• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.1149-1171
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of the social intervention for severely isolated older adults who live alone and are in serious isolation as if they were 'hidden'. Through qualitative descriptive methods, it intends to describe how social workers in the "Making Friends of Older Adults who Live Alone" project have perceived older adults living alone in serious isolated situation, whether there have been changes in the perception of the elderly according to the progress of the project, and what kinds of experiences these social workers have had while providing case management to older adults. In-depth interviews with 40 social workers, case management records of 70 senior citizens, and research journals were collected and analyzed using qualitative content analysis methods. The results of data analysis were presented in two categories and four subcategories each. Based on the research findings, four kinds of implications were suggested.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.454-462
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to explore the lonely-death phenomenon and to understand the circumstances surrounding the lonely-death cases among elderly people by examining the articles on such phenomenon and the media reports of such cases. The cases of lonely death reported from 2007 to 2017 were used. Case analysis was conducted, and the news articles that described the lonely death cases were identified using an internet search engine. Forty seven cases were analyzed. Several risk factors emerged from the data obtained, such as economic hardship, chronic illness, mental health problems like alcohol addiction, social isolation, disconnection from family members or the neighborhood, unemployment, single household, unmarried or divorced status, and living in an urban area. Based on the findings, prevention strategies were addressed.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.253-263
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• 1997

농촌지역은 도시지역에 비하여 의료자원의 부족으로 보건의료자원의 이용 접근성이 낮다고 할 수 있다. 따라서 일부 농촌지역주민의 질병이환과 이환시 보건의료자원의 이용양상을 분석하는 것은 매우 의의가 있다고 하겠다. 본 연구방법은 포천군 주민의 보건의료자원의 이용과 치료원의 이용 양상을 분석할 목적으로 1995년 8월 4일~20일까지 1,200가구를 대상으로 가구 면접조사를 실시하였다. 분석대상 가구수는 1,019가구였으며 훈련받은 조사원에 의하여 조사되었으며 경기도 포천군 지역은 연세대학교 보건대학원 및 간호대학의 연구사업지역으로 본 분석 자료는 연세대학교 연구자료의 일부를 사용하였다. 연구 결과는 다음과 같다. 성별인구분포는 남자가 49.9%, 여자가 50.1%이고 연령별 분포는 60세 이상이 16.5%로써 전국의 노인인구 비율보다 높았다. 교육상태는 13년 이상 교육이수율이 남자가 여자보다 높았으나 전체 조사 대상 인구는 교육수준이 높았다. 가족 형태는 핵가족이 70.9%로써 농촌지역임에도 매우 높았다. 지난 15일간의 이환상태를 조사한 결과 급성이환율은 5.4%(54/1,000)이며 3개월 이상 만성이환율은 130/1,000으로 나타났다. 급성이환시 증상별 분포는 호흡기계질환이 36.4%, 소화기계가 20.9%, 여러 가지 복합 증상이 33.0%을 나타낸 반면 만성이환율은 관절염 및 류마티즘이 21.2%, 기타 골격계가 12.6%로서 높았다. 급성 이환시 의료이용양상은 포천군관내의 의료기관이용이 62.6%, 약국이용이 15.2%, 보건소 이용이 4.0%였으며 의료기관이 주요 이용자원이었다. 아무 조치를 취하지 않은 비율은 6.1%로서 높지 않았다. 즉 극성질환인 경우 전체이환자의 76.5%가 1회 방문으로 문제를 해결한 것으로 나타난 반면 나머지 23.5%가 2회 이상 의료자원을 이용한 것으로 나타났다. 3개월이상 만성이환자는 포천군관내 의료기관의 이용율이 56.3%, 관외의료관 이용이 19.3%인 반면 한방기관이용이 7.6%로서 급성이환시 한방이용비율인 4.0%보다 높았다. 1회 방문이 67.4%인 반면 2회 이상 보건의료자원을 이용한 비율이 33.6%로서 만성질환 이용시 보건의료자원의 이용 빈도가 높은 것으로 나타났다. 본 분석결과 포천군 주민의 주요 보건의료자원의 이용은 의료기관으로 나타났고 미치료율이 타농촌지역에 비하여 낮았으며 만성질환시 급성이환시보다 한방의료이용이 높았음을 나타났다.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.551-573
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• 2015

