• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.251-262
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This study attempts to provide basic data for establishing and implementing an advanced directive (AD) system that helps identify dignified death attitudes and reduces death anxiety of the preliminary, through preparation of an AD. Methods: Data were collected from 135 preliminary elderly aged 55 to 64 years, recruited from health centers and welfare facilities. All data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Results: Overall scores of the participants were 2.26±0.64 for death anxiety scale, and 3.16±0.44 for dignified death attitude. Scores of individuals who prepared an AD were determined to be 2.19±0.64 for death anxiety, and 3.34±0.44 for dignity of death. The difference in scores obtained for dignified death attitude was significantly higher for the group that signed an AD, as compared to the group with no AD (F=14.81, p<0.001). Conclusions: Results of this study reveal that preliminary elderly who sign an AD have a higher dignified death attitude score as compared to subjects who do not sign an AD. Additionally, the former group of participants desire a dignified end to their life. This indicates a necessity to promote public campaigns for ADs, and to develop educational programs that assist the elderly to prepare for a dignified death and make autonomous decisions.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.680-688
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to explore the effects of family cohesion and subjective happiness on death anxiety of Korean elders and to identify other factors contributing to death anxiety. Methods: The participants were 280 elders who lived in P metropolitan city. Data were collected between November 5, 2011 and January 12, 2012 using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), Family Cohesion Evaluation Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, and Fear of Death Scale (FODS). Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 19.0 program. Results: Family cohesion, marital status, religious activity, perceived health status, and subjective happiness were included in the factors affecting death anxiety of Korean elders. These variables explained 50.1% of death anxiety. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that these variables should be considered in developing nursing intervention programs to decrease death anxiety and increase family cohesion and subjective happiness for life integration in Korean elders.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.2405-2408
• /
• 2012

This descriptive study was performed to determine levels of the death anxiety levels of relatives of patients who being treated in a public hospital located in the Asian side of Istanbul and influencing factors. The sample was 106 patient relatives of patients from oncology or chemotherapy units of the hospital. Data were collected between May-June 2011 with the 15-item Death Anxiety Scale developed by Templer (1970) and adapted to Turkish by Senol (1989) and evaluated by number-percentage calculations, the Kruskal Wallis, Anova and t tests. Some 36.8% of the included group were aged 45 years and over, 57.5% were female and 65.1% were married. A statistically significant difference was found between the age groups, genders of the patient relatives, the period of cancer treatment regarding the death anxiety levels (p<0.05). The death anxiety levels of the patient relatives who were in the 17-39 age group, female and had a patient who was under treatment for less than 6 months were found to high as compared to others.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.156-168
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide basic data by surveying the literature for the past fifteen years (2001-2015). The focus of the search was death anxiety among the elderly. Methods: Sixty-two published works including graduate theses were selected for the Meta-analysis. Results: Study results showed that variables related to familial factors were the most often cited in the review of the manuscripts as relevant to death anxiety among the elderly. Specifically family support was most important. The other variables reported in the literature review were classified into four other groupings: social, physical, psychological, and demographics. The significant variable in the social grouping was religious activities, health promotion in the physical grouping and ego integrity in the psychological group. Conclusion: This study could provide effect sizes of variables based on materials, which are needed to make an intervention program that is related to death anxiety of the elderly. Since this study identified major variables as significant to death anxiety, several distinctions within these variables can be further studied as these relate to death anxiety.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.65-74
• /
• 2011

Objectives : This study aims to examine the effects of death education program on meaning in life, death anxiety and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients among nursing students. Methods : Subjects were 155 nursing students of the K college. Before and after the intervention, students responded a questionnaire developed to measure meaning in life, death anxiety and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients. To analyse the data, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$, t-test, and paired t-test were used with an SPSS 12.0 program. Results : 1. Meaning in life and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients levels significantly increased, death anxiety levels significantly decreased. 2. Meaning in life levels increased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, first grade, no religion, no death experience of relatives. 3. Death anxiety levels decreased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, no religion, no death experience of relatives, but increased significantly in a buddhist group. 4. Attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients levels increased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, first grade, won buddhist, no death experience of relatives. Conclusions : This study, through the above result, shows that the death education program can be an effective nursing education to improve meaning in life and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients and to decrease death anxiety. These results suggest that the death education program will be helpful for recognizing the values of themselves and their current lives and improving their nursing intervention care of the dying patients.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.15-29
• /
• 2007

The purposes of this study were to examine if there is a relationship between elderly people's anxiety towards death and their reactions to the Star-Wave drawing, and to verify if the Star-Wave drawing was a good enough tool to measure elderly people's degree of death anxiety. The subject for this study were 307 elderly people (male 127, female 180) over 60 years of age with no physical and cognitive damage, who were residing in Geongsan city and attending colleges or welfare centers for the aged. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS WIN(ver. 12.0) program, and factor analysis, correlation analysis, Chi-square test, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and $Scheff\acute{e}$ test were utilized. The results showed that factors showing different levels of anxiety towards death in the Star-Wave drawing were the total harmony of the drawing, drawing style, repetition of wave, size of the star, and location of the star. In particular, the group that drew the Star-Wave drawing with total harmony felt less anxiety towards death than the other group. Therefore, the results of this study suggested a possibility of the Star-Wave drawing to be used as a good tool that could diagnose the elderly's degree of anxiety towards death.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.80-89
• /
• 2013

