• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.372-378
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure the functional status of stroke patients cared for in different long-term care settings. Method: We assessed all stroke patients in two home health care agencies, four nursing homes and one geriatric hospital in Korea (n=171) using the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI), which comprises Activity of Daily Living (ADL), urine incontinence, bowel incontinence, a Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS),and being understood and understanding others. Data was collected by face-to-face surveys with patients. Results: The mean ADL score, urine incontinence score, bowel incontinence score, CPS, and being understood score and understanding others score were lowest for the patients receiving home health care, and highest for the patients in nursing homes. Low scores described poor and high scores good functional status. The results showed significant differences in physical and cognitive function scores between the three groups of patients. Conclusion: This study suggests that there may be large differences between the patients in these three types of long-term care settings. These findings can be used to help develop and implement efficient long-term care programs.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.203-227
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• 2012

This study analyzes the effect on depression of mutual relational aggression experienced by elderly residents at charity nursing home. It also verifies the mediated effect of adaption by the residents to the nursing home. For this end, the researchers conduct a survey for 182 elderly residents in 7 charity nursing homes in Seoul and Kyonggi Province. The statistical methods for the analysis were SPSS version 18.0 and AMOS 7.0program. Following are the findings. First, there turns out to be no statistical significant effect between mutual relational aggression and depression. Second, elderly residents' adaption to the nursing home is proved to serve as a mediated effect between mutual relational aggression and depression. In other words, the more the relational aggression, the more difficult it is for residents to be adapted to the nursing home, and the more depressed the residents are prone to be. Following are suggestions based on the findings. First, nursing home staffs need to establish a system in consideration both of relational aggression and of resident's adaption, to reduce its elderly residents' consequential depression. Second, nursing home staffs need to take measures to help adaption of new residents to prevent or reduce their depression. For example, new residents can be allowed to bring their belongings to the nursing home as much as they want and the nursing home can stand. Third, nursing homes also need to develop programs to prevent or reduce any negative relation, including bullying or casting out, among peer residents in the nursing home.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.668-678
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• 2002

Purpose: The number of nursing home residents has been increasing in Korea. Nurses need to know the lived experience of relocation of the elderly to long-term care facilities. However, studies on this issue has not yet been conducted in Korea. Therefore, this study was carried out to understand the experience of institutionalization of the elderly using a phenomenological approach. Method: There were 11 participants who consisted of 5 men and 6 women living in 3 different nursing homes. The data was collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation from June 1999 to October 2001, and analyzed by Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Result: A total of 275 meaningful statements related to the experience of institutionalization by the elderly were obtained. Of the 275 statements, 175 were found as the statements with more general forms. 28 themes were grouped into 8 theme clusters. These theme clusters included' resentment at their sons', irresistible admission', 'humiliation on institutionalization', 'being unbearable to shock', 'grief to unfamiliarity', 'being in agony of outwards', 'regret for self-life' and 'comfort for new residence'. Conclusion: Based on these results. we can understand the lived experience of institutionalization of the Korean elderly. We need to develop a nursing program to help the elderly cope with this crisis, and studies about the familys experience on their parents admission to institutionalized facility warrant further exploration.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.170-183
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• 2018

Purpose: Although innovative interventions using technologies have been introduced in long-term care settings, available evidence is still anecdotal. The purpose of this study is to investigate and synthesize the outcomes of interventions using technologies delivered to nursing home residents. Methods: Published clinical trials were identified through PubMed, CINHAL, Cochrane and PsycINFO databases and manually hand-searching. Eligible studies were articles published between 1997-2016 in English or Korean with a randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental design in which interventions using technologies were delivered to nursing home residents. Results: A total of 20 studies were selected for this review. Types of interventions using technologies were classified into the electronic documentation technology (n=1), the clinical decision support system (n=1), the safety technology (n=1), the health and wellness technology (n=10), and the social connectedness technology (n=7). Overall resident outcomes indicated that interventions using technologies improved behavioral symptoms and psycho-social outcomes, but mixed results were shown in the aspects of physical function, cognitive function, social relationship and quality of service. Conclusion: This review demonstrates that incorporating technologies into nursing home care have positive effects on residents' psycho-social outcomes and behavioral symptoms. To disseminate the effectiveness of interventions using technologies, further research is needed to determine what mechanisms underlying such relationships exist.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.477-488
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate newly admitted nursing home resident's experience and adjustment problems in the early stage of institutionalization. Method: In depth interviews was done on 6 elderly residents who were newly admitted. Data from the interview were analyzed using theme analysis method. Results: Results showed that reasons for Institution admission were decreasing physical health and cognitive functioning. Residents reported that difficulties they experienced in institution life were lack of individualized care, loss of autonomy and privacy associated with the demands of group living, and loss of control over activities of daily living. Conclusion: Efforts need to be made to maintain the residents' decision-making and autonomy. Listening intentionally, offering choices, and promoting personal identity might be utilized to reduce relocation stress and enhance adaptation to nursing home living.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.186-196
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• 2015