The rise of single living has been one of the most important demographic shifts of recent decades. The solo household is a little less than 40% in Europe areas and that of Tokyo is over 45%. Being impacted this figure, the formation of single economy is the key word in World Economic Forum(WEF) 2008. Seoul' single household is increasing rapidly. Between 2000 and 2005, the growth of single person is around 34%, the population of single person reached 700,000 people. Now 20% of total household in Seoul is Single household. Living alone or solo living is not exceptional or special in Seoul Metropolitan City. The rise in single living will create pressures towards poverty and inequality and so on. Seoul should develop and prepare the urban policy for single household. We figured out the four key trends which composed of single household in Seoul. Four types of single person are like below : Gold Mr and Miss, Reserved labor forces, depressed single and silver generation. Gold group is amonst people aged 30 and 40 who is working in the area of white collar and professional. They are usually elective single person household who have chosen solo living. Reserved labor forces group is usually among 20s people who have not get the regular hob. For this group, job acquiring is the most important issue. Depressed single person household group is among people aged late 30s and 40s. Its group is the result from the broken family. The silver group is among aged over 65 that is the main issue of the aged society. In this research, we stressed that people living alone can be split into two types - elective single person households who have chosen single living, and forced single person household who have been constrained to this lifestyle by circumstances. Except gold group, the rest of the group is the forced single household who are faced to poverty. The monthly income of single person household is almost under 2 million won. Single person household is usually working in the blue collar job and service area. So, except gold group that is the smallest part of single person household, almost single person is not the target of private market, but the object of public policy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.242-244
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• 2022

In recent years, the number of single-person households is increasing with the aging of the population and the number of the elderly living alone is increasing rapidly with the aging of the population. Therefore, the lonely death of the elderly living alone has become a social issue. In many cases, the body is discovered several days after death. In particular, lonely death of the elderly living alone is being taken more seriously in society, as there is no one to arrange funerals, organize and dispose of their belongings. Since the body is usually found after a few days, the decomposition of the body is often severe. Therefore, this paper proposes an indoor monitoring system using a temperature and humidity sensor and a human body sensor to prevent and respond to lonely deaths in the elderly living alone.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.63-70
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• 2016

