The Physical & Psychosocial Functioning of Korean Immigrant Elderly in Northwest America

The growing population of the elderly who have diverse health needs is receiving more attention from the health promotion field. This paper describes some of the findings of quantitative study into the health function of Korean immigrant elderly living in Washington State of Northwest America. One hundred-two community-dwelling Korean immigrant elderly, aged from 65 to 93 with a mean 77.97 years, were interviewed with a structured questionnaire to report their health function defined in three domains; perceived health status, physical functioning, and psychosocial functioning. The main results of the study were identified: (a) Overall, Korean immigrant elderly's perceived health status and physical functioning were good, but psychosocial functioning was poor; (b) Elderly with higher health functioning scores perceived better health status. Data indicates that health functioning measures are good indicators of the degree of perceived need for immigrant elderly. The paper argues that the understanding of physical and psychosocial functioning of elderly is vitally important in the provision of health care.