• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.23-41
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to explore social supports for elderly housing and their residential lives in small cities along rural counties of the United States and Canada, and suggest future implications for age-concentrated rural villages in Korea. In this study, five small and medium cities in non-metropolitan counties of California and Ontario province were visited and elderly residents and service experts were interviewed about their perceptions of community integrated social support networks for senior residences. The senior housing complexes were built due to influx of both metropolitan and rural residents seeking warm localities, traffic connections, business purposes in active production areas. and leisure attractions. There are five main social support networks for senior housing issues in these areas. First, the areas are claimed for senior zones and accordingly health industries are encouraged by local authorities. Second, the community is homogeneously constructed as a senior friendly environment and include features such as an RV park and mobile cottages. Third, senior-helping seniors are offered active work through golf-cluster active retirement communities. Fourth, traditional theme production camps are mobilized by the elderly workers. Lastly, an information system is maintained for screening volunteers and for senior abuse prevention. On the other hand, residential lives are occasionally negatively influenced by unbalanced concentrations of elderly facilities such as nursing stations and funeral homes. For the future of Korean rural elderly policies, suggestions are made as follows: first, an integrated urban and rural township that contains attractive places for early retiring people who seek a warm atmosphere in later life needs to be constructed. Second, an integrated model retirement village of urban and rural retirement life needs to be initiated as a measure of evaluating the adaptation process of movers in senior concentrated zones. Third, a cooperation system among governmental ministries needs to be formed with the long- term goal of establishing a traditional rural town of independent housing districts and medical facilities in rural areas. Fourth, productive and active lifestyles need to be maintained as the local community and government develop successful retirement rural villages, by limiting the expansion of nursing related facilities. Finally, generation integrated visiting welfare programs and services need to be further developed for the housing areas especially in the winter, when social integration and activity are relatively low.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2010

To investigate acute drug intoxication trends in the elderly visited Emergency Medical Centers, Data was collected from the records of poisoning patients visited Five different Hospitals from January 1. 2007 to December 31. 2007. The analysis was conducted by using 135 cases of 624 cases. When considering only the elderly and making comparisons between the urban areas and the rural areas the following data was produced. In regard to patients with acute drug intoxication, the main substance of choice was pesticides. Cases of acute drug intoxication are definitely higher for those categorized as the rural elderly (75.0%) when compared with those categorized as the urban elderly (44.1%). The male to female ratio, those living together as a family, past suicide attempts, mental state and sobriety condition when they came, monthly distribution etc. between the two groups did not demonstrate a difference between them. In regard to reasons given for acute drug intoxication, suicide was the highest at 60.7% of the cases. When comparing accidental reasons for poisoning, the urban elderly, at 34.2% of their cases, were higher than in the rural elderly, at 23.7%. After first aid was administered, the admission rate was higher for the rural elderly (47.4%) than for the urban elderly (33.9%). This shows that the rural elderly have a more severe acute drug intoxication poisoning problem than the urban elderly do.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.225-240
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• 1991

The purpose of this study is to find the main factor which influences the housing satisfaction of elderly who lives alone or with spouse and to make it sure that housing satisfaction is an important factor to life satisfaction of elderly. The specific purpose of this study is as follows; 1) How does the locus of control of elderly influence a housing satisfaction\ulcorner 2) How does the housing characteristics of elderly influence on the housing satisfaction and this relationship has any difference between urban and rural area. 3) Which variables influence upon the housing satisfaction and life satisfaction of elderly and how much do they influence \ulcorner The locus of control scale, housing satisfaction scale. life satisfaction scale were composed on the basis of precedent researches. For this study 202 elderly sho live in urban and rural area ere interviewed. To analyze the data, such as F-test, t-test, two-way ANOVA, Multiple regression analysis were used with SPSS program. The results are as follows; 1) The interrelation between locus of control and housing satisfaction is as follows. Namely , if he believes in his deeds and will rater than his fate, he feels more housing satisfaction. 2)the housing satisfaction of the elderly was found to be influenced by location, Namely, the elderly living in the urban area feels more housing satisfaction, especially he lives in apartment and unshared house. On the contrary, the elderly living in the rural area was not affected by housing type and the number of household who live together, The housing satisfaction of the elderly living in the rural area or the urban area equally influenced by the housing tenure, heating system, bathroom facility, flush toilet, and convenient service form the outside. 3) The main factoers which influence the housing satisfaction of the single household elderly are bathroom facility louse of control and income. When we concern about the location in urban area the housing satisfaction of the elderly were mainly influenced by income, but in the rural area, they were influenced by the service facility from the outside. As a Conclusion, the main factor which influenced life satisfaction of the elderly proved to be housing satisfaction inn both rural and urban area.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.51-60
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• 2009

