• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.197-216
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• 2020

This study aimed to suggest leisure activities and policy-level support in the light of the characteristics and needs among the elderly by examining constraint factors of leisure activities among the elderly. Data of 3887 elderly with the age of 65 and above with economic burden and health problems from the 6th Korean Retirement and Income study were used for the statistical analyses. Hierarchical linear models were tested by entering factors stepswise; demographic factors(age, gender, marriage status, single household, region, living expenses, health status) in the first step, leisure factors(leisure time, leisure motivation) in the second step, and lastly leisure activity factors(desired leisure activities, undesired leisure activities) in the third step. The results were as follows: First, major factors that constrict leisure activities of the elderly were financial burden and health problems. Second, there were significant differences among three(financial constraint, health constraint, and financial and health constraint) groups. Financial constraint group was the highest in the level of leisure satisfaction but leisure time was the shortest. The major reason to do leisure activities of the financial constraint group was to keep relationships with families and friends. In terms of desired leisure activities, health constraint group wanted resting, financial constraint group wanted hobbies and entertainment, and the financial-and-health constraint group wanted social activities. Third, financial constraint group demonstrated higher levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted to take care of pets or gardens; however, they showed lower levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted to domestic trips for desired leisure activities. In case of health constraint group, they demonstrated lower levels of leisure activity satisfaction whether or not they wanted resting like watching TV or listening to the radio. And, the showed higher levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted social activities such as participation in religion or social gathering organizations. For the financial-and-health constraint group, whereas they showed lower levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted walking around or watching TV, and domestic trips for desired leisure activities, they demonstrated higher levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted entertainment doing the game of go, or chess, and hobbies like hiking and social activities. Practice and policy level suggestions to offer leisure activities that meet the needs of the elderly were made based on the study results.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.271-284
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• 2021

This study was conducted to derive factors that affect the satisfaction of home visiting health care services and to develop effective community care models by using the results of Seoul's outreach service which is the basis for Korean community care. The population of the study was the elderly aged 65 and 70 who participated in the Seoul's outreach community services 3rd stage (July 2017 - June 2018) and 4th stage (July 2018 to June 2019). 2,200 people were extracted by the proportional allocation method and home visit interviews were conducted on them. Subjects were divided into sub-groups based on chronic disease prevalence, and logistic regression was conducted to derive factors that affect the satisfaction of home visiting health care services. The results demonstrated that the elderly without chronic diseases were more satisfied when they received health education and counseling services, the elderly with one chronic disease were more satisfied when they received Community resource-linked services. In the case of elderly people with two or more chronic diseases, the service satisfaction level is increased when health condition assessment and Community resource-linked services are provided. Regardless of whether or not they have chronic diseases, service delivery time was a factor that increased satisfaction in home visiting health care. And the degree of explanation understanding was a factor that increased satisfaction for both single and complex chronic patients. Home Visiting health care services based on the community is a key component of the ongoing community care. In order to increase the sustainability and effectiveness of community care in the future, Community-oriented health care services based on the degree of chronic diseases of the elderly should be provided. In order to provide more effective services, however, it is necessary (1) to establish a linkage system to share health information of the subject held by the National Health Insurance Service to local governments and (2) to provide capacity-building education for visiting nurses to improve the quality of home visiting health care services. It is hoped that this study will be us ed as bas ic data for the successful settlement of community care.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.639-657
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of individual differences in recognition of retirement responsibility on financial preparedness for retirement and to examine moderating effect of income-level on the relationships between the two variables, using the 7th Korean Retirement and Income Study(KReIS). Two research methods, descriptive analysis and hierarchical multiple logistic regression(HMLR) analysis, have been conducted. The total number of sample was 3,869 subjects with an average age of 58.9 years and 55.3% males. The results show that only 35.8% of the respondents make financial plans for retirement, and 64.2% did not. Main findings are as follows. First, 65% of respondents take a responsibility for financial preparedness for retirement, compared to 37% in European countries. Second, people with responsibility for their own retirement are more likely to have a financial preparation for retirement than people who think others(family, society, government) have to take a responsibility for retirement instead of them. Third, there is a significant moderating effect of income-level on relationships between recognition of retirement responsibility and financial preparedness for retirement. As income level decreases, the moderating effect reduces the positive effect of recognition of retirement responsibility on financial preparedness for retirement and vice versa. Fourth, as income level increases and educational level is higher, the tendency to prepare financially for retirement is also increasing. Low-income and low-educated people are less likely to have a financial preparation for retirement than their counterparts. The findings suggest that it is necessary to design an effective incentive scheme for financial preparedness for retirement for low-income and low-educated people and to develop various policies and services to encourage them to prepare financially for retirement.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.543-563
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• 2020

