Dr. Sunhwa Kim of the College of Nursing (Advisor: Professor Hye-young Kim) received the Outstanding Poster Award at the recent academic conference of the Korean Academy of Nursing Science held in Seoul, after presenting her doctoral dissertation.

The conference, titled "The Era of Innovation in Health Care: Discourses on Holistic Human Care," featured a variety of studies. Dr. Kim presented a study entitled "A Multiple Mediation Model of Self-Care and Quality of Life in Young Adults With Hypertension: Examining the Mediating Effects of Maintenance, Monitoring, and Management," which was recognized for its academic excellence.

This study, based on Riegel's Middle-Range Theory of Chronic Illness Self-Care, identified factors influencing self-care (maintenance, monitoring, management) and quality of life among young adults with hypertension. It constructed a multiple mediation path model and tested the pathway relationships.

In particular, the study confirmed that, to improve self-care and quality of life among young adults with hypertension, intervention strategies should prioritize goal setting and motivation enhancement, and integrate efforts to strengthen social support and health information literacy. Such strategies are expected to contribute practically to sustained self-care and improvements in quality of life for young adults with hypertension.

Dr. Kim said, "I am deeply honored that this meaningful achievement was recognized for research conducted focusing on younger age groups with low hypertension awareness and treatment rates. I am deeply grateful to Professor Hye-young Kim and the faculty of the College of Nursing for their careful guidance." She added, "Based on the results of this study, I plan to carry out follow-up research to develop and validate a tailored self-care intervention program to support healthy self-care habits among young adults with hypertension."