To investigate acute drug intoxication trends in the elderly visited Emergency Medical Centers, Data was collected from the records of poisoning patients visited Five different Hospitals from January 1. 2007 to December 31. 2007. The analysis was conducted by using 135 cases of 624 cases. When considering only the elderly and making comparisons between the urban areas and the rural areas the following data was produced. In regard to patients with acute drug intoxication, the main substance of choice was pesticides. Cases of acute drug intoxication are definitely higher for those categorized as the rural elderly (75.0%) when compared with those categorized as the urban elderly (44.1%). The male to female ratio, those living together as a family, past suicide attempts, mental state and sobriety condition when they came, monthly distribution etc. between the two groups did not demonstrate a difference between them. In regard to reasons given for acute drug intoxication, suicide was the highest at 60.7% of the cases. When comparing accidental reasons for poisoning, the urban elderly, at 34.2% of their cases, were higher than in the rural elderly, at 23.7%. After first aid was administered, the admission rate was higher for the rural elderly (47.4%) than for the urban elderly (33.9%). This shows that the rural elderly have a more severe acute drug intoxication poisoning problem than the urban elderly do.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2023

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting social discrimination experience on depression in the early and late elderly by region. Methods: This study used data from the National Survey of Older Koreans 2020. The subject of the study was the elderly aged 65 or older, and it was analyzed as those who responded. In order to analyze the effect of social discrimination experiences on depression, it was analyzed through binary logistic regression analysis. Results: The results of this study showed that the elderly who experienced social discrimination had a significant effect on depression. In addition, when four groups experienced social discrimination when using restaurants or coffee shops, depression was commonly affected. In addition, when both city and rural areas experience social discrimination when using sales facilities in social discrimination in the elderly, city areas are 2.21 times more likely to experience depression and 3.52 times more likely to experience depression in rural areas. The late elderly are more likely to experience 3.04 times more likely to experience social discrimination when using restaurants or coffee shops in city areas, and 3.03 times more likely to experience depression when experiencing social discrimination to make major decisions in the family in rural areas. Conclusion: In conclusion, it is necessary to prepare alternatives to prevent depression and improve mental health suitable for the characteristics of age and residential area. In addition, it suggests that personal and social efforts are needed to solve the problem of social discrimination in order to reduce depression in the elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.463-474
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the food environment, particularly focusing on restaurants in three areas (Suwon city, Hwaseong Byeongieom-dong, and Bibong-myun). Methods: A total of 662 persons were surveyed on customers' perceptions of the food environment in restaurants. A structured questionnaire composed of 30 questions on 7 factors, sanitation (4 items), displaying information (5), food quality (12), information on nutritional and healthy food choice (6), restaurant's accessibility (1), availability (1), and affordability (1) was used. In addition, an expert assessment of restaurant sanitation, and information on nutritional healthy food choice was conducted through visiting 126 restaurants. Results: Scores (range of score : 1~7) for each factors assessing the restaurant food environment were 5.06 for sanitation factors, 5.05 for displaying information factors, 5.13 for taste appearance factors, and 4.35 for healthy menu factors. Informations on nutritional healthy food choice showed a low rate: only 16.24% of the subjects answered that there is a message encouraging choice of healthy foods and 27.4% answered that menus contain nutritional information. Significant differences in food environment were observed by region (city, town, rural). The restaurants food environment in the rural area turned out to be poorer than that of the other two areas. In comparison of customer perception and expert assessment, significant differences were observed for 'Employee appearances and uniforms are clean and tidy' (p < .05), and 'There is a message encouraging the choice of healthy foods' (p < .05). Conclusion: This study provided evidence for differences of restaurant food environment by regions. In the rural area, there is a problem in restaurant's accessibility, availability, and affordability because of a lack of variety in menu items and restaurants. This results suggest that there is a need for more healthy food restaurants in the rural area.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.65-77
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• 1999

