• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.207-219
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of suicide attempts and non-attempts of the elderly living alone and the subjects in this study were 690 elderly persons living alone in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. For data analysis, this study used descriptive analysis, mean comparison correlation analysis, and binominal logistic regression analysis using PASW 20.0. To explain the suicide attempts of elderly persons who live alone, variables such as sex, age education level, monthly household income, religion, subjective economic status, subjective health status, ADL/IADL, depression, hopelessness, social support, and stress were used. The findings of the study were as follows: First, 9.2 percent(64) of the elderly living alone had attempted suicide and 90.8 percent(626) had never attempted suicide. Second, monthly household income, hopelessness, and social support were identified as the factors that affected their suicide attempts. In other words, the elderly living alone who had lower monthly household income, less social support, and greater feelings of hoprlessness had made more suicide attempts. As it is a cross-sectional research using data from non-probability sampling, this has a limitation in generality sampling, this has a limitation in generalizing the study results. To overcome this limitation, longitudinal research using data from probability sampling is necessary.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.73-92
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to verify the influence of volunteering on the sense of community and the community capacity, and the mediating effect of the sense of community on the relationship between volunteering variables(the period and satisfaction of volunteering) and the community capacity as well. Study population is 1,416 elderly volunteers who participated in the government-sponsored elderly volunteer program for prevention of depression and suicide in 2016. The results show that the experience of volunteering plays an important role in improving the sense of community and the community capacity among the older participants. As for the analysis of the mediating effect, the sense of community has a perfect mediating effect between the period of volunteering and the community capacity, and a partial mediating effect between volunteering satisfaction and the community capacity. Based on these findings, the theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.767-782
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• 2018

Academic research of the elderly psychology flourishes in an aging society. The basic concern of both psycho-gerontology dealing with psychological processes of aging and geronto-psychology dealing with psychology of the elderly is with the maintenance of high quality of life and well-being. Given this context, the present study examined research trends of 91 depression and suicide studies and 31 aging and successful aging studies, and compared the trends with those identified in studies published within the first 30 years. It was found that a majority of studies are concerned with the direct or mediating effects of depression on suicide and everyday life, risk factors influencing depression, perceptions of aging and factors influencing those perceptions, and successful aging and factors influencing successful aging. Further, the number of studies of these topics is greater than that of studies published within the first 30 years. The findings were discussed in the context of heightening the quality of life of the older adults.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.871-879
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• 1997

인간은 사회적 접촉을 필요로 하고 타인과의 상호작용을 원하는 사회적 동물이다. 외로움은 한 개인의 사회적 관계의 망이 양적이나 질적으로 부족할 때 발생하는 불유쾌한 감정이다. 외로움은 매우 보편적인 감정이나 고통스러울 수 있으며 이러한 경험이 지속되면 정신적, 신체적 건강을 해칠 수 있을 뿐 아니라 자살을 초래하기도 한다. 특히 노인은 여러 가지 종류의 변화와 상실을 경험하기 때문에 외로움을 더 느낄 수 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 번역과 역번역 과정을 통해 Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale에 대한 한국어 UCLA 외로움 사정도구를 만들고 이 도구를 한국노인에게 적용하여 신뢰도와 타당도를 조사하는 것이다. 개정판UCLA외로움 사정 도구는 각각 3번씩의 번역과 역번역 과정을 통해 원본 영문도구와 역번역된 영문도구 사이에 의미의 차이가 없다고 판단될 때까지 만들어졌다. 번역과 역번역 과정은 미국에서 석사나 박사학위를 취득한 6명의 한국유학생들에 의해 이루어 졌으며 원본 영문도구와 역번역된 도구사이의 의미의 차이는 본 저자와 미국인 간호학 교수에 의해 사정되었다. 번역된 한국어 외로움 사정도구는 미국의 3개 주에 거주하는 203명의 한국노인들을 대상으로 신뢰도와 타당도 조사가 이루어졌다. 한국어 UCLA외로움 사정도구의 신뢰계수는 .93으로 한국어 도구의 내용이 전반적으로 동질성을 띈다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이는 Barren등(1992)이 미국인 노인여성을 대상으로 한 연구에서 얻은 신뢰계수 .87보다 높은 것이었다. 한국어 도구의 구성타당도를 조사하기 위해 요인 분석을 실시한 결과 본 도구는 친밀한 주변인, 사회적 주변인, 및 소속감 등의 3개 요인을 가지는 것으로 분석되었다. 구성타당도에 대한 이러한 결과는 미국의 대학생들을 대상으로 한 Austin(1983)의 연구결과와 일치하는 것이었다. 각 요인에 대한 신뢰계수는 .88(제 1요인), .90(제 2요인), .84(제 3요인)로 나타났다. 전반적으로 대상자들은 한국어 도구에 대해 이해를 잘 하는 편이었으나 부정문인 4번 항목, '나는 혼자라고 느끼지 않는다'에 대해서는 응답을 할 때는 다른 항목에 비해 시간이 더 소요되거나 연구보조자에 의한 반복 설명이 필요하기도 하였다.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.207-217
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to garner useful information through a comparative analysis of health behaviors and health states between the young-old and old-old elderly in a rural Korean area. Methods: We define the young-old elderly as those 65 to 74 years of age, and the old-old as those over 70. The survey was administered in October and November of 2009 at senior citizen centers in Sangju City, Kyongsangbuk-do, South Korea. The number of subjects surveyed approximated the demographics of the aged population of the administrative district of centers of 24 eup, myeon, and dong. Results: Compared with the young-old elderly, the old-old were vulnerable to population sociological characteristics. While there were many cases of contraction of diseases, only a small percentage of old-old elderly were engaged in regular exercise. In addition, the old-old elderly lagged behind the young-old in terms of physical activity, mental and oral health, hearing, and vision. Conclusions: The vulnerability of the old-old elderly in terms of physical and mental health needs to be acknowledged as various characteristics of the elderly that appears according an age group. A variety of disease prevention and health promotion programs that focus on the health behavior and status of the young-old and old-old elderly need to be developed and put into practice.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.382-390
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was done to identify the relationship of perceived health, coping strategies, dependency, suicidal ideation and depression widowed elders, and to identify predictors of depression in this population. Method: The research design for this study was a descriptive survey design using a convenience sampling. Data collection was done using self-questionnaire with 162 elders from welfare centers for senior citizens located in 3 cities, Seoul, Gangneung and Seosan. Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS Win 12.0 Program were used to analyze the data. Results: Depression had significant negative correlations with perceived health (r=-.525, p<.001), and coping strategies (r=-.253, p=.005) and positive correlations with dependency (r=.430, p<.001), and suicidal ideation (r=.473, p<.001). The explained variance for depression was 47.5%. Of the variables, perceived health (${\beta}=-.237$, p=.003), suicidal ideation (${\beta}=.398$, p<.001) and dependency (${\beta}=.341$, p<.001) significantly predicted the degree of depression. Conclusion: Findings from this study provide a comprehensive understanding of depression and related factors for widowed elders in Korea. However, further study with a larger random sample and more a detailed research design is necessary.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-28
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• 2021

