ 2010. 12.
E-mail address: kyeong@krei.re.kr