In order to estimate the utilization pattern of a rural health subcenter, and to identify the recognition for it among the farmhouse members in a suburban area, a questionnaire survey was carried out for objects of 696 population. The results observed were as follows: The annual utilization rate of rural health subcenter for a basic health service unit was 25.0 per 100 persons, and annual mean visiting times was 0.22 times. And the most frequent disease by annual health subcenter utilization illness was musculoskeletal disease(30.6%), and the next was respiratory disease(14.1%), gastrointestinal disease(13.9%) by order. Favorite reason for community health subcenter utilization were near distance from living place(49.6%), lower disease severity(18.9%) and lower medical cost(18.1%) by order. But disfavoring reasons for it were absence of specialist(20.2%), non effective treatment(19.2%) and insufficient equipment(14.7%) by order. And insufficient items about community health subcenter utilization were restriction of treatment limit(40.7%), lower reliance(22.5%) and difficulty in traffic(13.4%) by order. The results of logistic regression analysis suggested that statistically significant factors in health subcenter utilization was educational level. The desirable works for the health subcenter in a suburban area were disease control of elderly and disease preventing service. These results suggested that to increase the utilization of rural health subcenter in a suburban area and to promote the accessibility of rural residents to primary health care, there must be considered public relation about health subcenter, improvement of medical quality and change of priority about health subcenter's works.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.1-21
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• 2007

The purpose of this research is to seek for efficient method of health improvement program for the old and to offer basic material for the development of community's public health service. This study investigated into the yangseng life level of the old and the factors which affect their yangseng life, and was to offer basic materials for oriental medicine-based health improvement plan which is appropriate for each community. The 818 surveys were conducted upon the old who are above 65 and who live in Jeollabukdo, and the results from the survey are as follows ; 1. The rural area showed more percentage of old people, the old who live alone and who have job compared to urban area. More people in rural area were found to live at their own expense. Additionally, there were more people who had high education in urban area and who have disease in rural area. 2. The total yangseng level of recipients was 94.20, and the average was 3.25. The average of urbanite was 3.26 and it was 3.23 for who live in rustic area, but there found no significant difference. All the old live in both urban area and rural area showed the highest score in morality yangseng and lowest in sex-life yangseng. 3. There found no difference upon regions, but the recipients show high yangseng level when they are male, have spouse, live with them, have factors including high education background, job, religion and hobby, or have confidence in their health. They also show high yangseng level when they do not have any disease in progress. 4. According to the results of general traits and yangseng level of each category, the old who live in urban area show higher exercise yangseng level than the one in rural area, and there is no significant difference upon the region in other categories. There were some cases which general traits and regional characteristics mutually affected each other. In conclusion, the yangseng level of the old is affected by individual traits and habits rather than the regions in which they live. The old who live in rural area are required to focus on exercise more, since the exercise yangseng level of them were lower than the ones of urban area. Moreover, there were some cases which general traits and regional characteristics mutually affected each other, so it requires further in-depth study about the correlation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 1979

