The number of foreign workers, which has increased since 1989, can be classified into industrial trainees and illegal migratory workers. As of January 1995, the official number of foreign workers reached 49,805 according to the Ministry of Labor. But the real number is estimated to be around 100,000 and industrial trainees are 22,583 among them. The stress induced by the culture shock, 3D (dirty, difficult and dangerous) working conditions, and illegal status of the foreign workers is greater than that of regular Korean workers. By using a psychological well-being index (PWI) measuring stress on 144 foreign workers, it was revealed that 68 people experienced "high risk stress", 76 "latent stress", and the average score was 62.8. The overall stress level was very high. Considering the distribution of high risk stress group and latent stress group by socio-demographic factors, the percentage of high risk stress group was higher among workers whose contract periods are less than 2 years than among workers whose contract periods are longer than 2 years. And the percentage of high risk stress group was higher when the number of workers at factory becoming larger, and also higher among workers who can not communicate well than among workers communicate well. After having a multiple stepwise regression analysis to find the socio-demographic factors which influence the PWI score, we found that the PWI score goes higher when the contract period is becoming shorter and the work hours is becoming longer, and these two factors are able to explain the score to the level 16.3%.
Humans ; Shock ; Transients and Migrants*

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among social support (network, composition, and satisfaction), stress, and loneliness in migrant Yanbian Korean workers. METHOD: Data were collected by using Social Support Questionnaire 6, Visual Analogue Scale, and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. RESULT: Results indicate that means for social support were 1.52 for network size and 4.83 for satisfaction. The proportion percentage of network for kin members was 67.37. Subjects felt the moderate level of stress and loneliness. The level of loneliness was negatively related to the level of social support. CONCLUSION: This study showed that there is necessity to reduce stress and loneliness among migrant Yanbian Korean workers. Adequate social support satisfaction is crucial to reduce the level of loneliness in migrant Yanbian Korean workers.
Humans ; Loneliness* ; Transients and Migrants*

A cross-sectional survey using KAP survey was conducted in the Ea Rot hamlet, Cu Pui commune, Krongbong district of Daklak province where there settled a lot of unorganized people and a malaria outbreak occurred in 1997 to determine the malaria prevalence among the migrant people and risk factors for infection. It was found that malaria prevalence among the unorganized migrant people was higher than that of the local ones (7.8% compared to 4.07%) with p< 0.05. There was no significant difference of malaria infection rate of the migrant people between male and female, (8.63% vs 7.14%) with p>0.05, between Thai group and H'mong group (8.94% vs 6.67%) with p>0.05. However, a significant difference of malaria infection rate was found between the forest overnight and non-overnight people (25.61% vs 10.63%) with p<0.05, between the people using and not using mosquito nets (48.78% vs 77.01%) with p<0.05
Malaria ; Transients and Migrants

PURPOSE: In Korea, the number of migrant workers is increasing. However, migrant workers have low job satisfaction due to poor working environment, and insufficient social support. This study aimed to investigate the role of social support for job satisfaction of migrant workers. METHOD: We have analyzed the survey data of 397 migrant workers collected from free clinic for migrant workers located in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do. RESULT: When the migrant workers received monetary and emotional supports from supervisors and colleagues, their job satisfaction turned out to be significantly high. The factors that influence job satisfaction of migrant workers are as follows: involvement in manufacturing industry, over 9 hours of daily sleep, monetary and emotional support from supervisors. Their job satisfaction strongly influenced by these factors. CONCLUSION: Social support will increase job satisfaction of migrant workers and it will subsequently decrease job turnover rate and increase productivity as well as quality of life.
Efficiency ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea ; Transients and Migrants

