• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.86-92
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• 2017

As the elderly population increases, real-time personal health monitoring is gaining new ground with advances in wireless communications. Such an approach is particularly beneficial to elderly and physically challenged people, as well as those who live alone and are not be able to seek help in case of medical emergencies. The aim of this study is to implement a wearable band which monitors personal vital signs, such as the body temperature and heart rate, and assists with healthcare decisions using a fuzzy logic based decision support system. Since the vital sign data measured from sensors are imprecise and their normal variation with age is nonlinear and not crisp, a fuzzy system is employed to deal with this imprecise or uncertain information. The proposed wearable band is designed to continuously capture and transmit vital signs and healthcare decisions to suitable apps developed for smartphones. In this way, health alerts can be sent to the guardian or caregiver who is registered in the apps.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.274-284
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to collect basic data for 'the development of welfare service customized for the elderly' and furthermore provide policy suggestions for enhance welfare services for them in communities, and therefore, understanding local seniors' entire life conditions and needs for welfare service, who live in Masanhoiwon-gu, Changwon-si. To this end, this study would attempt to examine their life conditions and needs for welfare, 600 senior citizens aged 60 or order in Masanheowon-gu, Changwon-si. The findings show that the community has had several difficulties such as increase of the elderly living alone and their poor economic status, chronic illness and lack of volunteer work. Based on them, this study proposed a policy agenda for municipalities to resolve the welfare needs of the elderly.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.111-119
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• 2018

This study was conducted to evaluate the converge effects of the Be Happy and Strong (BeHaS) exercise program on female elders living alone, using a nonequivalent control-group pretest-posttest design. The BeHaS exercise program was conducted twice each week for 4 weeks (total 8 sessions). The outcome measures included pain, shoulder flexibility, grip strength, depression, and suicidal ideation. Independent t-test, Chi-squre test, paired t-tests and ANCOVA were used for the statistical data analysis. A statistically significant improvement emerged in pain (t=4.044, p=.000) and right and left shoulder flexibility (t=2.192, p=.038 and t=2.568, p=.016) 4 weeks later. In a group comparison, a statistically significant difference arose in changed scores of suicidal ideation (F=7.32, p=.010) between groups. The BeHaS exercise program may effectively improve the physical and psychological health of female elders living alone.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

Objectives: We studied to find out the relevant relationship between the type of residence and the level of mental depression among aged people. Methods: The authors surveyed 156 people who are over 65 in a small city. Here are three groups: 50 persons who live in the facility for the aged. 72 persons who live with their family and 34 persons who live alone. We developed the questionnaire and the severity of depressive symptoms was measured using Korean Form of Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS) score. Results: Positive rate of depressive disorders among the aged people was 43.6%. Positive rate of depressive disorders among the aged who live in the facility for the aged was 42.0% and that persons who live with their family was 9.7%. It's more likely to be their gender, the marital status, schooling, going out and pocket money that affect on their mental depression. According to the multiple logistic regression, the odds ratios of the persons who live in the facility for the aged versus persons who live with their family and pocket money in a month were significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: The research shows that the mental depression in the aged people is more serious in the facility for the aged and also significantly related to their pocket money.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.151-164
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• 2019

In this study, we developed a visual novel game as one of the donation campaign strategies. In study 1, we developed a visual novel game for the elderly who live alone. In study 2, we also examine how game affects personal distress and empathic concern, the emotions that trigger help behavior. The results showed that game can promote both emotions effectively. Moreover, empathic concern completely mediated between game and donation intention. This result suggests that visual novel games can be an effective tool for stimulating user's altruistic motivation to do donation behavior.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2001

Objectives : To gather information about the factors which influence the interest and intention of admission into charging nursing hones for the elderly(CNH), as these homes represent an important method for resolving the problems related to the rapid population aging occurring in Korea. Methods : A face-to-face interview survey was carried out with 320(men 159, women 165) patients over 60 years old who were admitted at 2 university hospitals and 5 general hospitals in the Busan area between December 1998 and March 1999. Data were analyzed through t-test, ANOVA, correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results : The mean age and years of education of the study population was 67.0 and 7.7 years, and the types of chronic degenerative disease included musculoskeletal disorders(20.1%), cerebrovascular disease(17.1%), and diabetes(14.3%). The major forms of household living arrangement prior to admission were elderly alone(22.6%), and elderly couple(33.5%), while about half of them(55.5%) didn't want to live with their children id the future. Almost half were paying medication fees by themselves(46.6%). The level of actual intention of admission$(3.07{\pm}1.39)$ into a CNH was lower than that of interest$(3.22{\pm}1.33)$(p<0.01). Multiple analysis revealed that the intention of admission increased with decreasing number of future supportive persons$(\beta=-0.107)$, lower level of activity in daily life$(\beta=-0.447)$, and longer years of education$(\beta=-0.447)$ with 32.7% of $R^2$. As for the factors which determined the admission into a CNH, the fee and facilities were considered to be most important, and professional nursing and physician's care were the most desired services. In nomenclature, they preferred 'elderly hospital' or 'elderly health center' to CNH. Conclusions : Interest in CNH is increasing recently, but existing studies about patient experiences in CHN are still limited. This study may form a basis for future examinations of the needs and uses for CNH. Active financial support and public information are considered by the authors to be important factors for the induction of welfare services for the elderly, though CNH.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.861-881
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• 2019

