KIHASA to Hold 2024 Health and Social Welfare Review Colloquium on 'Death with Dignity'

• ■The 9th Health and Social Welfare Review Colloquium will take place on Tuesday, June 25, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Korea Press Center Press Room.

• ■The event will feature expert presentations and in-depth discussions on social policies for dignified death.

• ■There will also be an awards ceremony for outstanding papers recognized by the Health and Social Welfare Review.

KIHASA wil host the 2024 Health and Social Welfare Review Colloquium at the Korea Press Center Press Room on Tuesday, June 25, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

This annual event, which has been held since 2016, aims to identify and publicize the challenges facing Korea's health and welfare sectors, and to propose policy alternatives. With this year's theme, "Are We Experiencing a Dignified Death?," this colloquium will discuss dignified death and social policy approaches to it.

The first part of the colloquium will be MC-ed by Dr. Lee Da-mi, Associate Research Fellow at KIHASA, and will include a celebratory event and awards ceremony for outstanding papers. The opening remarks will be given by Joo Eun-sun, Editor-in-Chief of the Health and Social Welfare Review, followed by a congratulatory message from the Acting President of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

The awards for outstanding papers will be presented after the congratulatory speech. In the field of health, the award will be given to Park Byung-sun and Lee Sun-young for their joint paper "Verification of the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the AUDIT-K Scale: Focusing on the Use of Indicies for Comparing Nested  RMSEA Models."

In the social field, Choi Jin-hee will be recognized for her outstanding paper "COVID-19 and Household Income Inequality: Focusing on the Role of the Income Security System and Temporary Disaster Relief Funds."

The second part will consist of thematic presentations and discussions. Under the chairmanship of Professor Kim Jin-seok of Seoul Women's University, the following presentations will be given: Dr. Jung Kyung-hee (former KIHASA Vice Preisdent) on "Diginified Death in Korean Society," Professor Kim Dae-kyun (Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea) on "Medicalized Death, the Common Death of Our Time," and Director Kim Jung-hoi (Health Insurance Research Institute, National Health Insurance Service) on "What is the Direction of the Social Security System for Dignified Death?"

Following the presentations, designated discussions will be held by the following: Kim Myung-hee (former President of the Korea National Institute of Bioethics Policy), Professor Seo Yi-jong (Department of Sociology, Seoul National University), Professor Choi Hye-ji (Department of Social Welfare, Seoul Women's University), and Professor Jang Suk-rang (College of Nursing, Chung-Ang University). After the designated discussions, there will be an open discussion involving all participants, including the editors of the Health and Social Welfare Review.

Joo Eun-sun, editor-in-chief of the Health and Social Welfare Review, said, " A dignified or undignified death is not just an event for one person, but has a significant impact on society. Through this colloquium, I hope we can discuss 'out' dignified death, not just my own, and work together to bring the issue of dignified death into the public discourse."

KIHASA's Acting President Kang Hye-kyu said, "This colloquium will be an important opportunity to share diverse perspectives on dignified death and enhance social understanding of it. I hope this event will help us rethink the meaning of a dignified life and death and explore policy approaches."