This research comprehended the fundamental cause of elderly nursing home residents' negative feelings of loneliness, depression, fear, and loss of self-usefulness as existential issue, since they already went through loss, death of loved ones, geriatric disease and disability. The purpose of this research is to explore how existentialism and existential psychotherapy theory of Irvin D. Yalom can be applied to nursing home environment design, and to suggest design directions. Based on his framework of human's ultimate interest, death, freedom followed by responsibility, isolation, and meaninglessness, interior design suggestions and applicable spaces were presented. Four cases from Australia, Denmark, Japan and Korea were analyzed according to design suggestions to grasp the current situation and to draw further proposition. The conclusions are as follows. (1)Environment should support nursing home residents to resolve existential issues. (2)Death is the least supported issue on all of the cases. Environmental elements that can induce residents to think and discuss on death, hospice program and space for memorial service is necessary. (3)Regarding to freedom, the environment should support resident's disability to maintain independence as much as possible and residents autonomy and decision should be respected. Single/double rooms, motorized bed, free and safe usage of kitchen and garden are necessary. (4)For isolation, Space and time for meditation should be provided. (5)To find meaning of life, environment should support residents in both physical and cognitive aspect so that they can contribute to others. Space for hobby is necessary for continued creativity and self-realization.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-28
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• 2001

This study was to identify the levels of perceived stress, immunity cells, physical health and depression, and their relationships among those variables in the elderly who institutionalized comparing home residents. The result of this study can be used as basic data when applying nursing interventions to increase quality of life in the elderly. The questionnaires to estimate stress, health status and depression were collected through direct interview from July to August in 1999 and immunity cells were measured by venous blood specimen collected from 9 to 10 A.M. during the same period. The collected data were analysed using SAS program. The results were as follows. The score of perceived stress of all subjects was 38.49 and perceived stress score of institutionalized elderly(42.62) was significantly higher than that in home resident elderly(34.52). All immune cells tested in this study such as total T cell, helper T cell, suppressor T cell, T4/T8 ration, total B cell, and NK cell, were all under the standard criteria of cells distributions. Most elderly who institutionalized and reside home replied that their health status was not good. However their physical health activity was mostly good even though institutionalized elderly had more disability than home residents. The highest rate was 67.3% as disability due to arthritis. The score of depression in all subjects was 8.2 that indicated having depressive symptom. There was no difference in the depression level between institutionalized elderly and home resided elderly. There was a significant correlationship between physical health and depression, however, the rest of varibles did not show any significant relationships. In summary, the immune cells in the elderly who replied perceiving low level stress, was under normal range. Their health status was perceived as 'not good' but physical health activity was perceived as 'good'. The relationships of stress, immunity, physical health and depression were partially significant but not had evidence as enough as theoretically the suggested relationship. We suggest that further studies using large sample size and more diverse variables should be performed.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.180-199
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• 2008

Technology has had a tremendous impact on our daily lives. Recently, technology and its impact on aging has become an expanding field of inquiry. A major reason for this interest is that the use of technology can help older people who experience deteriorating health to live independently. In this paper we give a brief review of the in-home monitoring technologies for the elderly. In the pilot study, we analyze the possibility of employing the data generated by a continuous, unobtrusive nursing home monitoring system for predicting elevated(abnormal)pulse pressure(PP) in elderly(PP=systolic blood pressure-diastolic blood pressure). Our sensor data capture external information(behavioral) about the resident that is subsequently reflected in the predicted PP. By continuously predicting the possibility of elevated pulse pressure we may alert the nursing staff when some predefined threshold is exceeded. This approach may provide additional blood pressure monitoring for the elderly persons susceptible to blood pressure variations during the time between two nursing visits. We conducted a retrospective pilot study on two residents of the TigerPlace aging in place facility with age over 70, that had blood pressure measured between 100 and 300 times during a period of two years. The pilot study suggested that abnormal pulse pressure can be reasonably well estimated (an area under ROC curve of about 0.75) using apartment bed and motion sensors.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.836-847
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between utilization of home care services under the national long-term care insurance system and family caregiver distress. Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted in this study using data collected in 2011 and 2012 from the Korean version of International Resident Assessment Instrument (interRAI) Home Care assessment system. The study sample included 228 clients receiving community based home care and their family caregivers in Korea. Descriptive statistics, $x^2$ test, t-test, and Heckman selection model analysis were conducted using SAS 9.3. Results: Presence of family caregiver distress was significantly associated with days of nurse visits (${\beta}$=-.89, p=<.001) and home helper visits (${\beta}$=-.53, p=.014). Level of caregiver distress was also significantly associated with days of nurse visits (${\beta}$=-.66, p=.028). Other factors which were significantly associated with caregiver distress were depression, cognitive function, inadequate pain control, social support for older adult, and caregiver relationship to the older adult. Conclusion: The results of this study show that visiting nurse service and appropriate support programs for Older Adults and family caregivers experiencing caregiver distress should be developed and provided to families based on the health care needs of older adults and their family caregivers for effective and sustainable home care.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop evidence-based guidelines for infection control in nursing homes in Korea (ENIK). Methods: Three steps were planned for the development which were developing a draft and testing the content validity. First, the draft was based on evidence and developed through focus group interviews with nurses in nursing homes, a comprehensive review of international guidelines and literature, and systematic reviews of interventions for infection control and outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Clinical applicability was established through reviews of nursing records and job assignments in one nursing home. The final step consisted of experts evaluating the content validity. The ENIK was revised to fit Korean nursing homes. Results: The ENIK consisted of recommendations in 9 compositions and a one-page practical algorithm. The principles of infection control were presented by statements and specific strategies were recommended in resident care programs. The infection control practical algorithm was organized into 3 steps: screening at admission, prevention, and control at the early stage. The practice to control infection was composed of a 5-step process. Conclusion: The ENIK will contribute to improving the competency of infection control practice because it provides standardized practice and is tailored to Korean nursing homes.