• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.615-628
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• 2004

This study is designed to examine influences of living arrangements on psycho-social factors, health and nutritional status, dietary adequacy and meal service utility patterns of the elderly. Nutritional status was evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Three hundred and nine elderly (110 men and 199 women) who participated in meal service in the Chung-buk province were investigated. Proportion of the elderly living alone, couples only, living with spouse and family, living with family without spouse; and living with other than family were 30.7%, 25.9%, 14.2%, 24.3% and 4.9% respectively. The mean age of the elderly was 74.1 years and the elderly who are living couples only and living with spouse and family were younger than those with other living status. Living arrangements seem to be related to psycho-social factors, health and nutritional status, and dietary quality. Those who live alone and live with other than family were mostly women and they have lower socio-economic status, psycho-social, health and nutritional status and dietary patterns compared with those of the elderly who are living with spouse or family. It was found that the elderly who live a couple only and live with spouse and family had better emotional, health and nutritional index than those of the elderly who live with family without spouse, especially in case of females. Most of elderly perceived that participation of meal service programs had a positive effect on their daily life and satisfied with meals. The elderly living alone and living with other than family were more frequently using meal service but had a negative attitude about the charged meal service for better quality than the elderly with other living status. The most important reason for all the elderly to participate in meal service was to meet their friends and then to get other services. Particularly those who are living alone and living with other than family showed lack of moivation to prepare and set the meal, and for them the economic reason is also important. They also replied that the poor health and lack of other help were the most difficult problems for them to prepare meals. It would be effective to provide nutritional services that meet specific needs of the elderly according to their characteristics and living environment.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.77-91
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to find out the variables affecting the successful aging of the elderly. To achieve this purpose, a survey was conducted with 388 seniors living in the Jeonbuk area. The data were analyzed using multiple regressions and a path analysis. The major findings were as follows: First, statistically significantly different perception of successful aging was observed according to their marital status. Second, successful aging of the elderly with a spouse was influenced by personal variables, such as their own perception of economic status, gender, education level and physical condition. In contrast, successful aging of the elderly without a spouse was most influenced by social variables, such as family support. Third, the attitude towards aging directly affected successful aging. Various personal and social characteristics indirectly affected successful aging via attitudes towards aging according to the presence of a spouse.

• 한국노년학
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.35-52
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• 2005

This study attempts to develop the scale of 'Successful Aging' for Korean elderly. It follows fives: (1)developing 105 items based on the literature reviews, (2)performing the 1st survey to confirm and reduce items, (3)verifying the content validity through the professional group and the elderly focused group, (4)performing the 2nd survey to explore the factors of 'Successful Aging' and (5)performing the 3rd survey to identify the construct validity and concurrent validity. The scale constructs four factors with 30 items. The four factors are confirmed : (1)self efficacy, (2)satisfaction with adult children's success, (3)couple life like companion, (4)self control. The reliability of this scale is 0.94 and the relationship between the items and each factor are statistically significant by the confirmatory factor analysis. Thus, the content validity is verified. Also the correlation with the successful aging and the life satisfaction is 0.69 and then the concurrent validity is verified. This 'Successful Aging Scale' for Korean elderly will contribute to use as the socio-metrics at the welfare practice for aging.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2003

In this study, the characteristics and patterns of family problems were explored. What constituted family problems, and how those evolved over the period of drastic changes in the Korean society were examined, by analyzing articles published from the 1940s to the 1980s in the four major national newspapers in Korea. A total of 6542 articles related to family problems in the four newspapers, Chosun, Dong-A, Kyunghyang, and Seoul, were used for the content analysis of this study. The main categories of family problems were classified as poverty, marital issues, issues related to children and adolescents, elderly issues, problems in the family as an institution, and the so-called family-lag problem. Each of these categories consisted of several subcategories: The poverty-related problems included the problems caused by difficulty in making a living and instability of living, for example. The marital issues category consisted of conflicts between the couple, unfaithful spouses, domestic violence, divorce, and so on. Issues related to children and adolescents included juvenile delinquency, difficulty in bringing up children, child abuse, single motherhood, and underage household heads, for example. The elderly issues included the anxiety over the aging society, support for the elderly, conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, alienation of the elderly, etc. Problems in the family as an institution consisted of the legal issues in such areas as marriage, succession of the family head, and adoption. Lastly, the family-lag problem included confusion over family values, and conflict caused by the inconsistency between consciousness and actual behavior related to the family or family crisis. From the 1940s to the 1980s, family-lag was the most common problem (26.2% of the total articles), followed by issues related to children and adolescents (23.1%), poverty (16.2%), marital issues (15.9%), elderly issues (12.4%), and problems in the family as an institution (6.0%). During the 1940s and the 1950s, poverty was a prominent problem, and in the 1960s, issues related to children and adolescents were most commonly addressed in the articles. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the family-lag problem was the most frequently addressed.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of the study is to find the factors affecting a social phenomena of the elderly and suggest a basic data for efficiency of a senior policy and type of the life in Korea. Methods : We refereed to sources from the Korean Statistical Information, the National Pension Service, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. We also surveyed and analysed the depression and death anxiety among the elderly in 2014. Results : First, most of them were low educated people and family composing a couple. An annual income were average. Second, medical costs were increasing constantly in proportion to the increase of aging population. Third, they had high depression index resulting from negative thinking of the future and themselves. Fourth, the death anxiety level of them were more than moderate and that was about the death of themselves and the process of the death. Conclusion : It is needed to help physical, mental, and social health and improve the quality of the life in the elderly through social program established a variety of special fields like occupational therapy and family support program belonging to the government.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.759-778
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• 2010

