• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2017

Objectives: I examined the health and oral health status of elderly people living alone compared to elderly people living with their families by using data (2014) from the 6th Two-Year Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: Among 1,454 health survey respondents aged 65 years and over who participated in the 6th Two-Year Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2014, 311 were elderly people living alone and 1,143 were elderly people living with their families. Results: In terms of socio-demographic characteristics, the percentage of elderly people living alone was high especially in women and when the subjects' age, education level, and income level were low. In terms of oral health status, the percentage of elderly people living alone was high when elderly people thought that their subjectively viewed health was poor and the frequency of drinking and exercise was low. In terms of oral health status, the percentage of elderly people living alone was high among elderly people who did not have good oral health in their subjective view and did not get oral examinations for a year and had a lot of difficulty chewing. Conclusions: Family support or additional social support for elderly people who live alone should be considered to promote the healthy lives of elderly people.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.69-81
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• 2021

Purpose: This study purposed to analyze of factors related to suicidal ideation among people with and without disabilities in elderly living alone Methods: The study examines the factors of suicidal ideation using over 65 years of age who participated in the 2017 National Survey of Older Koreans of the elderly living alone data. Subjects were 2,265 person among elderly living alone over 65 years of age. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, X²-test, t-test, logistic regression analysis with the SPSS win 26.0 program. Results: Suicidal ideation of the elderly living alone with disabilities were 13.6% and 9.0% of the elderly living alone without disabilities, and the elderly living alone with disabilities had higher suicidal ideation (p<.05). The significant predictors of the suicidal ideation in elderly living alone with disabilities were employment and depression. The significant predictors of the suicidal ideation in elderly living alone without disabilities were age, gender, number of chronic disease, economic state, SLCA(Society, leisure, culture, and activities) and depression. Depression was analyzed as a common factor related to suicidal ideation in disabled and non-disabled elderly living alone. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to develop a program for people with and without disabilities. It is necessary to prepare various programs and community support systems to prevent and manage depression for people with and without disabilities in elderly living alone.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.309-320
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• 2019

Objectives: This study was undertaken to compare dietary life of the elderly living alone and in a family, and to compare differences based on gender, for the 2013-2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: The subjects included 2,612 elderly people aged over 65 years who participated in the health survey, health examination and nutrition survey. Subjects on a diet therapy were excluded. This study analyzed the general characteristics, dietary habits, daily energy and nutrient intakes, CPF ratio, estimated average requirement (EAR), nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) and mean adequacy ratio (MAR), index of nutrient quality (INQ), and food consumption of the elderly living alone and in a family. We also compared the differences based on gender. Results: Daily intake of food, water, dietary fiber, potassium, retinol, and riboflavin were low in the male elderly subjects living alone. The elderly living with family revealed higher NAR and MAR as compared to the elderly living alone. Although all MAR values were <1, the elderly living alone had lower values. Considering the intake of food, the consumption of seaweed, fish and shellfish, and oils (animal) was higher in elderly men living with families, whereas women living with families consumed more vegetables, fruits, seaweeds and seafood, as compared to their counterparts living alone. Furthermore, analyzing the foods consumed by the elderly people living alone, female subjects consumed more seaweed, milk and animal oil as compared to male subjects. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the elderly living alone have poor nutrient intake as compared to the elderly living with families. Based on this research data, we recommend that it is necessary to improve the health and nutritional status of the elderly living alone.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.443-451
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• 2017

The purpose of this research is to examine ways to improve the quality of life of elderly people living alone in urban areas by identifying their stress, social support, and quality of life as well as analyzing the relationships between these factors. In this research, a questionnaire survey was conducted for approximately two weeks including 232 elderly people aged 65 years and above who were using 10 senior welfare centers in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions. The results of the analysis based on the collected data showed that of the stresses experienced by elderly people living alone in urban areas, the stresses of health, family, and psychological and social stresses had negative effects on social support and quality of life. Also, it was found that the social support of elderly people living alone had positive effects on the quality of life. Additionally, it was found that social support had a mediating effect in the relationship between stress and quality of life of elderly people living alone in urban areas. In other words, social support plays a buffer role in enhancing the quality of life regarding health, family, economy, and psychological and social stresses. This research has significant implications in that it was conducted on elderly people living alone, since elderly people living alone are not only under more stressful circumstances in a vulnerable environment than other seniors but also their quality of life is much lower. The implications of this research are that, from a social point of view, these elderly people living alone should no longer be neglected and that differentiated policy interventions for elderly people living alone is required.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influenced depression of the elderly vulnerable people living alone in the public home visiting health service center. Methods: The participants for this study were 491 Korean elderly men living in G city. Data were collected from February to July, 2011 using structured questionnaires. ${\chi}^2$-test, t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression with the SPSS/WIN program were used to analyze the data. Results: The levels of ADL and IADL of the elderly living alone were higher, and the levels of social support and life satisfaction were lower than the normal elderly. Depression was positively related to ADL and IADL and negatively to social support and life satisfaction in the elderly living alone. In addition, age, fall experience, ADL, IADL and life satisfaction had influence on the depression. Conclusion: The elderly living alone are in a more serious health status, especially in depression than the normal elderly. It is necessary to develop depression controlling intervention programs in order to promote healthy lifestyles for the elderly vulnerable people living alone.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.8957-8965
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• 2015

