Research Monographs

The Role of National Research Institutes in the Development of Health and Social Policies in Korea: Focused on the Case of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs

The Role of National Research Institutes in the Development of Health and Social Policies in Korea: Focused on the Case of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs

  • Author

    Kyunghee Chung

  • Publication Date

    2020

  • Pages

  • Series No.

  • Language

This study aims to review the role of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) in the development of health and social policies in Korea in the last half a century. The foundation of KIHASA dates back to the establishment in 1971 of the Korean Institute for Family Planning, which in 1981 merged with Korea Health Development Institute (KHDI) into the Korea Institute for Population and Health (KIPH). In 1989, KIPH was renamed KIHASA to befit its status as a think tank with an expansive spectrum of expertise and responsibilities.

 

This report consists of four parts. Part 1 reviews changes such as budget, organization, and manpower since 1971 based on administrative materials. Also, based on the key roles assigned to KIHASA, major accomplishment related to 1) national planning on health and welfare policies and agenda development, 2) provision of em-pirical foundation for policy development, 3) policy implementation base such as service delivery system, social security finance and policy evaluation, and 4) the outline of research performed by KIHASA are summarized.

 

Part 2 presents quantitative analyses on the accomplishment of research activities of KIHASA. It is a bibliographical review of publications, individual researchers’ articles, ‘Health and Social Welfare Review’ (a journal published by KIHASA), changes in main research topics. In addition, this part reviews how KIHASA’s national survey data have been used in cooperation with industry/ university researchers. Also, big data analysis was conducted on the articles of major newspaper referring the KIHASA reports.

 

Part 3 consists of comprehensive analyses including problem recognition, policy measure suggestions, and introduction of policy measures in main policy areas. For this part, a literature review and interviews with retired researchers of KIHASA and experts were conducted.

 

The last part makes suggestions for the future roles of KIHASA based on the analyses of Part1Part 3 and a survey regarding contributions and limitations of KIHASA. The respondents were professors and researchers in health and welfare fields. Also, round table discussions with former presidents and expert were conducted to seek measures for further development.

 

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