• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2002

Housing is a central place fur elderly and it can be influenced to the quality of life for them. Most low income elderly has much problems on their housing. It needs to be developed for more various ones which considered in the way of their economic and physical conditions. This case study was aimed to supply (or a basic data for developing a housing for tow income elderly through the analysis of elderly housing of Melbourne in Australia. This study evaluated two types of government housing and five types of community housing available to elderly People on low income allowing them to live independently. Results of the research were as follows. 1) High rise apartment living was differentiated from other housing types. Such accommodation had drawbacks, for example it made the elderly difficult to get along with neighbours. 2) Community housing had more various types of housing than government housing and was aimed at encouraging community interaction between residents. Some community housing residents joined the management of the housing committee. As a result, it made the elderly very confident and promoted a good relationship between them and young generations. 3) The strength of community housing was that the elderly could choose the place to live within the community which was familiar to them. 4) The managers in broth government housing and community housing had many roles as adviser and mediator for residents as well as managing the complex. 5) A policy of housing for low income elderly is changing now from management by government appointees to one governed by the community 6) Most elderly prefer to live close to facilities such as medical and shopping centers and convenient transportation and wished to remain in their familiar community as long as possible.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.93-112
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• 2002

Recently, the number of the elderly has increased according to the improvement of socioeconomic status and the efficient medical care system. In spite of the development of medicine, the elderly suffers from the various health problems caused by weakness of musculoskeletal system, cardiopulmonary function and immunologic dysfunction. Regular rhythmic exercise program is known to be one of the effective tools to enhance the health condition in the elderly. However, there has been few studies to evaluate the comprehensive effects of rhythmic movement program on the elderly. This study was focused to evaluate the indices of cardiopulmonary function, life satisfaction, calcium, phosphorous, osteocalcin and deoxypyridinoline which are the essential factors of health problems in the elderly women. Twenty six subjects, aged between 68 and 72, who can do the ordinary activities and do not have cardiovascular dysfunction and mental disorder, participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: 13 in the experimental group and 13 in the control group. The experimental group participated in the rhythmic movement program at the welfare center located in G-city. The program were consisted of three sessions a week during 10 weeks. Each session had three parts: warming up(10 minutes), main exercise(40 minutes), finishing(10 minutes). Heart rate, blood pressure and peripheral arterial oxygen saturation were measured for the evaluation of cardiopulmonary function. Serum calcium, phosphorous, osteocalcin and urine deoxypyridinoline were measured as the indices of bony metabolism. Data were analyzed with mean, standard deviation, $x^2$-test, t-test, paired t-test using SPSS PC+ program. The results of this study were as follows. 1) Heart rate of the experimental group showed significant decrease following the rhythmic movement program. Peripheral arterial oxygen saturation of the experimental group showed significant increase following the program. 2) The degree of life satisfaction of the experimental group showed significant increase following the program. 3) Calcium showed significant decrease following the program but remained within normal range. There was no significant difference of phosphorous between two groups. 4) Osteocalcin, the index of bone formation, showed no significant change following the program, but significant increase in the experimental group comparing with the control group. 5) Deoxypyridinoline, the index of bone resorption, in urine of the experimental group showed significant decrease following the program. In conclusion, the rhythmic exercise program in the elderly showed the improvement of physiologic function and favorable effects on life satisfaction and bony metabolism. According to the above results, the regular rhythmic movement program can be strongly recommended for the improvement of health in the elderly women.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.576-590
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• 1996