The purposes of this study are to examine the factors affecting retirement satisfaction, focusing on health, social activity and social security anticipation, and to compare the results between young-old and middle-old. A total of 860 retired people who live alone or live with their spouses were selected from 6th Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, and binomial logistic regression analysis was used to analyze 416 young-old(aged from 65 to 74) and 444 middle-old(aged from 75 to 83). The results are as follows. First, there was no significant difference in retirement satisfaction between young-old and middle-old. Second, when factors affecting retirement satisfaction was examined, young-olds showed hgher retirement satisfaction with higher perception of health condition and mental health condition, and showed lower retirement satisfaction with higher expectation of long-term care insurance. Middle-old was likely to show higher retirement satisfaction when they had better perspective on physical and mental health condition. The results of the study show that health condition of elderly is an important contributing factor in determining retirement satisfaction of the elderly. Based on the results of the study, political and practical suggestions were proposed to improve retirement satisfaction.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.259-271
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• 2017

The present study was designed to examine the impact of socioeconomic, health-related, and health behavioral factors on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the Korean elderly by gender. The subjects comprised 688 men and 898 women aged 65 or more who had participated in the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2014. The associations of factors with the HRQoL as measured with the European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) Index were examined in a general linear model. The most influential factor on the HRQoL was depression in both men and women. The perceived health status and walking activity were also associated with the HRQoL in both men and women. The living arrangement and educational status were associated with the HRQoL in women, while the body mass index was associated with the HRQOL in men. Depression management and the promotion of walking activity are essential to the HRQoL of the Korean elderly. Particular attention must be paid to the HRQoL of older women who live alone and have a lower level of education.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.136-160
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• 2005

Before introducing the national long-term care insurance in 2008, the want for long term care service has to be estimated and analysed. This study estimates the demand and analyses what determines the want of long term care service. This study investigated data of 3f6 elderlies, that was collected by age stratified random sampling. The elderies resided in Onyang 4 - dong (urban area) and Dogo-myun (rural area) In the city of Asan. The researchers visited the elderlies and their care giver, and assessed their demand for the long term care service and examined physical, mental, socio-economic status by the assessment tools for Korean Long-Term Care System. $64\%$ of the those who are entitled to be served refuse the long term care service. $26.7\%$ of them wants for home care service and $7.9\%$ want facility care service. It is estimated that the want of home care service are three or four times as much as that of facility care service. The demand for long term care service is 5.155 times higher for those who live in rural area (p=0.000), 3.040 times higher for those who do not have spouse(p=0.057), and 3.356 times higher for the people who is in medicaid than medical insurance(p=0.029). However, income(p=0.782), means(p=0.614), living alone(p=0.223), number of family to live with (p=0.341) and age of the elderly(p=0.420) are not related with the demand of long term care service. The assessment tools for Korean Long-Term Care System for need evaluation of the long term care service can reflect the demand well.(p=0.024) If medical care will cover $80\%$ of total cost, the willingness to pay of the out of pocket money of the people with medical insurance is 67,400 Korean Won(66.77 US$) for the home care service and 182,500 Korean Won(180.78 US$) for the facility care service. There is possibility that long term care demand is still small after Introducing the long term care Insurance due to the care given by family members. When developing service delivery system of long term care insurance, rural area has to be given more consideration than urban area because of the higher demand. The people who do not have spouse or are in medicaid have to be given special consideration as well.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.527-536
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to explore the components of the geriatric robot pet, which might be helpful in caring for elderly people in the future. Focus group interview-with two focus groups-was performed between August 2014 and December 2014. Study participants were 13 geriatric experts from nursing, medicine, social work, and physical/occupational therapy. All interview data were transcribed, followed by debriefing and a qualitative content analysis. Three main themes emerged: acknowledgment of the usefulness of geriatric robot pet, establishment of elderly-centered appearance, and the functions of the robot pet to meet the needs of elders and family members. The robot pet was considered to be useful to elders who live alone since they can benefit from companionship and care provided by the robot pet. Geriatric robot pet needs to be manageable in size and weight, like a small dog. Moreover, a function that allows for interaction with and monitoring the elderly would be beneficial. The baseline elements that could guide further development of contents for the Korean geriatric robot pet were proposed from the results of FGI. Studies that validate these elements are necessary.