How do Poor Elderly Females Recognize and Prepare for Death? - With Focus on Attitudes of Elderly Female Beneficiaries Towards Death -

빈곤여성노인들은 어떻게 죽음을 인식하고 준비하고 있을까? - 여성노인수급자의 죽음에 대한 태도 -

To provide a satisfactory life for the elderly females who are the most impoverished among the elderly social strata, this study is geared towards, and focused on, the exploration on their attitudes towards death. For the purpose of this study, in-depth interviews with females aged 65 and over, who are officially classified as the beneficiary of national fundamental livelihood security, have been conducted. Then, the results from these interviews have been compiled and analyzed through qualitative research methods. As a result of this research, the attitudes of the destitute elderly females towards death are categorized into several themes, such as 'Feeling close to the death through a hard life', 'Positive acceptance of the death', 'Relying on funeral services from government and religious organization', 'Hoping for a death with dignity'. The attitudes of death means to them that 'they can get out of a hard life', and elderly female beneficiaries were positive in their acceptance of this meaning. Those who could obtain funeral services as a part of assistance from government and a religious organization did not feel stressful about their funeral arrangements. However, there were individuals who didn't know if their funeral services would be covered by the government. They were unsure if a funeral service would be held for them, or they would have nobody to hold a funeral for them. Accordingly, they were worried about that. The poor elderly females were unhealthy and indigent, and so, they had death anxiety. Therefore, based on the study results above, some ideas regarding elderly welfare are proposed to enable poor elderly females to face their deaths with dignity.

본 연구는 노인인구계층에서 사회경제적으로 가장 열악한 빈곤여성노인의 죽음에 대한 태도를 탐색하여 현재의 삶을 지원하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 65세 이상의 여성 국민기초생활보장수급자를 대상으로 심층면접을 진행하여 질적연구방법을 통해 자료를 분석하였다. 연구결과, 빈곤여성노인의 죽음에 대한 태도는 주제인 '고생스러운 현실에서 죽음을 느낌', '죽음을 긍정적으로 받아들임', '믿고 있는 장례준비', '좋은 죽음을 맞이하고 싶음' 등으로 도출되었다. 이들에게 죽음은 '고단한 인생살이에서 벗어남'을 의미하였다. 빈곤여성노인의 죽음준비는 배우자나 자식이 없는 경우가 많아 부계혈통 중심의 장례절차에 한계를 느끼고 공적 지원체계(장제급여)와 민간의 지원체계(사회복지시설 입소, 종교활동)를 통해 마련하고 있었다. 빈곤여성노인은 건강하지 않고 경제적으로 어려워서 죽음과정에 대한 두려움을 가지고 있었다. 이에 빈곤여성노인이 좋은 죽음을 맞이하기 위한 노인복지적 제언을 제시하였다.