Purpose: This study attempted to confirm whether the suicide prevention effect could be achieved by managing the frailty of the elderly in rural areas. Methods: This study is a single-group pre-post study design. The frailty management program was applied twice a week for 12 weeks for the vulnerable elderly in the rural area from 16th April to 31st May in 2020. The program consisted of physical exercise, health education on nutrition management and disease control, cognitive training, and protein drink provision. Results: The average age of the participants was 77.1 years, and they lived alone (88.6%). As a result of providing the program, there were positive results such as increase in body strength (pre 12.27: post 13.27) and weight (pre 58.51: post 59.13), and decrease in depression (pre 4.66: post 1.20), and there was no statistically significant change in quality of life, Time Up & Go, and BMI. Conclusion: Frailty should be managed to prevent suicide in the elderly. It is necessary to expand and apply various programs that combine physical functions and emotional interventions such as health education, and exercise to maintain muscle strength.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.709-725
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• 2024

This study utilized the raw data from the Community Health Survey (2023) to compare differences in body function, activity, participation, environment, personal factors, and suicidal ideations between elderly individuals aged 65 and older living alone and those living with families in Korea. The study subjects consisted of 80,618 elderly individuals aged 65 and older. Cross-tabulation analysis χ²-test), independent sample t-test, and logistic regression analysis were conducted. The results indicated that for both elderly individuals living alone and those living with families, age(p<.001), smoking(p<.001), stress(p<.001), depression experience(p<.001), and falls experiences(p<.001) were risk factors that increased suicidal ideations. Conversely, educational level(p<.05), income level(p<.001), subjective health status(p<.001), social participation(p<.001), economic activity(p<.001), community environment(p<.001), and social relationships were protective factors that reduced suicidal ideations. These findings demonstrate that demographic characteristics and individual health status significantly influence suicidal ideation in the elderly, while social factors contribute to a decrease in suicidal ideation. Furthermore, considering the differences found between elderly individuals living alone and those living with families regarding hypertension and gender, differentiated interventions for suicide prevention are necessary.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.175-184
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• 2023

The elderly in rural areas are faced with the dilemma of poor community environment, weak social communication ability and insufficient pension knowledge reserve. In addition, due to the serious shortage of social security facilities in rural areas and medical resources, the elderly are struggling, and the suicide rate is far higher than that in urban areas. In order to make the elderly have a comfortable pension environment and face the increasingly serious aging problem with a positive attitude, this paper takes the community environment of the Baima Tibetan elderly in Tielou Township, Gansu Province as the research object of aging transformation. First of all, literature data were used to carry out research on the aging transformation in rural areas. On the basis of sorting out previous research topics, ERG theory was determined as the guide. Secondly, the research methods of on-site investigation, interview and other research methods are adopted to investigate the number of left-behind elderly people in this area, and classify them according to the national standards. At the same time, the image of the current situation of the community environment of the elderly. Finally, combined with the ERG theory, the transformation design of the elderly living environment is implemented, mainly from the three aspects of survival, mutual relationship and growth.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.365-373
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting the quality of life of elderly who live alone according to gender. The participants in this study were 959 elderly living alone from a total of 22,948 individuals studied in the 2013-2015 Korean national health and nutrition examination survey. IBM SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze the data. There were significant differences between the two groups in age, level of education, and amount of calorie intake. Economic status, presence of arthritis, presence of restrict activity, subjective health status had an influence on quality of life in men with an explanatory power of 50.5% (p < .001). Presence of back pain, subjective health status, suicidal ideation had an influence on quality of life in women with an explanatory power of 41.4% (p < .001). Therefore, in order to improve the quality of life of elderly living alone, it is necessary to provide appropriate intervention depending on gender.