The degree of difficulty in low-income elderly people who living alone' life satisfaction is increased. The aim of this study is to find factors affecting the low-income elderly people who living alone' life satisfaction by examining the comparative influence of loneliness, family support, social support. For achieving this purpose, this study analyzed data of 300 low-income elderly people who living alone in Gyeonggi province. Findings of the study identified that the factors affecting the life satisfaction were health status, loneliness, family support, social support. Further, family support and social support had a significant influence on the low-income elderly people who living alone' life satisfaction even after controlling the influences of other factors. On the basis of the results, practical suggestions to increase the life satisfaction of low-income elderly people who living alone were discussed.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.264-273
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• 2012

This study analyzes the food frequency for the elderly regarding different family types and finds the factors for nutritional risk, offers a basic reference for providing nutritional support for them. The study referred to the dietary behavioral survey data of 3,680 elderly people (1652 male and 2028 female) from 21 regions in the northern Kyeonggi province. The data was collected through the method of one-to-one interviews and was a part of the Community Health Survey for 2008 by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). We classified family types as a household for elderly people living alone, a household of elderly people with a spouse, a household of the elderly with unmarried children and a household of the elderly with married children, and as for intakes of foods, the frequencies of taking fruits, vegetables, kimchi, rice with mixed cereals, meat, fish, bean tofu soymilk, milk and dairy products, as well as sweet beverages are calculated on a daily basis and skipped meals are calculated on a weekly basis. Elderly women showed lower income, lower education level, higher unemployment rates, and a higher rate of government healthcare subsidies than elderly men. Elderly women tend to live alone and with their children while elderly men tend to live with their spouse. In both males and females, the intake of fruits and vegetables were the least in the elderly living alone, while the elderly with married children ate the most. In both males and females, the household of the elderly living alone ate significantly less amounts of Kimchi than other family types. Elderly people living alone tended to have significantly less meat and fish, especially women. In the case of rice with mixed cereals, the elderly men living alone and the elderly men with unmarried children ate significantly less amounts than the elderly men living with a spouse. The elderly men living alone took significantly less milk and dairy products than the elderly men with unmarried children while the elderly women living with a spouse took significantly less milk and dairy products than the elderly women with married children. With regards to the frequency of meal-skipping, the elderly living alone had the highest frequency for skipping meals. From this result, having various foods is difficult for the elderly living alone. Furthermore, the elderly living with unmarried children demonstrated a low quality of dietary life compared to those of married children. Hence, it can be concluded that social support is important in order for the elderly to have a balanced diet.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.41-48
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• 2010

Numerous researches are being made on applications based on ubiquitous sensor networks and super light, low power sensors. With the development of society, the aged population is expanding and living alone elders are one of important social issues in today's society. This paper implements the living alone elderly people protection system using ubiquitous sensor networks. By collecting and monitoring information on living alone elders using sensor nodes and sink nodes in web environment, we can perform more integrated management. The implemented living alone elderly people protection system can monitor living alone elders' situation and take actions promptly in emergency.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2017

Using data from the 2015 Korea Welfare Panel Study, we examined the predictors of psychological well-being (life satisfaction and depression) of single elderly people living alone across development stages (young-old, mid-old, and old-old) and suggested implications for elderly policy. For this purpose, we selected 1,364 elderly people who lived alone but preserved their family relationships, and were 65 years of age or older. Separate analyses were conducted for the three groups of single elderly people living alone. Overall, the psychological well-being of single elderly people living alone was higher than moderate level, and they were generally satisfied with their everyday lives and less depressed. However, there were group differences: the young-old group was more satisfied than the old-old group with in their everyday lives and less depressed than the mid-old and old-old groups. In the young-old group, life satisfaction was significantly associated with subjective health, non-physical conflict with family, disposal income, house ownership, dietary deficiency, cost of living, and public pension. In addition, depression was significantly associated with subjective health, non-physical conflict with family, dietary deficiency, and physical conflict with family. In the mid-old group, life satisfaction was significantly associated with subjective health, housing non-physical conflict with family, disposal income, and dietary deficiency. Depression was significantly associated with subjective health, housing deficiency. In the old-old group, life satisfaction was significantly associated with subjective health and non-physical conflict with family. Depression was significantly associated with subjective health. Therefore, 'health'and 'family'are important key concepts to consider when making elderly policy.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.112-122
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• 2016

The study aims to furnish the data for the study of invigorating communities of various ages including old people living alone. Furthermore, it seems that the laddering method and kj method can be useful for the study of various attitude survey. This study attempted to extract necessary factors for space for community behavior of elderly people living alone using laddering survey method and KJ rule on a sample of elderly people who live alone in three different rental housings. The keywords that were drawn from the perception survey through laddering were divided into small, middle and large classification using KJ rule. Mostly identical keywords were extracted in the three complexes, implying that there is no difference of perception among the three complexes in this survey. According to the large classification where KJ rule was applied, there were six necessary factors for space for community activity of elderly people living alone in rental housing including spatial consideration, communication, resting space, nature-friendliness, health promotion and Secure identity, which were the same for all of the three complexes.