초록
This study was conducted to examine elderly users' satisfaction with welfare services and the environments of the senior citizen centers in mid-sized and small cities in Korea. Three hundred and two elderly users were surveyed for this study. Age and gender differences in the level of satisfaction were found. The male elderly users and older users were more satisfied with the education programs than the female and younger users. The elderly people who reside in single-family residences were more satisfied with the educational programs and part-time job opportunities offered at the center than the elderly users who were living in apartment buildings. This could be explained by the fact that dwellers of single housing had more freedom and more room for self-regulation in scheduling their program participation, whereas the apartment building residents had rarely experienced social exchanges with their neighbors. There were significant differences in satisfaction with the environments of the centers by gender, marital status, age, level of education, religion, and housing type. The group differences were explained by the abundance of community activities that are centered around younger and female participants. Based on these findings, it is suggested that more specialized educational and social programs should be developed for the younger users in their early 60s, that co-ed religious activities and hobby programs should be expanded, and that the home-visiting welfare staff should regularly provide the elderly users the information on programs and activities.