As people age and their physical functions are declined, they stay longer in the home, thus being more affected by the home environment. Many studies have shown the association between the home environment and health. However, little is known about the effect of the home environment on disability and depression of older people with functional limitation. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the moderating effect of the home environment on the pathway between walking limitation and instrumental activity of daily living(IADL) disability, and the relationship between IADL disability and depression. We performed logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses with data on 3,027 participants from the 2018 Seoul Aging Survey. As results, first, older people who lived home with poor conditions showed a higher risk of walking limitation(OR=1.487, 95% CI: 1.250 - 1.770), IADL disability(OR=1.594, 95% CI: 1.303 - 1.949), and depression(OR=1.943, 95% CI: 1.553 - 2.430). Second, the home environment moderated the relationship between walking limitation and IADL disability. Older people with walking limitation who lived in poor housing condition experienced more IADL disability than others. Third, after controlling for walking limitation, the home environment had significant moderating effect on the relationship between IADL disability and depression. Elderly with IADL disability living in poor home experienced higher risk of depression. Based on these results, the study suggests the necessity of home modification intervention targeting functional limitation of older adults as strategy for preventing disability and depression, and enabling aging in place.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.217-240
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of care workers' employment characteristics and perception of facility directors' transformational leadership on quality of service through a hierarchical linear model. For this aim, survey data were collected amongst 240 older adults and 200 care workers who are affiliated within 45 long-term care facilities in Seoul, and analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and HLM 8.0. As a result, one's perception of transformational leadership had a positive effect, whereas, among employment characteristics, employment type and working hours had negative effects on quality of service. Regular workers with fewer working hours and higher awareness of transformational leadership toward the director provided higher quality of service. But wage, total experience and tenure didn't meaningfully affect it. Therefore, the following suggestions were presented. First, it is necessary to reorganize incentive, salary systems and budgets, changing the status of temporary workers' hourly wage system into that of regular workers' monthly one in order to strengthen employment security with acknowledging fundamental professional values through reinforcement of expertise. Reinforcement of long-term care's publicness and establishment of base facilities are also suggested. Second, maintaining appropriate hours of work and rest including annual leave under the Labor Standards Act is needed. Also, increasing the salary of and decreasing working hours for night shift workers are required. Third, education and intervention for inspiring transformational leadership of directors and strengthening qualification standards of them are required.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.729-746
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• 2020

For the development and better use of information and communication technology(ICT) for promoting health and quality of life in older people, it is important to understand personal factors associated with ICT use. The aims of this study were to describe the pattern of ICT use according to health characteristics of elderly and to investigate significant factors related to ICT use among three age groups. The data of 2017 National Survey of Older Koreans was used for analysis and 10,058 of older adults aged 65 and over were included for study participants. As results, first, the young old(65~74) used more functions of ICT than the middle-old(75~84) and the old-old(85 and over). Second, ICT was more used among older people with good conditions in chronic disease, subjective health, cognition, depression, vision, hearing, walking and IADL. Third, higher prevalence of ICT use was significantly associated with age, education, household income, subjective health, depression, cognitive function, vision limitation and walking limitation. Fourth, factors influencing the use of ICT were a little different among three age groups. For the young-old(65~74), subjective health, depression, cognitive decline, walking limitation, and IADL disability were significant factors affecting on ICT use. For the middle-old(75-84), subjective health, depression, cognitive decline, vision, hearing, and walking limitation were related with their ICT use. For the old-old(85 and over), only cognitive function and depression were associated with their ICT use. Based on these results, this study suggested the need to consider multiple health conditions for developing and using ICT for older adults.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.801-821
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• 2020

There are a number of prior studies on the poverty experience of Korean women, but little is known about the poverty experience of Korean elderly women in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to examine the poverty experiences of Korean elderly women who immigrated to the U. S. Qualitative case study methods were used to achieve these research objectives. Three Korean elderly women living in Oakland of California who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the U.S. federal government were included in the study. The data were collected by conducting a total of six meetings per participant, and the researcher read the consent form directly to the participants and obtained a hand-written signature. The analysis and interpretation began by repeating the interview transcript several times, and the repeated keywords were to be understood in the context, focusing on time, space, and relationships with other people. The contextual understanding of Korean elderly women's experiences in poverty was interpreted in three dimensions: extending poverty in their mother country, double torture as female immigrants, and limiting labor due to aging and diseases. Before moving to the U.S., they had a difficult livelihood by farming and one of them had to live in poverty due to the bereavement to her husband. But even after moving to the U.S., they have continued to live in poverty. As female immigrants with low education and no special skills, they were incorporated into the periphery of the labor market in the industrialized U.S. and were forced to make a living with low wages. Korean elderly women were unable to return to the labor market in the surrounding areas due to aging and diseases, and were continuing their impoverished lives relying on SSI. From the findings, we discussed the role of the Korean immigrants community as a way to improve the quality of life for Korean elderly women in the U.S.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.197-215
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• 2021