Purpose: We investigated how intensive care unit (ICU) nurses understand the meaning of death, death anxiety, death concern and respect for life. Methods: From November 2009 through February 2010, a survey was conducted on 230 nurses working at the ICU of 10 general hospitals located in Seoul and Gyeonggi province. Participants were asked to answer a questionnaire consisted of 67 questions under four categories of the meaning of death, death anxiety, death concern and respect for life. Results: Participants scored 4.27 points on their understanding of the meaning of death, 4.43 on death anxiety, 4.12 on death concern and 4.18 on respect for life. Participants' meaning of death was negatively correlated with death anxiety and death concern and positively with respect for life. Participants' positive meaning of death was negatively correlated with death anxiety and death concern and positively with respect for life. Participants' negative meaning of death was negatively correlated with death anxiety and death concern and positively with respect for life. Participants' death anxiety was positively correlated with death concern and negatively with respect for life. Participants' death concern was negatively correlated with respect for life. Conclusion: Compared with nurses who served at ICU for a long time, nurses with less ICU experience scored lower on the meaning of death and respect for life, while they presented high anxiety and concern about death. A training course may help nurses develop their view on the meaning of death, which in turn would enhance their performance in caring dying patients.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.482-493
• /
• 2011

Purpose: This study was conducted to compare and identify the mediating effect of family communication in the impact of death anxiety and personal meanings of death on the attitude of dignified death near the end-of-life among Korean mid-life and old people. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 287 mid-life and old people in Seoul, Busan, and Daegu City. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires which were standardized instruments from November 2010 to March 2011. Data were analyzed by using SPSS/WIN 14. Results: The results of the study indicated that there were statistically significant differences in level of death anxiety, personal meaning of death, and the dignified death between mid-age and old-age people. In addition, family communication had full mediating effects among the mid-age, while it had partial mediating effects among the old-age in the relationships between death anxiety, personal meaning of death, and the attitude of dignified death. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, implications for the intervention of the dignified death and preferences for care near the end-of-life among mid-life and old people and recommendations of further study were provided.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.132-143
• /
• 2003

Purpose: A descriptive correlation study was done to provide basic data for comprehensive nursing care by analyzing the, relationship between spiritual well-being and death anxiety of the elderly. Method: 358 respondents who lived in facilities for elders such as nursing homes and elder's rehabilitation centers were selected, and their age was over 65 years old. Paloutzian and Ellison(1982)'s spiritual well-being scale and Park(1989)'s death Anxiety scale was used. From August 2nd to November 7th, 2002, readymade questionnaires were handed out by the researcher to those who could fill it out and for those who could not fill out the questionnaires alone, the researcher read it and completed it by interview. The data were analyzed with SPSS Win 10.0 program, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation coefficient. Result: 1) The mean score for spiritual well being of the elderly was 43.95 in a possible range of 20-80. The mean score of religious well being was 22.22 and that of existential well being was 21.73 in a possible range of 10 - 40. 2) The mean score for death anxiety of the elderly was 109.04 in a possible range of 34 - 136. 3) There were significant differences in spiritual well being according to religion, and present occupation. 4) There were significant differences in death anxiety according to age, religion, and family status. 5) In testing concerning the relationship between spiritual well being and death anxiety, there was a statistically negative correlation(r=-.70 p=.000). Conclusion: There was a negative correlation between spiritual well being and death anxiety. When the nurse implicates the nursing intervention, which can promote the spiritual well-being, elder's death anxiety also can be released.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.24 no.5 s.83
• /
• pp.113-128
• /
• 2006

This study was to verify the effectiveness of the Life Review-Narrative group therapy program on decreasing depression and death anxiety in the elderly. The program was organized according to a course of life from childhood to old age. The objectives were for the elderly to enhance self-worth, to become aware of their solitary existence, to accept aging and death, to accept the life: both past and present, and to make the most of experiences in overcoming difficulties. For the most part, the program used reminiscence and re-authoring of the narrative therapy as counseling techniques. Thirty-two elderly people(16 in the experimental group, 16 in the control group) aged 60 years and over were randomly selected from patients at the Daegu Metropolitan City General Welfare Center. Two groups were identified as equivalents for the study in the pre-test. The program for the experimental group was implemented twice a week for 90 minutes per session over a 6-week period(Sep. 8-Oct.14. 2005). The pre-test(Sep. 8 2005), the post-test(Oct. 14. 2005) and the follow-up test(Nov. 14. 2005) were implemented in order to verify the effectiveness of the programs. The instruments used in the study were the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form(Korean Version) and the Death Anxiety Scale. The data were analyzed using t-testing and One-Factor Repeated Measures ANOVA. This study supplemented other qualitative research methods in order to verify the variation in the depression and death anxiety in the elderly. The findings of the study were as follows: Significant decrease in the depression and death anxiety were reported in the experimental group. The control group however did not show any significant changes in the depression and death anxiety rates. The result of the post hoc multiple comparisons showed that the effects of the life review-narrative group therapy program has lasted effects on decreasing of the death anxiety. Nevertheless, the effects of the life review-narrative group therapy program on decreasing depression are not lasting. The study has limitations so further research is suggested.