KIHASA has released an online survey of people aged 19 to 79 on their perception of health rights and use of non-medical health promotion services.

Of the total survey subjects, 62.2% thought that non-medical health services should be considered as a necessary element for securing people’s right to health, Choi Eun Jin, research fellow at KIHASA and head of this research, said. She also expressed her concern at an analysis of national health data that showed that an increasing number of people in different population groups were in need of managing health risk factors. If non-medical health services are conducive to improving the health levels of at-risk groups with multiple health risk factors, they should be supported and strengthened with a national policy that promotes health equity, added Choi. This will contribute to reducing socio-economic burdens associated with health problems.

The following are the summary of the research:

• ■ 80% (3,457) of the respondents said they had tried to control their weight over the past year.

• -The main reason they were controlling weight was to keep healthy (physical fitness) (47.6%). The most commonly used means for weight control were dieting (68.5%), physical activity (63.4%), and physical exercising (32.3%).

• -For the experience of non-medical health services, 33.1% said they had used mobile or web-based weight loss programs, and 31.2% said they had received them at gymnasiums or sports centers. 

• ■Developing non-medical health services in the public health sector

• ○It is necessary to make the job descriptions and targets of non-medical health services more specific and to design the delivery processes, common and specialized, of these services, securing the specialities of the work involved and the efficient use of the human resources.

• -This may require introducing a national licensing scheme for workers engaged in non-medical health services. 

• ■In most selected countries, a wide range of workers delivered non-medical health services, and most of these countries had identical workforce standards.

• ○In both public and private sectors, non-medical health services were delivered in the various forms of mobile health applications, workplace health promotion programs, and at-home care for discharged patients.

• ○Non-medical health services have a potential to bring about positive health outcomes, but without clear guidelines and rules about the services and the workforce, it’s hard to predict any possible health hazards derived from them.

• ■ The prospect of the non-medical health services market

• ○The ministry of health and welfare guidelines for non-medical health services are centered on providers, with instructions on counseling, the education and training of the workforce, and designing and delivering service programs; so there is a need to make more specific guidelines for service users.

• ○In addition to smoking cessation, alcohol abstinence, physical exercising, and nutrition, the scope of non-medical health services should be expanded to include personal hygiene, safety, sexual behavior, and stress management, elements of a post-Covid-19 lifestyle.

• ○There is a need to break down and develop the operational definition of non-medical health services, with a focus on health management, including healthy lifestyle.

• ○It is also necessary to review the certification and licensing of non-medical health services; The current licensing system of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety can be referred to.

• ■There is a need to educate and train the workforce who can provide health management services that meet the demands of people, and to secure the effectiveness of their services regardless of individual differences in knowledge and available resources, further research and development in the workforce is needed.

• ■According to an analysis of national health data, the number of people who are in need of managing health risk factors to maintain and promote health is on the rise. As a result, a policy is needed to provide non-medical health services to these at-risk groups with a view to securing health equity.