Earticle

Youth migration has become a critical issue for regional sustainability in depopulating areas. This study examines life-stage differences in migration behavior, migration reasons, and factors associated with settlement intention in Nonsan, a depopulating city in Chungcheongnam-do. Using domestic migration statistics and a survey of 245 young residents, the study estimates a pooled logistic regression model of settlement intention. Administrative data show life-stage differences: early-stage youth are more strongly associated with education- and job-related out-migration, whereas later-stage youth show more housing-related mobility. In the survey analysis, women had lower settlement intention than men (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.23–0.76), whereas residents with seven or more years of residence reported higher settlement intention than those with shorter residence (OR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.13–4.00). Although life stage showed no independent effect, adding satisfaction with youth policy, local living infrastructure, and quality of life improved model fit, highlighting the importance of living conditions in shaping settlement intention. These findings highlight the importance of local living conditions for youth settlement in depopulating regions.

This study investigated the relationship between the socioeconomic factors of region, economic participation, and income and the primary cause of suicide among adults, and the moderating role of alcohol use disorder. Using data from the Korean National Investigations of Suicide Victims Through Police Records, this study analyzed 3,310 suicide cases with multinomial logistic regression. Regarding the primary driver of suicide, women were more likely than men to identify mental health problems, while older adults were more likely to identify physical health problems. Economically active individuals were more likely to identify economic or familial problems than mental health issues, while those in the high-income group were more likely than those in the low-income group to identify mental health problems over economic problems. Urban residents with alcohol use disorder had a higher likelihood of experiencing mental health problems. However, alcohol use disorder did not significantly moderate the relationship between the primary cause of suicide and economic participation or income level. Tailored interventions are essential, including mental health support for younger adults, physical health assistance for older adults, and alcohol abuse prevention for urban residents.

The purpose of this study was to examine the current status and problems related to elderly patients and staff in Long-term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), to analyze the current state and causes of elder abuse within LTCHs, and to propose improvement measures aimed at ensuring the human rights-based quality of life of elderly patients in terms of dignity and safety. The findings suggest that the causes of elder abuse in LTCHs can be understood in relation to: (1) insufficient human rights education for LTCH staff and low levels of human rights sensitivity among workers; (2) poor working conditions and environments for caregivers; (3) the absence of independent legislation regulating the roles and functions of caregiving personnel and the lack of services grounded in such legislation; (4) the exclusion or slow expansion of integrated nursing-care services and caregiving benefit support policies in LTCHs; and (5) the increase in caregiving-oriented non-medical long-term hospitalization associated with the expansion of LTCH bed capacity. Based on these findings, this study proposes several policy and practical recommendations to address elder abuse in LTCHs.

Youth social isolation has become an increasingly significant social issue, yet it remains inadequately explained by existing psychological, relational, and structural approaches. This study reconceptualizes youth social isolation as a slow-building disaster and proposes a conceptual framework centered on recursive embeddedness to explain how cumulative harm unfolds across micro, meso, and macro levels. Integrating the dimensions of temporality, embeddedness, invisibility, and mobility, the framework demonstrates how isolation develops without a single triggering event, becomes socially invisible, and evolves into a self-reinforcing system of vulnerability. By extending disaster theory beyond acute events, this study offers a new theoretical perspective for understanding youth social isolation and provides a foundation for future empirical research, policy development, and community-based interventions. Rather than viewing social isolation as an individual condition, this study positions it as a slow-building disaster requiring long-term, multi-level, and disaster-informed responses.