This study aims to evaluate Person Centered Care practice and characteristics of care services in Korean long-term care facilities using Dementia Care Mapping as a tool. DCM, systematic observational evaluation tool for measuring dementia patients' QOL, was transformed into self-report rating scale. The process of transforming DCM into a scale of 34 items involves operationalization of DCM concepts and it's adaptation into Korean long-term care practices. Review by research team of Bradford university was added to maintain DCM concept and meaning in this scale. The scale with Cronbach alpha of .88 was surveyed on 343 care workers. Survey result shows PCC value practiced by them is 3.77(of 5 likert scale) and values on each categories of PCC reveal the characteristics of care in Korean facilities; attachment(4.02), comfort(3.95), inclusion(3.89), identity(3.67) and occupation(3.41). Dementia care in Korean facilities focuses on recipients'safety, comfort but lacks individualistic care and the meaningful and fulfilling occupation for patients. Looking at the organizational and individual factors influencing DCM values, the small facilities showed higher PCC values and there are no significant difference in PCC values between public and private facilities. Managers and care workers with career of 1~2 years showed higher PCC values compared to other career ranks and lengthes. This study suggests care practice should be centered on personhood of patients in long-term care facilities, for which introduction of unit care and education of PCC for service providers including support personnel are needed. DCM and Korean DCM scale developed in this study are suggested for the PCC-based assessment on care quality.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.547-566
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of social activities on healthy life expectancy (HLE) by gender difference. HLE implies an estimate of how long an individual can expect to live in full health or without disease and/or disability. Morbidity, mortality, and functional health status usually have been known as key variables. Many researchers have tried to investigate factors affecting HLE in countries level by performing comparative analyses. In micro level, there have been some studies about social factors affecting HLE in individual level. However, few studies are found focusing on the relationship between HLE and social activities. This study anlayzes 4,029 over 65 years of age from the first wave (2006) to the seventh wave (2018) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA), which is a national panel data collected by Korea Employment Information Service. The data has been collected as a part of social and economic policies planning for Korean government. HLE was measured by life period without disease or disability. One of findings is that male older adults (76.9 yrs) show higher HLE in comparing to female group (75.3 yrs). Female group appeared to be more likely to have higher incidence rate and disorders. Another finding indicates that age, number of chronic diseases, and subjective health status affect HLE of both groups. Finally, regarding social activities, religion affiliated activities appear to significantly affect HLE of both groups. In case of male older adults, alumni or hometown gathering also appeared another activities affecting HLE. This study indicates that the effect of social activities types on HLE among older adults appears differently by gender. Further, unlikely of longer life expectancy among female older adults as known, HLE shows a reverse estimate, longer healthy life expectancy among male older adults. This finding may imply that later life of female older adults shows lower quality of life in comparing to that of male group, even if female life expectancy has been higher. This study encourages to develop more social activity programs for older adults in community level. Specifically, more attention is required to planning for programs targeting female older adults.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.107-125
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to verify the effects of gender and exercise participation types on depression and cognitive function in the elderly. The data of 10,059 elderly individuals who participated in survey on the welfare and living conditions of elderly individuals in 2017 were utilized for this study. The SGDS and the MMES-DS were used to measure their level of depression and level of cognitive function. The data were analyzed using the frequency analysis, the reliability analysis, and the two-way ANOVA. The results are as follows: first, the main effects of gender and exercise participation on depression are statistically significant. However, the interaction effect between gender and exercise participation is not significant. Second, the main effect of gender on depression is statistically significant. However, the main effect of exercise frequency on depression and interaction effect between gender and exercise frequency are not significant. Third, the main effects of gender and exercise hours on depression are statistically significant. However, the interaction effect between gender and exercise hours is not significant. Fourth, the main effects of gender and exercise participation on cognitive function are statistically significant. Additionally, the interaction effect between gender and exercise participation is significant. Fifth, the main effects of gender and exercise frequency on cognitive function are statistically significant. However, the interaction effect between gender and exercise frequency is not significant. Lastly, the main effects of gender and exercise hours on cognitive function are statistically significant. Moreover, the interaction effect between gender and exercise hours is significant. In conclusion, participating in exercise has shown to be beneficial for decreasing the level of depression and increasing level of cognitive function in elderly of both genders. An additional discovery made through this research is that women's level of cognitive function improves larger than men's when they participate in exercise.