Advanced countries such as the USA and Japan are eagerly seeking ways to improve health and welfare of the elderly. One of the services is home health care service using the telephone. Various types of services using the telephone have been developed, improved and are being utilized ranging from the basic consulting to emergency response systems in the area of health care for the elderly. A demonstration project was launched to study the feasibility of a consulting system and telemedicine for the elderly using the public phone system in Korea. For this project, a gathering site for the elderly was selected and those who visited this place were interviewed to find out what kinds of services they wanted and what kind of system they needed to provide the required services. Based on the users' requests and the surrounding environment, a telephone consulting facility was established at the Research Institute of Nursing Science at Seoul National University and consulting personnel was recruited, trained and posted at the center. An Application program for home health care nurses to use when they visited the patients at their homes was developed. This system operates on a notebook Computer and allows nurses to communicate with a doctor at a local hospital through a modem and telecommunication line. These systems were implemented for three months and problems which developed during operation of the systems were identified and progressively modified. Through system evaluation, it was found that a consulting system using phone service will be an invaluable system for the welfare of the elderly in the future. But in order to meet the elderly's need, more services than mere consultation are needed. That is, communication with physicians and hospitals are needed. Thus, when there is any need for physicians' attention, physicians or hospitals should be contacted directly. Similarly for telemedicine, when the home health care nurse visits elderly patients she can assess the patient's problem and provide nursing care, access a physician or hospital to refer her patient to or consult directly using the telecommunication the system. The above mentioned system is a basic form of futuristic telemedicine for the elderly and those who have chronic disease problems. This kind of system will be of great value when it is used on the national information super-highways in the future. In order to get to that stage, of course, this project needs great improvement in the technical, academic, and legal aspects.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.577-586
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• 2009

Aging is associated with decreased energy expenditure, thermogenesis and energy requirements. Maintenance of physical fitness of the elderly has been reported to reduce the rate at which the basal metabolic rate, muscle strength, skeletal muscle mass and bone density deteriorate. Skeletal muscle disease is known to increase the risk of physical disability and psychological problems. This study was conducted to investigate changes in disability, emotional problems, body compositions, obesity indices and nutrient intake levels according to physical fitness with the elderly in rural areas. According to the results, physical fitness was negatively related with Activities of Daily Living(ADL, p<0.05), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(IADL, p<0.001), Body Mass Index(BMI, p<0.001) and abdominal obesity(p<0.05), while it showed a positive correlation with the General Self Efficacy Scale(GSES)(p<0.001) and nutrient intake(p<0.05). When changes in these factors were compared according to the range of quartile of the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale(FAB Scale), GSES(Q1=35.3, Q2=43.5, Q3=53.2, Q4=51.9, p<0.001), BMI(Q1=36.1%, Q2=34.7%, Q3=33.2%, Q4=28.6%, p<0.01), abdominal obesity(Q1=1.02, Q2=0.99, Q3=0.97, Q4=0.94, p<0.001) and nutrient intake(Q1=71.1%, Q2=75.4%, Q3=80.6%, Q4=80.2%, p<0.05) differed significantly. Taken together, these results suggested that better physical fitness would lead to a reduction in negative factors including physical disability and obesity indices, but to an increase in positive factors such as GSES and nutrient intake. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for the development of programs to promote the health of the elderly in a local society.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

Background: Along with the increase in the elderly population, concerns about polypharmacy, which can cause medication-related problems, are increasing. This study aimed to find out the association between drug-related factors and readmission in elderly patients within 30 days after discharge. Methods: Data of patients aged ≥65 years who were discharged from the respiratory medicine ward of a tertiary hospital between January and March 2016 were retrospectively obtained. The medication regimen complexity at discharge was calculated using the medication regimen complexity index (MRCI) score, comorbidity status was assessed using the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) were evaluated based on the Beer 2019 criteria, and adverse drug events (ADEs) were examined using the ADE reporting system. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of medication-related problems on hospital readmission after controlling for other variables. Results: Of the 206 patients included, 84 (40.8%) used PIMs, 31 (15%) had ADEs, and 32 (15.5%) were readmitted. The mean age, total medications, MRCI, CCI, and PIMs in the readmission group were significantly higher than those in the non-readmission group. Age significantly decreased the risk of readmission (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84-0.96) after adjusting for sex, length of hospital stay, and ADEs. The use of PIMs (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.10-5.16) and increased CCI (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.16-1.93) and MRCI (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07) were associated with an increased occurrence of readmission. Conclusion: PIMs were associated with a significantly greater risk for readmission than MRCI.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.22 no.6 s.72
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• pp.1-11
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to provide basic information about efficient space use in the dining and bathing area through the analysis of service flowing. Four researchers observed the service flowing and the using behavior at those areas. The results of the study were as follows: Dining service was proceeded as resident moving, waiting, meal serving, dining, moving and arranging in order. The waiting stage was one of the problematic processes since the staffs made the residents wait to) long at a fixed position. The program right before the meal serving will be helpful for reducing tediousness of the elderly residents. Another problem was that the area was not big enough for the meal sowing. The legal regulation Is needed to prescnbe for the size of dining area per resident. The flowing of bathing service was proceeded as staff preparation, moving, waiting, undressing, bathing, drying, dressing, moving and arranging in order. There were more problems in the dressing area than in the bathing area. The elderly with stretcher or wheelchairs had difficulty in entering the narrow doorway. The dressing area was so crowded with the staffs, undressed elderly, dressed elderly, and other laundries. The division of dressing and undressing area is required to avoid the confusion of the users in the area.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.358-367
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was to test some effects on pain, depression and ego integrity of the elderly by adapting group reminiscence therapy with mugwort fragrance to the elderly with chronic pain. Method: The research was executed from April 2001 through September 2001, and research participants were male and female olderly people randomly assigned from 3 environmentally similar day care centers. They were divided into experimental group A and B, and a control group; The control group was divided into a daily care group and a regularly visiting group, and the experimental group A was for group reminiscence therapy with mugwort fragrance inhalation and the group B for group reminiscence therapy. Result: The group reminiscence therapy with mugwort fragrance inhalation showed significant effects on decrease of pain and depression, and improvement of ego integrity, and for 2 weeks after the treatment proved its continuous effect. Conclusion: The result above explains the fact the mugwort fragrance stimulates reminiscence and shows curing effects. In further researches, it is necessary to adapt various health problems of the elderly, not only to the aged with chonic pain.

