• Journal of the Korean housing association
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.21-32
• /
• 2014

This research intends to discover the housing conditions of the elderly in rural area in South Korea, and identify measures to improve the conditions for an independent and safe life of seniors. This research conducted both survey research and experimental study. The survey interviewed 1,000 elderly people over 65 in farming areas across the country based on random selection from Census 2010 and sampling by regional size and administrative unit (Eup, Myeon, Li) to reflect the regional characteristics more accurately. The data was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. The experimental study identified the housing elements that may threaten the life of seniors based on a complete survey on households of elderly people over 65 in a selected typical rural village. As a result, the most inconvenient and threatening factor in the housing facilities appears to be the floor level difference. It was identified that most houses had the risk of falling due to the differences of the floor level between indoor and outdoor, and slippery floor materials. The squat toilets also bring inconvenience not only to the seniors with limited mobility but also to healthy elderly people. In particular, as most bathroom doors opened inward, it may be difficult to escape from or rescue someone in an emergency of falling, fainting or exhaustion.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2012

Due to difficulty of marriage with women in Korea, unmarried men in countryside tend to have an international marriage. A ratio of international marriage was 3.7% in 2004, but increased by over 10% in 2004 due to the change of population composition in countryside. Without social or national preparation on a multicultural family and an increase of elder who lives alone made problems such as changes of population composition in countryside, a high rate of divorce due to differences on culture and society. These problems are becoming critical problems in countryside, not only for a family. This Study has a purpose as below, Firstly, this study will examine living place of elder who live alone and multicultural families. Secondly, characteristics of using each space will be analyzed and then surveyed efficiency and satisfaction. The result of survey will be provided to space planning for improvement of living standard. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: The characteristics of the surveyed households, the elderly ratio of 70 to 80 units high, and when the elderly become less than 10 years, 51.6%, 77.4% of women were overwhelmingly high. The characteristics of multicultural families in the in the middle or early 2000s when immigration is concentrated and national origin in Vietnam was 66.7 %. Housing characteristics of households with elderly housing type, the ratio improved to 61.3% is Majority. Type strain and 29% in traditional houses, traditional housing type is 9.7%. And house of multicultural families improve housing type is 87.5% Majority. The main space of the housing for the elderly, most are usually satisfied. But generally low level of self-determined housing survey confers real. These results have lived a long time because of space adaptation and can be viewed as attachment. For the elderly passive use of space and simplify the Act and heating cooling at the expense of the use of housing space due to the reduction, but multicultural families is the space required for the growth of their children because there are more modifications required.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.79-85
• /
• 2013

This paper proposes a system that utilizes USN(Ubiquitous Sensor Network), Bluetooth and smart phone to improve the function of senior houses. In typical approach, a system in a senior house either directly accesses the status of elderly people by its sensor or is alerted by elderly people who trigger an emergency bell, derive a decision and take an appropriate action. In addition, it is possible for a designated social worker to check the status of senior patients through monitoring system connected by UTP(Unshielded Uwisted Pair) cables, but the responsible person has to be present to monitor patients' status. However, the new system, suggested in this paper, embed Bluetooth function in a blood pressure gauge, thus the smart phone receives patients' health information such as blood pressure through Bluebooth, if any abnormal event occurs. Consequently, the smart phone sends SMS(Short Message Service) to a responsible social worker or a designated hospital. When this program in the paper becomes a reality, an unmanned system that is able to determine suitable actions for certain events will be established, even if a social worker were absence.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.150-159
• /
• 2015

Purpose: This study was performed in order to identify the relationships among self-care behavior, health conservation, and cardiovascular risk factors and to examine the influence of self-care behavior and health conservation on cardiovascular risk factors among Korean elders with diabetes mellitus. Methods: The participants were 105 elders with diabetes mellitus using senior welfare centers and elderly leisure houses in Daegu. Data were collected through interviews during the period from April to May in 2014. Self-care behavior was measured with Kim's (1997) Self-care Behavior Scale, health conservation with Sung's (2005) Health Conservation Scale, and cardiovascular risk factors with the Arizona Heart Institute Cardiovascular Risk Factor Questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed through one-way ANOVA, independent t-test, Pearson's correlation, and stepwise multiple regression using the SPSS/WIN 19.0 program. Results: A negative correlation was found between self-care behavior and cardiovascular risk factors, and between health conservation and cardiovascular risk factors. Self-care behavior explained 6% and health conservation did 49% of variance in elderly diabetes mellitus patients' cardiovascular risk. Conclusion: The results indicate that, in order to reduce cardiovascular risk factors among Korean elders with diabetes mellitus, we need nursing interventions for increasing health conservation and self-care behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.402-416
• /
• 2013

This paper investigates both the changing spatial patterns of aging population during 1985 to 2010 and their interrelationship with the residential features of elderly households in 2010. The aging level of a region is classified into three different ones such as aging region (7~14%), aged region (14~20%) and super-aged region (over 20%). Residential features of elderly households are examined by such variables as housing type, housing ownership, and house age. Aging process has started from peripheral regions distanced away from Seoul. There are strong tendency that aging households reside in single unit house owned by oneself over 20 years-old aged houses, which shows more strong patterns toward peripheral regions in SMR.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.9-15
• /
• 2007

