• Health Policy and Management
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2003

The principal objective of this study was to analyze and conceptualize the socio-psychological burden in utilizing a nursing home for elderly. The subjects were five elderly from a private nursing home located in Seoul and their familial caregivers. An old male and three females were currently staying at the facility, and a female had been discharged already from there. Data were collected through depth interviews, observations and review of records at the facility For analysis, the data were classified by similar contents among significant expressions and factors in common. The subjects' motives to consider admission to the nursing home might be attributed to familial caregivers' burden, a shortage of support, environmental improvement and feeling of helplessness for the case elderly. The concept of burden is including family members' being badly off in living, their weariness, complications among family members, feeling psychological uneasiness, and hospital expenses. The identified image of nursing homes for the elderly in Korea was generally negative at the point of high cost, unreasonable requisites and limitations for admission to the facilities, inferior situations, and especially in that there were few long-term care facilities within the community boundary. From their experience of nursing homes, the interviewees have felt the sentiments of sorry for their old parents, with the thought of being an undutiful, bitterness, and empathy. Additionally, they expressed a sense of anxiety of relative deprivation against the fact that there were no long-term care facilities available for the middle class. On the basis of these, multi-dimensional needs could be identified for the elderly with chronic illnesses.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.57 no.10
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• pp.579-587
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• 2019

Korea became an aged society as of 2018, and will have plunged into a super-aged society by 2025. For the dental treatment of elderly patients, their general conditions are to be considered to make appropriate treatment plans and strategies, based on advanced knowledge of geriatric dentistry and clinical experience. In this study, the social demand for geriatric dental specialists for the treatment of the elderly of Korea is investigated by looking at their general health conditions, ADL (Activities of Daily Living), and IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living), along with the review of the advanced training programs of geriatric dentistry in other countries.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.1107-1122
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• 2009

The purpose of this study were to examine the perception and behavior for preparing their old age according to the attitudes of middle aged people toward the elderly. In order to achieve this purpose, the survey was conducted with 441 middle aged people from Daegu and Kyungpook. Major findings of this study are as follows; First, there were statistically significantly different attitudes toward the elderly according to the personal variables such as gender, age, education, occupation and income. Second, the group, who had experience in the living together and contacting with the elderly, had a positive attitude toward the elderly. Third, the more positive attitudes toward the elderly, the better perception for preparing their old age. Finally, the more positive attitudes toward the elderly, the better behavior for preparing their old age.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.794-806
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• 2020

This study was conducted in order to attain an in-depth understanding of and describe the Ego-Integrity Phenomenon of the elderly of age 65 and older. The data was collected from June 2020 to July 2020 as an in-depth interview consisting of semi-structured questions. The data was analyzed using the Colaizzi's method, one of the phenomenology methods. All interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Through analysis, 309 significant statements were extracted, and 88 formulations of meaning, 53 themes, 16 theme clusters, and 5 categories were derived. The categories and the theme clusters are as such : 'reflecting on the past life with delight' ('fruitfulness over the lifetime', 'achieving through fulfilling responsibilities', 'achieved specially and gratefully'), 'Currently lonely and distressed due to the bitter old days' ('Physical health needs and psychosocial needs are not met', 'Wasn't able to make good choices for parents and children', 'Elderly life is not easy'), 'Satisfaction from enduring tough and difficult journeys in life' ('Compensated for hard work at workplace and home', 'Problem solved through endurance and overcoming', 'Living a healthy elderly life by escaping from the habits of the past'), 'Realizing the way of life as an elderly' ('Now is the best and most satisfying moment', 'Managing self in old age', 'Living passionately, though it may be late', 'Retiring from the forefront of life with an abundant heart'), 'Passing on beautifully' ('Desires toward the later years', 'Hope during the last moments', 'Appearance and emotions when death approaches'). It was observed that during the Ego-Integrity Phenomenon of the elderly, they have come to discern the meaning of life by reminiscing the regrets and difficulties of the past, and through this reminiscence, they have come to attain a positive and transcendental hope for the rest of their lives. The Ego-Integrity of the elderly appeared to be subjective, dynamic, and occurring simultaneously rather than continuously. It is recommended to develop a variety of nursing interventions while taking into consideration the age and the type of experience of the elderly.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.282-293
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• 2012

Purpose: The study aimed to examine the effects of Tai Chi fall prevention program on risk factors for fall, fear of falling, and quality of life among elderly women living in the community. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with non-equivalent control group was used. Sixty participants were recruited from 4 senior citizen centers in a city. The 1-hour Tai Chi fall prevention program was provided three times a week for 6 months to the experimental group. Risk factors for fall including fracture risk and bone mineral density, fear of falling, and quality of life were measured at the baseline and at 6 months. Results: Participants were 75 years old in average. At the completion of 6 month program, the experimental group showed lower fracture risks, less fear of falling, and higher scores in several domains of quality of life than the control group, after controlling for the pretest scores, fall experience, and regular exercise habit. Conclusion: The Tai Chi fall prevention program was safely applied to elderly women with improvement in fracture risk, fear of falling, and several domains of quality of life. Future study is necessary to confirm the longer effect of the Tai Chi program for the prevention of fall episodes.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2012