This study examines the institutionalization of digital participation mechanisms in local governance. It is designed as a conceptual and literature-based analysis rather than a statistical test and situates e-participation within the literature on differentiated responsiveness and crisis management. Digital platforms, including mayoral mailboxes, 12345 hotlines, petition portals, and social media reporting, provide channels through which citizens communicate service requests, grievances, and local risk signals. The study argues that these mechanisms can function not only as participation channels but also as tools for early warning, information aggregation, and crisis detection when citizen input reveals administratively actionable problems. At the same time, they operate within established institutional arrangements that shape how governments process and respond to public demands. By conceptualizing e-participation as an information infrastructure for crisis governance, this study explains how digital participation may enhance administrative responsiveness and support a more information-rich and differentiated mode of governance.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how disaster-related power outages in Pakistan undermine the performance of emergency services and amplify the human impacts of climate-driven hazards. The findings indicate that aging and climate-sensitive power infrastructure, limited backup capacity in the health sector, and weak coordination between disaster management agencies and power utilities enable heatwaves and floods to escalate into complex emergencies. Evidence from Karachi shows that prolonged outages during extreme heat are strongly associated with surges in heatstroke morbidity and mortality, communication breakdowns, water and sanitation failures, and paralysis of command-and-control centers. The study concludes that reliable electricity is a foundational determinant of effective disaster governance and emergency care in Pakistan. It argues that prioritized power restoration for critical facilities, deployment of decentralized renewable microgrids, and explicit integration of energy resilience into heat-health and disaster response plans are essential to reducing preventable disaster losses and strengthening national resilience in a warming climate.

Guided by the strategic goal of high-level open economy, the Pilot Policies for the Innovative Development of Trade in Services have driven enterprise digital transformation and China's high-quality economic development through institutional innovation and opening-up measures. Using 2011-2022 panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies and a staggered difference-in-differences model, this research empirically investigates the policy's impact on corporate digital transformation. Results show the policy significantly facilitates corporate digital transformation, with mechanisms of technology absorption, digital management talent agglomeration and competitive escape. Heterogeneity analysis reveals the driving effect is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, firms with lower absorption capacity, coastal regions and firms with higher analyst coverage. This study regards corporate digital transformation as crisis adaptability and organizational resilience, and the findings provide empirical evidence and policy implications for understanding how institutional openness enhances firms' shock-absorbing ability and how pilot policies contribute to resilient regional economy construction in volatile global environment.

This methodological study developed and evaluated an AI-based hybrid simulation program to improve nursing students’ competency in initially responding to clinical deterioration in high-risk pediatric patients. Guided by the ADDIE model, the 220-minute program was developed from relevant literature, pediatric nursing practicum objectives, international simulation standards, and AI ethics guidelines. It comprised pre-learning, prebriefing, AI-based hybrid simulation, debriefing, and reflective learning, integrating an AI tutor, AI virtual caregiver, and AI-assisted debriefing tool. Content validity and AI-response validity were evaluated by 10 multidisciplinary experts, and feasibility was assessed with eight senior nursing students. For transparency, the LLM-based environment, model-use documentation, and prompt safeguards were specified. Validity was high: content S-CVI/Ave=.96 (domains .93–.98), AI-response S-CVI/Ave=.95 (components .94–.96), and feasibility=4.48±0.23/5. These findings support further quasi-experimental testing of educational effectiveness.

This study examined factors associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Korean older adults, using data from the 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 1,650 adults aged 65–80 years were analyzed using complex sample methods. HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D index. Factors associated with HRQoL were examined using complex sample logistic regression (good vs. poor HRQoL), and a sensitivity analysis using multiple linear regression with the continuous EQ-5D score. In the logistic regression, sex, pain or discomfort, and overall motor skills were significant factors associated with good HRQoL. Overall motor skills showed the strongest association (AOR = 3.217), while women (AOR = 0.651) and those with pain or discomfort (AOR = 0.432) had lower odds of good HRQoL. The sensitivity analysis showed consistent findings, with all functional domains significantly associated with HRQoL. These findings suggest that functional ability, particularly motor function, and pain management are key factors in HRQoL among older adults. Given South Korea's rapid population aging, these findings may help address emerging public health challenges by informing healthy aging strategies.

In 2025, Korea entered a super-aged society, leading to a rapid increase in the demand for elderly care while care resources remain insufficient. Care robots have emerged as a potential solution; however, their concept remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the concept of care robots in a super-aged society using Walker and Avant’s concept analysis method. Literature was collected from RISS and ProQuest using the keywords “robot care,” “care robot,” and “robot and healthcare.” Among 4,040 retrieved articles, 16 studies were finally analyzed. The defining attributes of care robots were identified as multidimensional care delivery, continuous daily life support, and interactive autonomy. Antecedents included demographic changes, transformations in care resources, and paradigm shifts in caregiving, whereas consequences included improved care efficiency, ethical and social concerns, and changes in care system acceptance. This study provides a conceptual foundation for future research, practice, and policy development related to care robots in a super-aged society.