• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.609-617
• /
• 2007

In this paper, a new rehabilitation training system was developed to improve equilibrium sense of the elderly by combining virtual reality technology with a fixed exercise bicycle. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the training system, the elderly participated as test subject in the investigation of the influence of different the parameters on postural balance control. We measured three different running modes of virtual bicycle system with two successive sets. The parameters measured were running time, velocity, the weight movement, the degree of the deviation from the road, and the variables about the center of pressure. The repeated training, our results showed that the running capability of the elderly improve compared. In addition, it was found out that the ability of postural control and the equilibrium sense was improved with the presentation of the visual feedback information of the distribution of weight. From the results of this experiment, we showed that our newly developed system might be useful in the diagnosis of equilibrium sense or in the improvement of the sense of sight and, somatic, and vestibular sense of the elderly in the field of rehabilitation training.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.638-643
• /
• 2005

As Korea has approached the aging society, older Koreans have become an important force in restaurant sales today. To succeed with this silver market, it is important for restaurant managers to know who they are and what factors influence older Koreans' eating-out decision making process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the silver consumers' education level on eating-out decision making process. Data were collected from 178 older consumers above 55 years old and analyzed using the descriptive statistic analysis, MANOVA, and one-way ANOVA. The results showed that the elderly consumers' education level significantly influenced the decision making process in determining where to eat out. Significant differences were found in the Problem Recognition Step(Wilks' Lambda=0.817, F=2.991), Information Search Step(Wilks' Lambda=0828, F=2.218), Alternative Evaluation Step II(Wilks' Lambda=0.741, F=3.596), Purchase Decision Step(Wilks' Lambda=0.859, F=2.223), and the Post-Purchase Behavior(Wilks' Lambda=0.885, F=1.780). The higher education level was, the more directly involved in the eating out decision process. The elderly consumers with university education were likely to 'propose to eat out by themselves'(F=9.346), to obtain restaurant information from the 'printed materials'(F=7.452), to go to 'family restaurant'(F=9.057), 'Japanese restaurant'(F=8.7891) and 'fine dining restaurants'(F=3.936), and to directly express their emotion when they had complaints about restaurant service(F=3.206). In conclusion, older Koreans will become more healthy and wealthy which means the dining out activity will be an important part of their life to socialize with people. Therefore, food service operations should consider the elderly consumers' needs and expectation of restaurant services and actively position themselves for this new market segment.

• Land and Housing Review
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.147-157
• /
• 2012

The Korean government required the mandatory ratio of public housing including the housing unit for elderly in February 2012 and the number of them is expected to increase accordingly. To prepare for an aged society, these enabling ubiquitous technology will be able to support efficient health care services, which was mentioned in various studies. Therefore, the aim of this study is to draw the design elements for an apartment for providing health care services according to the degree of independence of elderly people and to grasp the current situation and work out tactics by the evaluation of four actual cases. In housing unit in the elderly housing project, design elements supporting amenity improvement was rated to the highest importance, however, in reality, was reflected at lower rate while the risk management plan for public space was applied at the highest rate. Design elements required by new technology such as health monitoring and community management with outside world are still not reflected, however, in order to realize the concept of 'aging in place', health care services in various aspects should be considered in housing planning.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.139-148
• /
• 2018