Objective: Falls are defined as contact of the body with the floor after losing balance during activities of daily living. Falls commonly occur among the elderly, and stroke patients in particular are at a high risk of falling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of temporal and spatial gait parameters and gait symmetry according to experience falls in post-stroke patients. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Fifty three patients with stroke were recruited on a voluntary basis from the rehabilitation unit, who currently undergoing physical therapy. All participants were asked to answer questions regarding the frequency of falls in the past 1 year. Fifty-three patients with stroke were allocated 2 groups according to experienced falls: stroke with falls (n=26) during past 1 year and stroke without falls (n=27). The spatial and temporal gait parameters and gait symmetry ratio were measured using GAITRite system. Results: The spatial gait parameters and the temporal gait parameters were significantly different between the stroke with falls group and the stroke without falls group (p<0.05). Furthermore, step length was the only significantly different among symmetry ratio (p<0.05). Conclusions: Experience of falls can lead to impairment of gait ability in stroke patients. This result is expected to be used as a basic data for rehabilitation program development to prevent a fall of post-stroke patients.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the fall risk factors. Method: The subjects were 87 persons who were older than 65 years living at 28 nursing home in Seoul and Gyunggi province. Subjects were interviewed using RAFS II for intrinsic factor and the environmental factor were assessed using a structured questionnaire from Oct. to Dec. in 2004. The data were analyzed by SPSS(ver. 12.0) programs, using descriptive statistics, $x^2$-test, and t-test. Result: The 37.9% of the subjects experienced the fall, and its average number is $1.94\pm1.75$. The Women's experience of the fall was higher than that of the men, but it was no significant difference with gender. There was no significant difference with the age and duration of living. The mean of the intrinsic risk factor was 13.38 in total score 39 points marks on the RAFS II scales. The intrinsic risk factor score of the fallen group 15.71 was significantly higher than the non-fallen group 12.10. The variables of recent fall experience(t=4.72, p=0.000) and urinary dysfunction(t=2.64, p=0.010) was significantly higher than the non-fallen group. The highest variable of the intrinsic factor was the age and the variables of drug intake, balance, chronic disease, recent fall experience, urinary dysfunction were followed in order. The mean of the environmental risk factor was 0.24 points. No significant differences were shown in environmental risk factor between the fallen and the non-fallen groups. To the fallen group, the place of entrance was the highest risky environmental factor. To see in area dimension, the floor surfaces was the highest risky environmental factor and equipment and illumination factor was the following risky elements in order. In the total score of environmental risk factors based on the ares, the fallen group was 0.26 and the non-fallen group was 0.24, but there were no significant differences between the groups. Conclusion: This results suggested that visual protection strategy, set up the safety device in the place of entrance and inner stairway, bathroom and nonskid mat in the nursing home would be contribute to the prevention of the fall for the elderly.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.10
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• pp.243-248
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• 2018

The social activities of the elderly are important in successfully achieving aging by providing opportunities for social interaction to enhance life satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to identify the related factors of the elderly social activities and build a statistical classification model to predict social activities. Subjects were 1,864 elderly people (829 males, 1,035 females) who completed the community health survey in 2015. Outcome variables were defined as the experience of social activity during the past month(yes, no). The prediction model was constructed using decision tree model based on Classification and Regression Trees (CRT) algorithm. The results of this study were subjective health, frequency of meeting with neighbors, frequency of meeting with relatives, and living with spouse were significant variables of social participation. The most prevalent predictor was the subjective health level. In order to prepare for the successful aging of the super aged society based on the results of this study, social attention and support for the social activities of the elderly are required.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2006

BACKGROUND: Social, legal, and economic factors have changed the delivery of care to elderly who are frail and/or chronically ill. Increasing number of the elderly are now treated in the community, while living with or in close proximity to their family. It is evident that families play a major role of support for elderly persons in our society. This paper provides a review and analysis of studies that have investigated informal caregiving issues encompassing physical, psychological, emotional, and social domains. RESULTS OF THE REVIEW: Family caregiving often interfered with workplace and other responsibilities, creating physical, emotional, and financial stress for caregivers. Relatively high volumes of research addressed caregiving issues in the families of Alzheimer patients and in the areas of emotional and psychological impact of caregiving. Few studies explicitly investigated the role of informal caregivers in the management of other chronic conditions such as stroke or depression or physical consequences of long-term caregiving. While most studies were focused on negative aspects of caregiving, a few studies found it rewarding. Often the burden, stress, and socio-economic effects on the family caregiving for an elderly person were not sufficiently appreciated. CONCLUSIONS: Positive outcomes for both the caregiver and the care recipient are more likely to occur when effective levels of collaboration exist between health professionals and caregivers. As a first step, a better understanding of the caregiving experience such as caregiver characteristics, care recipient characteristics, and social stigma is important for nurses to minimize the burden of care so that appropriate interventions can be developed. In addition, further studies are needed to examine the role and needs of informal caregivers in the care of increasing number of frail and/or chronic ill elderly treated in the community.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.337-350
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• 2008

The principal objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status and dietary quality in low-income elderly individuals residing at home (LH) or in health care facilities (LHCF) with dietitian. This study was conducted via anthropometric measurements, questionnaire interviews, and dietary surveys using a 24 hr recall method with 120 low-income elderly individuals (LHCF=46, LH=74). The average ages of the LH and LHCF group were 76.3 years and 78.6 years, respectively. The LH group evidenced a significantly higher frequency of skipping meals than the LHCF group. The average energy intakes of the LHCF and LH group were 1921.0 kcal and 1443.9 kcal, with a significant difference (p<0.001). Most of the nutrient intake and intake rates for recommended intake were significantly higher among the LHCF group as compared with the LH group. The LHCF group showed significantly higher values for the nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), the mean adequacy ratio (MAR), nutrient density (ND), and the index of nutritional quality (INQ) by dietary qualitative estimation than in the LH group. The Korean diet diversity scores (KDDS) were 3.66 for LH group and 4.93 for the LHCF group, thus were significantly higher in the LHCF group than in the LH group. The results of the present study demonstrate that the LH group appeared to experience more dietary problems than the LHCF group. It was suggested that nutritional education is needed for low-income elderly individuals living at home, in order for them to learn proper dietary management. This can be achieved via educational programs in social welfare institutions, incentives toward employment as a dietitian, and implementation of community-based support.