• Proceeding of Spring/Autumn Annual Conference of KHA
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.131-134
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• 2008

The numbers of the elderly who suffer Empty Nest Syndrome have been accelerated as an aging population has increased vastly and nuclear families have been a dominating family type in modern Korean society. To make the elderly get out of this phenomenon and live actively, the scheme of converting their existing houses into shared houses was set as a hypothetical solution in this study, and finding out the responses of the elderly who owns their own houses is the purpose of the study. A small workshop panel method was used and the elderly aged 55 years upwards took part and they own a detached house that is relatively large for the elderly or the elderly couple to live alone. The workshop was consisted of 3 stages: 1. a survey 2. an interview 3. a site visit. Through this, problems that the elderly have been experiencing within their houses were looked into and the responses of the elderly on converting their houses to shared houses by introducing developed schematic plans. As a result, positive responses from the house owners were carried out based on the fact that subsidies from the government on house renovation and tenants matching programs are supported. Shared houses could provide home owners economical support with rents and help them to feel less lonely. This is one way of supporting the elderly to live and age actively in their later lives. Therefore, this idea should be established in connection with preparing aging, aged, and super-aged society.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• no.18
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• pp.38-43
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• 1999

The recent increase in elderly population poses various problems in the field of social infrastructure and the living environments for the aged. Providing enough housing for the elderly has become one of the fundamental goals in social welfare policies. In light of these current condition, it is necessary to understand the demands of the aged in terms of the standards of living conditions in which they would be satisfied in order to better serve them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide basic design data for architects and builders by analysing the demands and characteristics of residents in privately-owned housings for the elderly in Korea and Japav. The method of this research was based on the comparison analysis of polls taken in Korea and Japav. The results of this research are as follows: Because the polls show that the elderly want to continue their current life-style after placed in a elderly-care facility, when designing housing for the elderly, it must not be considered separate from the general society. it must be designed in way so that the residents can fully interact with the general society. Also, in order to achieve above goals, social welfare policies must be reconsidered to meet the needs of the aged populatiov.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.14-26
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• 2013

The $1^{st}$ National Plan for Aging Society with Low Fertility, which the Korean government announced in 2006, caused the gradual increase of R&D investment in order to prepare for an aging society in Korea. This study explores if the directions and strategies of R&D projects related to aging are suitable to improve the quality of life for elderly people and establish a sustainable aging society by analyzing the features of R&D investment from 2004 to 2010. The results show that most R&D projects conducted by departments focus on the development of assistive devices for the elderly to support everyday lives. The Korean government's R&D policy to prepare for an aging society is based on the narrow interpretation of Quality of Life (QoL) in an aging society that tries to resolve the socioeconomic problems of the elderly; however, the policies have ignored the independence of active elderly individuals and the social integration of the young and elderly generations. The research shows that a paradigm shift is required from a 'Senior' to 'Aging Society' because almost 1/3 of the Korean population is over 65 years old and the expansion of the research embraces from assistive technologies for the elderly to the design of social infrastructure such as transportation, education and work.