In this study, the correlation between convergence factors including social, environmental, psychological and physical factors and the health-related quality of life was examined using a structural equation model to find a practical alternative for improving the quality of life in the elderly people living alone. This study targeted 13,771 seniors from single households aged 65 and over, who were subject to the community health survey in 2014. Social capitals, stress, subjective health conditions and EQ-5D of the subjects were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0. The analysis findings are as follows. The results of the model fit was good value with CFI=.906, GFI=.955, RMSEA=.074. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that for maintaining health and improving the quality of life in the elderly people living alone, families and local communities need to increase social capitals by providing care service for the elderly people living alone and grounds that they can participate in.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.239-255
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine whether family relationships of elderly single-person households affect community participation and whether these relationships differ by gender. Based on Baltes and Baltes (1990) 's selection, optimization, and compensation theory (SOC) and the argument that family members are a social capital by Prandini (2014), we test whether family relationships can affect community participation in old age. In order to verify this, single-person households were extracted from the 2017 National Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (Male sample=370, Female sample=1770), multiple regression analysis were conducted with the dependent variables of friends·neighbors and the participation at Kyungrodang·welfare centers for the elderly. The results are as follows. In the case of men, family relations showed no significant effect on their participation in friends·neighbors, or Kyungrodang·welfare centers. However, in the case of women, the frequency of contact with family had a positive effect on the frequency of meeting friends·neighbors. Family contact frequency and child relationship satisfaction had a positive (+) effect on Kyungrodang·welfare center participation, while family meeting frequency had a negative effect on participation in Kyungrodang·welfare centers. For women, although Prandini's (2014) claim that family members are a social capital seems to be supported, it was found that the impact could vary depending on the type of community participation. In addition, practical discussions and suggestions were presented.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.788-797
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to identify the satisfaction with medical services of the disabled elderly who have the highest need for medical services. For this purpose, the effect of health characteristics and medical service characteristics of the disabled elderly on medical service satisfaction was verified. The subjects of analysis were 3,323 persons with disabilities aged 65 or older who were taken from the national survey of people with disabilities in 2017. For statistical analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were performed using the SPSS 26.0 program. The results of the study showed as follows. As a result of the regression analysis, gender (β= -.045, p<.05) and residence status (β= -.048, p<.05) among the demographic characteristics as control variables had a statistically significant effect on the level of medical service satisfaction. Among the health characteristics, IADL (β=-.044, p<.05) had a statistically significant effect on medical service satisfaction level. In the case of medical service characteristics, satisfaction with medical facilities and equipment (β = .290, p< .001), medical staff's level of understanding of disability (β = .404, p< .001), health-related service use (β = .182, p<.05) had a statistically significant effect on the level of medical service satisfaction. Based on the results, practical alternatives to ensure health equity in the community medical system were suggested in the discussion to enhance the health management and self-determination capabilities of the disabled elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.58-72
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the food and nutrient intake of Korean elderly according to the anxiety and depressive condition using the data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES) from 2013 to 2015. Methods: The participants were 3,504 elderly people over 65 years of age (1,523 in men and, 1,981 in women). The dietary information was analyzed using the 24-hour recall data. The anxiety and depressive state was assessed using the self-reported scale EQ-5D in the quality of life dimension. The subjects were divided into the anxiety depression group (AD) and non-anxiety depression group (NAD) according to their anxiety and depressive conditions. Results: In the male elderly, the AD group had a significantly lower education and economic level and higher proportion in living alone than the NAD group. The percentage of eating lunch and dinner alone in the male AD group was higher than that of the NAD group. The female AD group showed less a lower frequency of dinner than the NAD group. The male AD group had a lower consumption of total foods, fish and shellfishes, seaweeds, mushrooms, oils and fats, and seasonings than the NAD group. With regard to the nutrient intake, the male elderly NAD group had more sufficient nutrient intakes than the AD group. In particular, the daily intakes of dietary fiber, riboflavin, niacin, potassium and iron were significantly lower in the AD group. To compare with the nutrient density of the two groups, the vitamin C and niacin intakes were lower in the AD group than in the NAD group. Overall, the nutritional status of the male AD group was significantly lower than that of the NAD group. Meanwhile, the female elderly had showed a smaller difference in nutrient intake according to their anxiety and depressive condition. Conclusion: These results of this study show that more nutritional education and emotional support are needed to improve the nutritional status and health of the male elderly with anxiety or depression.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1976

This study was conducted in order to observe some descriptive epidemiological findings and causes of life-long labour force loss in the rural population of Korea, and to consider, on the basis of these observations, some principles of the necessary control measures. The total number of subjects in the study was 27,172, all family members of 4,174 households. The study population was located in the 81 counties, out of a total of 138 counties, where the college students conducted service activities during the summer of 1974. In each village area where these service activities were conducted, one household per student interviewer was randomly selected. Student interviewers were instructed on the contents of the questionnaire prior to the survey. The main contents of the questionnaire form included address, name, sex and age of each family members, and present life-long labour force loss, if any, of each family member. In cases of current labour force loss, the age of onset and causes were recorded. Of the total households surveyed, 8.9% had family members (1-4 in number) with life-long labour force loss. Of the total persons surveyed, the crude prevalence rate for life-long labour force loss was 15.1 per 1,000; and the age-standardized prevalence rates for male and female were 16.3 per 1,000 and 13.4 per 1,000, respectively. The rates, in both sexes, were gradually increased as the ages were increased. The prevalence rates per 1,000, in order, for life-long labour force loss by the causes were 10.2 for senility, 2.4 for impairment of extremities, 1.2 for chronic diseases of internal organs, 0.5 for other conditions of muosculoskeletal system, 0.4 for blindness in both eyes, 0.2 for impairment of spine, 0.2 for psychoses, and 0.1 for epilepsy. Among them the causes of impairment of extremities were stroke, poliomyelitis, accidents, arthritis and injury due to war operation, in that order of higher relative frequency. The frequency ratios by age of onset were also observed by the causes and sex.