Comparison Life Satisfaction with Health Perception of the Elderly People in Jeonbuk Area

전북지역(全北地域) 노인(老人)의 건강인식(健康認識)에 따른 생활만족도(生活滿足度)의 비교(比較)

The present study is intended to supply the welfare program for the elderly people with the data to be acquired by comparing and analyzing life satisfaction and health perception of 797 elders living in Jeonbuk area on the past, present and future dimensions. The results could be drawn as follows: 1. The subjects are composed of 50.8% females and 40.2% males. The majority of them are urbanites, living with spouses, dependent on children financially and suffering currently from illness. 2. With regard to their consciousness of health and life satisfaction, most subjects are not confident in their health but are satisfied with their current life. 3. As for socio-demographic characters by gender, male elders are mostly living with spouses(p=.000) and diseases(p=.000). Whereas, most females are left without spouses(p=.000) but with diseases(p=.000). 4. In terms of life satisfaction in connection with health perception by gender, elderly men seem to be significantly satisfied with their life in the past(p=.001), present(p=.000) and future(p=.000). Likewise, elderly women are significantly satisfied with their life in the past(p=.000), present(p=.000) and future(p=.000). Both men and women turned out to be satisfied with their present life, particularly. From the above outcomes, it may be summed up as follows: All the subjects in this survey are currently suffering from some kinds of diseases and have, thus, no confidence in their health. As far as they remain confident in their health, they can be satisfied with their life in the past, present and future dimensions, particularly for the present. In conclusion, the consciousness of one's health has great influence on one's life satisfaction especially in elderly stage. It seems, therefore, imperative to help the elderly people to control their health continuously to make them confident in their health and to develop welfare programs to meet diverse needs of the elderly people.