This study was conducted to abbess dietary intake and eating habits of low-income persons aged 60 years or elder. 212 persons were surveyed between July 10 and August 17, 1978 ; 105 from the farming village of Yang-ju, Kyunggi province; and 107 from Karakdong, an area of redevlopment in the suburbs of Seoul. Results were as follows : 1 ) Family environment 84% of elderly persons surveyed, lived with their children; 13.2%, together as a couple; and 1.9%, widowed, lived alone. More than half on the households had an average monthly income of \50,000 to \30,000. The average Engel index was 61.2%. As for pocket money, 56.4% of male subjects had \l,000 to \7,000 per month, whereas 74% of female had less than \1,000. 2) Anthropometric measurements 59.9% of subjects were $70{\sim}90%$ of standard weight, 93% had an arm circumference only $60{\sim}80%$ of the standard. 3) Food and nutrient intake Carbohydrate provided 73.4 to 79.4% of total energy intake, whereas protein and fat accounted for 10.4 to 10.5% and 8.3 to 7.8%, respectively. Those over 65 years of age showed a somewhat greater dependence on carbohydrates for energy, than those under 65. Protein intake was only $42{\sim}52%$ of the recommended allowance. and the proportion of animal protein to total protein was only $2.1{\sim}9.3%$ far below the recommended allowance. Thus the protein nutrition of the subjects was proven to be inadequate qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Intake of energy and of all nutrients except vitamin A and ascorbic acid, were lower than recommended. 4) Correlational assessment The correlation coefficient between poor dental health, clinical sign score, appetite index, dietary balance and nutrient intake, was significant (0<0.01). Poor teeth, illness, and poor appetite were always associated with inadequate intake of energy and nutrients. The results of this survey reveal that many of elderly of the rural and urban poor show evidence of general malnutrition, The authours hope that this study will provide a back. ground and indicate the direction that community health and welfare programs may take to assure proper nutrition for the elderly.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.417-431
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• 2007

This study investigates the differences among residental areas in the health, standard of living, and social relationships of female elderly living alone. The total of 501 subjects(185 from rural areas, 159 from fishing communities, 77 from the islands, and 80 from urban areas) were questioned from May to July, 2006. The research area was confined to Chungcheong Province. The female elderly living alone of this study were an average of seventy-three years old, had a low cost of living, and received little formal school education. Over sixty percent(60.3) of them lived on less than thirty dollars a month which was the recognized Korean poverty level in 2006. The female elderly living alone were evaluated as being in good health, but they themselves perceived their health as being poor. Observed by residential areas, the subjects in urban areas were lower in ADL, and both the urban dwellers and the islanders appeared to be higher in their satisfaction with medical services as compared to those in rural areas and fishing communities. The fishing villagers showed the lowest standard of living for female elderly living alone. The analysis of social relationships as seen in the different residental areas revealed that the female elderly living alone g in urban areas tended to be receiving social supports rather than providing for others, and subjects living in fishing areas and the islands proved to be relatively higher in the exchange of social supports. In relation to offspring, the female elderly living alone in urban areas had a lower frequency of meeting with their children and also a lesser degree of intimacy with them because they lived at a distance. On the other hand, subjects living in rural areas and fishing communities had a higher frequency of meeting with their children and a greater degree of intimacy with them even if they lived at a distance. The study also showed that the female elderly living alone in the islands had a higher frequency of once meeting per three week with their offspring and a higher degree of intimacy with them because they all live in the same islands. In conclusion, the subject living in urban areas appeared to be isolated from their offspring as compared to the other seniors in the study. The female elderly living alone in urban areas suffered from an insufficient network of relatives and neighbors, and they experienced a poor quality of relationships to their offspring. Almost all of the lone seniors in the study had a low score in social activities; however, the female elderly living alone in urban areas revealed a higher level of participation in volunteer activities, group activities, and educational activities. Nevertheless, the lone seniors living in urban areas were not satisfied with their participation in social activities. The subjects living in rural in fishing communities and the islands showed more participation in money-making activities. This study suggests that the policies for female elderly living alone should reflect the differences of regional characteristics.