Humans ; Occupational Health Services ; Transients and Migrants

The Philippines has been lauded for its labor-export programs and is deemed as a global model of migration by other countries. With the economic and employment challenges in the country, seeking work opportunities overseas becomes a promising option. Numerous policies bring forth to the creation of government agencies that focus on labor protection and welfare promotion of migrant workers here and in their host countries, which include advancement of mental health. This paper aims to review and identify the gaps of regulatory policies that intersect the phases of migration: pre-deployment, deployment, and reintegration. Statistics and anecdotal data show that cases of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are increasing given the presence of adverse working conditions across the continents. This problem is compounded by cultural stigma and financial inaccessibility of seeking mental health services. Post-repatriation issues, particularly the concerns on socio-economic reintegration is further noted. Thus, the management of mental health among OFWs calls for a comprehensive review of our existing policies and the delineation of the interrelated responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders for effective multisectoral program implementation. Synchronized endeavors of different agencies for efficient handling of psychosocial programs for OFWs in all stages of deployment is needed. Realistic and sustainable programs to address mental health issues are attainable through collaborative actions, with the foresight of focusing on prevention rather than treatment.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the effect size of intervention programs for married immigrant women as well as to suggest the basic data for health care practices for married migrant women. METHODS: Meta-analysis was conducted with 27 articles from domestic Korea master's and doctorate degree dissertations and Korea academic journals from 2007 to 2014. RESULTS: Overall average effect size was 1.17 and 'parental education' of Intervention Variables was the biggest effect size. Intervention Variables were also identified to be the most desirable in cases when total sessions were applied with 10-18 sessions, 1 session per week, 90-120 minutes per session activity time and with less than 10 subjects in group size. Regarding effect variables, psychological variable group was identified to show the biggest effect size and in sub-variables, self-efficacy was identified to show the biggest effect size. CONCLUSION: If intervention programs for married immigrant women is expanded and conducted based on the results of this study, the program would have significant affect psychological, social and physical health of the married migrant women who currently occupy the important status in our society.
Delivery of Health Care ; Emigrants and Immigrants* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Transients and Migrants

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual condition of social support and loneliness and to examine of the relation between social support and loneliness in migrant workers. METHODS: One hundred and thirty migrant workers were sampled from two churches located at Seoul and Gyeonggi-do in order to collect basic data onmigrant workers from August to December, 2007 using a questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA test. RESULTS: 1) The average scores of social support and loneliness were 3.73 +/- 0.31 and 2.57 +/- 0.31, respectively. 2) With respect to the general characteristics of subjects, there was no statistically significant difference in social support, but there was a significant difference in loneliness according to religion (t=2.586, p=.001). 3) The correlation coefficient between social support and loneliness was not significant (r=-.010, p=.929). CONCLUSION: Social support should be considered in nursing intervention to decrease the level of loneliness in migrant workers. More studies are needed to identify variables influencing social support and loneliness in migrant workers.
Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Loneliness* ; Nursing ; Seoul ; Transients and Migrants* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the musculoskeletal symptoms of migrant workers. We focused on the relationship between job stress and musculoskeletal symptoms. METHOD: A questionnaire was administered to 502 migrant workers who visited NGO migrant worker centers located in Gyung-gi province. A structured, self-reported questionnaire was administered to participants in order to capture the following information: sociodemographics, health factors including past medical history, work related characteristics, job stress, and musculoskeletal symptoms. The job stress questionnaires were used according to KOSS-26 and musculoskeletal symptoms were measured using KOSHA Code H-30-2003. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between risk factors which included job stress, and musculoskeletal symptoms. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of musculoskeletal symptoms in survey subjects was 35.1%. Other than job stress factors, past medical history was the only factor that had a statistical relationship to musculoskeletal symptoms (P<0.01). In the domains of job stress, physical environment (OR 1.62, 95% CI: 1.03~2.54), job demand (OR 2.43, 95% CI: 1.46~4.03), job insecurity (OR 1.59, 95% CI: 1.03~2.47), occupational climate (OR 2.30, 95% CI: 1.27~4.19) were most likely experience musculoskeletal symptoms. CONCLUSION: The job stress factor appeared to correlate more with musculoskeletal symptoms than with sociodemographics or other factors. Hence, in order to prevent migrant worker's musculoskeletal symptoms, we believe that intervention in job stress (physical environment, job demand, job insecurity, occupational climate) is necessary.
Climate ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Transients and Migrants

Global warming poses an ever-increasing threat to human health, with heat-related illnesses affecting economically underdeveloped tropical regions, posing new challenges to Chinese foreign medical aid work in Africa. By improving the professional ability of foreign aid medical team members and paying attention to the prevention and treatment of heat-related illnesses, they can provide better medical services for recipient countries and Chinese migrant workers in Africa while ensuring their safety.
China ; Global Warming ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; International Cooperation ; Transients and Migrants