Recently elderly has been recognized as a healthy and active generation because of extended average life span by medical development, interests in health, and achieved economic power while elderly was regarded as a passive and dependant generation before. The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the lifestyle types and housing consciousness of the middle ages around fifty's who will have more inclinations in the future to consider the hosing problems of elderly. To collect the data, LOV survey method was used for 600 middle ages about their lifestyles and future housing types. The data analysis used SPSS PC 12.0 to find the frequency, chi-square, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. The results of analysis are as follows: First, the lifestyle was segmented into five groups and there were differences on demographics such as education and income, also on housing sizes and types of home-ownership types. Second, there were different preferences on the types of senior housing by different lifestyles whereas there were similar on the location and sizes of houses by different clusters.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.57-65
• /
• 2016

When the castle of the city was destructed from 1911 through 1915 in Cheongju, the city's spatial structure was reorganized and "Han-ok Housing", a dwelling site filled with Korean traditional houses, was newly formed around the former castle site. These days, the Han-ok housing in Seoun-dong, Cheongju in which elderly couples and senior citizens live is enclosed by modernized roads and three or four-story buildings, leaving the housing as an isolated island in the city block. Nonetheless, the Han-ok housing not only plays an important role in sustaining the historic and local identity of the city, but also offers environmental benefits in terms of daylighting and ventilation. The purpose of this study is to reorganize the housing suitable for those who currently live and recreate it by adding new functionality. Consequently, three strategies are established; the conservation of existing building through the improvement of existing facilities; the conversion of vacant buildings into a new use; and the creation of the urban mid-rise Han-ok housing at street sides. The first strategy has a significance in that the traditional building's single wing plan, small room sizes and lack of storages now cause great inconvenience for current life style. The second strategy also promotes the practical use of abandoned buildings through alterations and additions. Finally, the creation of the urban mid-rise Han-ok housing that is accomplished by the combination of reinforced concrete and wooden structure interacts with or respond to the city's development. As a result, this study for the adaptive reuse of Han-ok housing proves how the traditional properties can be maintained in a careful manner and how its creative reuse can be achieved.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.93-108
• /
• 2010

This study conducted a secondary analysis by using original data of performed by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to determine factors affecting health-related quality of life for the elderly aged over 65 years living in Korea. The survey was conducted in 2005 and it evaluated totally 34,152 cases. Among them 3074 cases investigating the elderly aged over 65 years were selected for this study and finally 2036 cases were included in it by excluding cases with no answer or a wrong answer. The results were as follows. In the illness days, the average of the whole subjects was 11.05 days and it was longer when subjects were female and older, had lower educational background and lower family income, did not have spouses and jobs and were covered by medical aid as medical security. In the years of activity restriction, the average of the total subjects was 3.48 years and it was increased when they were older, had lower educational background and lower family income, did not have spouses, lived in detached houses and were covered by medical aid as medical security. Subjective health condition of the total subjects was 2.64 points out of 5 points in average. The scores were higher when subjects were male, younger, had better educational background, spouses, jobs and more family income, lived in multi-family living houses and were covered by corporate insurance as medical security. The average of total quality of life of the subjects was 2.61 points out of 3 points and it was found to be higher when subjects were male, younger, had better educational background, spouses, jobs and more family income and were covered by corporate insurance as medical security. It was decreased with higher illness days, higher years of activity restriction and lower subjective health condition. For the effects of the factors related to quality of life, subjective health condition showed the largest influence.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.122-130
• /
• 2014

The objective of this paper is to investigate problems associated with Rural Housing Standard Plans for the Elderly based on the current status of 12 houses belonging to elderly people (60's and over) living in rural areas and engaged in farming activities, and to suggest improvements. The methods employed were a field survey with interviews and literature review. The results are as follows. First, the Plans were deemed inappropriate to prevent the possible accidents in entrance area such as slippiness and falls because the eaves are not long enough. Second, the area of foyer and the volume of foyer storage in the Plans are not enough to accommodate the subject's behaviors and their rural life. Third, rather than using the sink, many subjects preferred to wash simply in the shower while sitting, so the planning of a bathroom can't meet the subject's needs and behaviors. Fourth, the subjects prefer L + DK to LDK but the Plans were designed in the manner of LDK only. Fifth, the subjects have needs for bathrooms belong to the master bedrooms, but only one case of Plans satisfied their needs. Six, bedrooms with the exception of the master bedroom are used as storage in order to make up for a lack of storage space, but many storage space such as dressing rooms and pantries was not taken into consideration in the Plans. Lastly, the planning of storehouses does not meet the subjects' using behaviors for storehouses and the level of desirable capacity of goods.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.373-382
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare levels of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between fallers and non-fallers among community-dwelling elderly people. Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted with the secondary analysis of 2,067 elderly people registered in S-Gu Visiting Health Care Program in Seoul, South Korea. Participants were 206 fallers and 206 non-fallers who were age- and sex-matched with fallers. HRQOL was measured by SF-8 including physical component summary (physical HRQOL) and mental component summary (mental HRQOL). Results: There were more people in the faller group having more than or equal to three chronic diseases (p<.001), living in multiplex houses (p=.004), and being dependent by the activities of daily living (ADL) (p=.001) and instrumental ADL (IADL) levels (p<.001) than those in the non-faller group. Fallers had higher levels of depression than non-fallers (p<.001). Moreover, fallers had significantly lower levels of both physical HRQOL (p<.001) and mental HRQOL (p=.001), after adjusting for number of chronic diseases, ADL, IADL, depression, healthcare insurance, and living environment. Conclusion: Among the community-dwelling elderly people, falllers had lower levels of HRQOL than non-fallers, and such a difference remained even after the adjustment for covariates. Factors that underlie the different susceptibility to HRQOL need to be explored.