• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.1239-1261
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• 2010

The main purposes of the study were to identify factors affecting health-related quality of life of elderly stroke survivors, and to suggest social work interventions for improving their quality of life. The participants were 328 elderly stroke survivors over 55 years old recruited from 18 long-term care hospitals and 13 nursing care facilities in Chung-Nam Province, Korea. The data was collected through a direct survey method from Dec. 16, 2008 to Jan. 17, 2009. Statistical analysis revealed that the overall health-related quality of life among participants was relatively low, especially in the social relationships domain. As a result of hierarchical multiple regression analysis, depression emerged as the most significant predictor of elderly stroke survivors' health-related quality of life, followed by financial burden in future, activities of daily living, acceptance of disability, comorbidity, and major financial supporter(spouse). Health-related quality of life of elderly stroke survivors in long-term care facilities was affected by a variety of variables from disease-related factors to environmental ones. Particularly psychosocial variables were the most powerful factors to predict HRQOL of elderly stroke survivors. Based on the results, social work implications were discussed in the context of developing clinical strategies to alleviate elderly stroke survivors' health-related quality of life in long-term care facilities. Living with chronic illness and disability is a great challenge to the elderly. Most of all long-term residence in care facilities can cause deterioration of quality of life in old age. From now on, studies on health-related quality of life of elderly with chronic illness and disability should be activated in social work field.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.267-290
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• 2011

This research attempts to analyze the effects of demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors and social/familial supports on health inequalities among Korean elderly. For this end, this study adopts the multiple linear regression analysis to process data on population aged over 65 contained in 'The Third Korea Welfare Panel Study' published in 2008. The following are the results. First, the less educated they are, the smaller income they earn, the less they drink, the less satisfied with relationships with their family members, the more they turn out to feel depressed. Second, the less educated they are, the smaller income they earn, the less they drink, the less they are satisfied with relationship with family members, the more they benefit from social welfare services, the worse they turn out to rate their health. Based on these findings, three following suggestions could be forwarded. First, vulnerable aged groups including female elderly, low-income elderly, less-educated elderly need customized social supports. Second, new social policy for households is required to enhance elderly people's satisfaction with their family relationships with the rapid trend of a growing number of nuclear families and aging. Third, social welfare service programs need to be reevaluated to enhance their function for the aged.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.137-144
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the needs of the cancer patients and their families and provide basic data to meet with their needs. Methods: This is a descriptive study using questionnaire method. Questionnaire were collected by mail from 76 discharged patients from a hospice ward from May until the end of October, 2004, and data were analyzed by SPSS 10.0. Results: Admitted patients had needs of pain control (85.5%), non-pain symptoms (63.2%) such as vomiting, dyspnea, ascites, etc, and emotional and spiritual problem solving (28.9%, 14.5%). Interests of patients were health care of himself/herself (65.8%), concern for their spouses left alone (32.9%), and future of their children (15.8%). In families' needs of care of 5 areas, "information on patient's status and treatment/nursing care" was shown most high score ($3.48{\pm}0.62$). In detailed questions, they request most 'to inform the prognosis of patients' and the next is 'to inform the reasons that nursing care was required'. The next highest score was to 'inform family roles' ($3.39{\pm}0.64$), and next was spiritual support ($3.11{\pm}0.79$), and emotional support ($3.08{\pm}0.72$). Expectations of family on the treatment were comfortable dying (73.4%) scored the highest. Patients' families were satisfied with volunteer service most in service area (97.4%). The next was pain control (89.5%) and nursing service (77.6%). Conclusion: Health care staff should identify the actual needs of families caring cancer patients and they should operate realistic programme which can give continuous and assistance by reflecting individual needs and characteristics. With these srategies, the quality of life of patients and families can be improved. And then the intervention programme should be developed to measure subjective nursing care needs of terminally ill cancer patients and their families.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Purpose: Terminal cancer influences on patients as well as their family members. This research was performed to evaluate the quality of lift of primary family caregivers and to investigate the influencing factors. Methods: The results of survey were collected from 81 family caregivers who were taking care of hospitalized terminal cancer patients at an oncology department of university hospital in Daejeon from March 2005 to January 2006 with questionnaires. The questionnaires were consisted of the general characteristics of the subjects, and 36-items short-form Health Survey (SE-36) Korean version to evaluate the quality of life of family caregivers, the characteristics of patients and family caregivers' caring trait. Results: Family caregivers' mean (${\pm}SD$) SF-36 score was 47.9 (${\pm}20.7$). Influential factors on family caregivers' life quality were daily raring hours, economic burden, type of treatment; only supportive care, caring duration, sex, the numbers of ADLs (activity of daily livings) items that patients needed help in order by stepwised multiple logistic regression analysis (overall $R^2=0.639$, P=0.044). Conclusion: Daily raring hours and economic burden were two influential modifiable factors on family caregivers' quality of life. Therefore, social supportive systems are required to reduce family caregivers' daily caring hour and economic burden.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.56-64
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• 1998

Purpose : Seoul National University Hospital developed a group counseling program for the terminal cancer patients and their family members. This program consists of each of doctor, nutritionist, nurse, pharmacist, and social worker to provide them with the information and to enhance their ability to cope with terminal cancer. This research aims to introduce this new program per se, and to appreciate its validity and applicability to the terminal cancer patients and their family members by analyzing the concerns and specific questions of the participants. Methods : The methodological approach employed in this research is 1996 content analysis of the group counseling reports, and interview of the 312 participants. The analysis includes the general characteristics of the subjects, family relationship to the patients, times of attendance to the group session, source of information to the program. Results : The participants consist of 261 family members(84%) and 51 patients(16%). Majority responded to the program with a single-attendance. Diagnosis are mainly lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer. The ratio of participants by family members is decreased in the order of spouse, children, daughter-in-law, brothers and sisters, and parents. The source of information to the program is largely through medical staff(69%) as compared with posters in the hospital (26%). The participants are interested primarily in the medical information. Their interests are various, such as pain control, patient care, nutrition, psychosocial problem and etc. Conclusion : This program is characterized largely as a family-supporting program which primarily offers information for terminal cancer. This program is a sort of a hospice program, which maximizes the present quality of living of the terminal cancer patients as long as life continues by encouraging them to live with terminal cancer. Thus, this group program can be employed as an active support network for the patients and their family. In order to develop comprehensive care-giving services, it is required to have 24-hour telephone service, hospice facilities, home care service, and communication between the referral hospitals and the primary care physicians, in particular. Such a development of services is the ultimate goal for improving care. But the immediate goal of the program is to make possible better education for the patients and their family to live with terminal cancer.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2002

The aim of this study was to analyse and conduct the comprehensive geriatric assessment for the elderly in rural area. The subjects were 388 older people aged 65 years or older living in the community. Data for comprehensive assessment such as physical, mental, functional, social and environmental conditions were collected from January to February, 2001 through a person-to-person interview. Of the total 388 olders, 169(43.6%) were men and 219(56.4%) were women. Mean ages of men and women were $73.5{\pm}6.4$ and $74.0{\pm}6.2$ years respectively. Three common diseases of the elderly were arthralgia(51.6%), chronic back pain(33.2%) and hypertension(18.6%), and higher in women than in men. