Purpose: The purpose of this study was to suggest the projected workforce of home health care specialists in Korea.
Method: Need model, ratio methods and expert opinion were used for projecting the number of home health care specialists.
Result: 1) In 2002, there are 13 programs which offer one year home health specialist training. From those programs, they produced 3860 registered home health care specialists. 2) In 2002, there are 89 hospital- based home health service units and 220 active home health care specialists. 3) In case of hospital- based home health service, average of 4 services per month for average of 3 months was assumed as workforce standard. 4) In case of community-based home health service, average of 4 services per month for 12 months was assumed as workforce standard. 5) The number of home health care specialists required to meet the demands for home health care population in 2000 and 2005 was estimated at minimum of 20,361 to maximum of 31,360 and 21,989 to 34,080, respectively.
Conclusion: Community home health care agencies are needed to meet the demands of home health care.
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