The purposes of this study were to identify living behavioral patterns in of single or couple elderly households in residential environment, to find out ubiquitous home services for the elders, and finally to suggest the ubiquitous home services according to each household's type. For this study, literature review, field works for ubiquitous home services for the elders, and in-depth interview and observation by 74 elderly participants were conducted. The major findings of the study were as follows: single or spouse elderly households were classified into 8 types according to the combination of their household types, income level, and health status. Among 8 types, 2 types were excluded for final analysis due to small sample size. Living behavioral characteristics of 6 types were analyzed and the behavioral pattern of each type was drawn. Based on this behavioral pattern of each type, ubiquitous home services which meet the needs of each type were suggested. The implications and limitations of this study were also discussed and the suggestions for further studies were recommended.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.339-349
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influential factors on the change in life satisfaction of elderly households. In this study, single and couple elderly households were defined as elderly households and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th data of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Ageing (KLoSA) provided by the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS) were used. And 677 respondents aged 65 and over who had replied to all 3 sessions were included in the final subjects. multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the influential factors on life satisfaction by the type of elderly households according to consumption pattern and the result showed that there were common influential factors such as house owning status and subjective health status and the factors that influence specific types such as expectancy of standard of living. In addition, in the longitudinal analysis of life satisfaction of elderly households, individual satisfaction level was confirmed to reduce with time and the factors that influence the longitudinal change in the level of life satisfaction of elderly households was analyzed through the conditional model of a latent growth model. The analysis results showed that household type, house owning status, and subjective health status influenced the initial value of life satisfaction of elderly households while household type and expectancy of living standard influenced the change rate of life satisfaction of elderly households. Based on the results of this study, the followings are suggested. There is a need to improve the life satisfaction of old age by increasing the opportunity for self-realization of elderly households and also policy approach should be made selectively taking various types into consideration.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2018

As the living environment is regarded as a key factor that affects the quality of life of the elderly, the necessity for an accurate measurement of depression for the elderly has increased. In order to diagnose accurately, it is crucial to consider variables such as the cognitive characteristics and living conditions. In this study, 301 persons over 65 years old who live in single and couple elderly households over 65 years were surveyed from 1 January 2018 to 2 February to measure the dwelling depression by applying projective images. The correlations between the dwelling depression and projective images are clarified and the reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated. The correlations between the geriatric dwelling depression index(GDDI) and the GDDI based on projective images(GDDI-I) are clarified. The accuracy of the GDDI-I is analyzed. As a result the projective image questionnaire has a correlation with the existing self-report questionnaire. It is hoped that the results will provide a basis for further researches on psychological diagnoses using the projective method.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.276-286
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was done to examine actor and partner effect of dementia knowledge, self-efficacy and depression on dementia preventive behavior in elderly couples. Methods: Participants were 115 couples aged 60 years or over who met eligibility criteria. All measures were self-administered. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 program. Results: Dementia knowledge in elderly couples showed actor and partner effect on dementia preventive behavior. Self-efficacy in the wife did not have direct effects on dementia preventive behavior, but showed indirect effects through dementia knowledge. Self-efficacy in the husband showed direct effects on dementia preventive behavior and indirect effects through dementia knowledge. Wife's depression had direct actor effect on dementia preventive behavior and indirect effect through self-efficacy and dementia knowledge. Husband's depression did not have direct actor effect on dementia preventive behavior, but indirect effect through self-efficacy and dementia knowledge. Effect size of wives' dementia knowledge, self-efficacy and depression on dementia preventive behavior was larger than that of husbands'. Dementia preventive behavior, dementia knowledge and depression had a mutual effect. Conclusion: Results indicate that to promote dementia preventive activity in elderly couples, programs should be conducted for both of the couple, but focused differently for wife and husband.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2011

The prolongation of life expectancy has expanded the duration of marriage in old age. In the meanwhile, the change of life style emphasizing privacy and sociodemographic environment favoring independent living has increased the number and proportion of the elderly living with spouse only. This study, focusing on those aged 60 and over who live with spouse only the elderly, explores their marital relationship. The study pays a special attention to compare whether and how the satisfaction on the relationship with spouse would differ between husband and wife. The ordered logit model analysis is conducted based on the nationwide survey '2008 Korean National Survey of Welfare Need in the Elderly'. The results show that the marital relationship satisfaction of husbands is influenced by their own characteristics but hardly affected by his wife's. In contrast, the satisfaction of wife is influenced by husband's characteristics as well as hers. These finding reflect that women are more strongly family-centered and dependent on their husband.