PURPOSE: This study compared the effects of indoor and outdoor environmental changes on the activity of the major lower limb muscles and walking factors in people 40-50 years and those aged older than 70 years. METHODS: Ten middle-aged people in their forties (age:$44.2{\pm}2.7$, BMI:$21.8{\pm}1.8$) and 10 elderly aged more than 70 years (age:$76.4{\pm}5.9$, BMI:$22.2{\pm}1.9$) with a normal walking ability were included. The participants walked 100 m both indoors and outdoors at their own speed. Using a 3D motion analyzer and EMG, the walking speed, angle of the ankle and activity changes of the lower limb muscles were compared. RESULTS: Significant differences in walking speed and peak-plantar flexion angle were observed between the two groups (p<.05). The muscular activity of the gastrocnemius muscle (GCM) was significantly different outdoors in the swing phase between the two groups (p<.05). In the people aged in their forties, the muscular activity of the rectus femoris (RF) was significantly higher outdoors than indoors (p<.05). In the elderly, however, the muscular activity of the RF was lower outdoors than indoors (p<.05). When compared to those in there forties, the muscular activity of the outdoor RF significantly decreased in the elderly group (P<.05). The muscular activity of the biceps femoris (BF) in the elderly decreased significantly outdoors compared to indoors (p<.05). CONCLUSION: For the elderly, increasing the exposure to the new environments or focusing on the performance of repeated movements for gradual speed control and precise movements is required to maintain normal gaits and movements that are less affected by environmental changes.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
• /
• v.9 no.8
• /
• pp.148-154
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study is to review systematically the literatures on the research of the elderly speech signal processing based on the domestic gender innovation and to introduce the utility and innovation of the gender analysis methods. From 2000 to present, among the 37 research papers published in the Korean Journal, 25 papers were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. And gender analysis methods were applied to gender research subject and design. Research results show diversity of research field and high gender recognition of R & D team are needed in research and development of engineering of gender innovation perspective. In addition, government-level regulation and research funding should be systematically applied to gender innovation research processes in the elderly voice signal processing and various gender innovation projects. In the future gender innovation in the elderly speech signal processing can contribute to the creation of a new market by developing a voice recognition system and service that reflects the needs of both men and women.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.215-246
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study is to comprehend the retired elderly person's experience of library using the narrative inquiry method proposed by Clandinin and Cornelly. I intended to grasp the details of the several changes that library use brings to the lives. It was also to examine the meanings of the experiences for their lives. For this purpose, three elderly retirees using public libraries in Seoul were selected as research participants. I interviewed their experiences and constructed field text from interview. Based on the field text, the story of the participants was reconstructed into research text which is form of novels, essays, and letters. Their experience in using libraries was interpreted as a source of regular life, fun and vitality, a treasure house for dreaming new life, a source of consolation to endure old age. And I found some common points within their narrative that they seek for a healthy life through reading books. The results of this study are expected to be useful for expanding the understanding of the public library's elderly users and to be used as basic data for service improvement.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.19 no.7
• /
• pp.139-146
• /
• 2021

This study considers the problems and social changes caused by the increase of single-person households in the elderly, and examines SmartHome services for them. We chose trust, security risk, self efficacy, social influence, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness as factors that affect attitude. The cognitive level of these factors and the difference betweene gender and education level of these factors were analyzed. The analysis showed that the elderly were fully aware of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. In addition, the elderly women are more socially influenced than the elderly men in the use of SmartHome services, and there was a significant difference in self efficacy and social influence by education level. This study will provide a new research perspective for subsequent studies and can be utilized as an important underlying study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.55 no.2 s.92
• /
• pp.1-17
• /
• 2005

The realistic plan to establish a silver market in the clothing industries has not taken concrete shape, although the interest in the establishment of a silver market targeting the aged as a new custom group Is gradually Increasing because the rapid development of science and medical technology in the 20th century has led to an extension of lift and improvement of living conditions. The specialized business which produces and sells the clothing for the elderly is of small number and most of the clothes for the elderly are manufactured and sold by the companies for women's clothing in which change the size or length of the original works rather than reflect the bodily features of the elderly. The findings indicated that domestic brands showed the coordinated concept of a suit of jacket and slacks or skirts while the clothes were formed with a variety of coordinations centering around single article in the U.S brands. But, there was no difference in the use of natural materials centering around cotton and silk etc. and in the use of embroidery, lace and decorative details between the two countries. The knit brands of knit suit style in Korea were formed with the items focused on pull over and cardigan twin set, while the U.S brands were mainly formed with the design of knit suit style. The domestic knit brands were mostly developed with complicated patterns and gorgeous colors, while most of the U.S. brands were presenting a single or two tone color suit style and evening one-piece dress with a simple and modern style. The sporty casual brands of sporty casual style in Korea had a variety of colors and patterns focused on function and comfort for diverse leisure activities and daily life, while the U.S brands were established to present a variety of styles with the items of single article because they had a separate brand for casual even though it was not a exclusive brand for the elderly This study has a meaning in the presentation of the design idea considering the bodily shape of the elderly compared to the ready-to-wear considering the size alone, by examining the characteristics of bodice according to the physical change of the elderly women, analyzing the design of madam brand and the style of the ready-to-wear, researching the general circumstances of the brand for the elderly women, and highlighting the necessity of the elderly clothing market.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.286-295
• /
• 2015

Objective: This experiment is to study how elderly group and their various lifestyles interact with health functional foods, according to their selection behavior. Different lifestyles will be observed closely, as well as how different health conditions and consumer involvements will affect critical decision making in selecting health functional foods. Method: Theories and discoveries from original advanced research were compared parallel to the new study. Results: First, cluster analysis and exploratory analysis were performed amongst different elder lifestyles. Lifestyle exploratory analysis was used for healthy, unique, leisure, and economical-style elders. Cluster analysis was used for material trend oriented, health oriented, complacent oriented-style elders. Health Functional Foods' selection trait Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that product's originality (function, uniqueness, specialty, compatibility, distributor, expiration date), quality (amount, daily dose, visual representation, accessibility, portability, natural ingredients), and popularity (product container, brand image, taste and smell, advertised product, domestic or import, well-known function) were the three main causes. Secondly, the amount of benefits for the elderly group health lifestyle were affected by 'Interest in health', 'Notability of the health functional food', and 'Functionality approved mark'. Specifically, the importance of, 'Interest in health', 'Notability of health functional food', and 'Functionality approved mark' were noticeably high within health oriented elders. Lastly, after examining the data from elder lifestyle's relationship with health functional food selection trait, all three different results showed equal importance. If you closely examine material trend oriented elderly group, selection trait showed distinctively high regards in 'Fundamental Attribute', 'Typical Attribute', and 'Cognitive Attribute'. Health oriented elders showed their distinctively high regards in 'Natural Attribute', and less consideration in 'Typical Attribute' and 'Cognitive Attribute'. Complacent oriented-style elderly group showed less focus on 'Fundamental Attribute', and even less in 'Typical Attribute', and 'Cognitive Attribute'. Health oriented elderly group concluded with above data from the fact that they showed most importance and involvement in health beneficial products that are scientifically proven. Material trend oriented elderly group showed balanced traits in their concluded data, showing that they prefer function, safety, as well as the brand image and their reputation. Also, they consider the products' outer elements, such as design and product name, in order to sense inner functions. Conclusion: So, Silver Business corporations must develop products to fulfill the market demands, and strategize marketing plans to better target the correct audience.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.191-205
• /
• 2020

This study examined the possibility of utilizing next-generation technology, such as Virtual Reality or AI robots, in the long-term care facilities for the elderly. For the study, the Focus Group Interview was conducted in three different groups of 14 participants (care workers, social workers, and directors of long-term care facilities for the elderly). The analysis revealed a total of three topics, eight categories, and 26 sub-categories. The main results of the study showed that the use of next-generation technology could assist the psychological and emotional stability, provide curiosity and interest, and relieve the desire for physical activity for the elderly. In addition, for long-term care services staff, it could provide useful services for the elderly with physical constraints, facilitate effective management of the elderly roaming around, and enhance emotional support services. Finally, it could also help directors of long-term care facilities promote their services, educate staff, and keep up with current trends. Participants expressed concerns about the introduction of new technologies, but they generally expected that the application of next-generation technology would be positive for the elderly as well as for care workers and directors of long-term care facilities. Therefore, the use of next-generation technology in long-term care facilities for the elderly will also help develop gerontechnology.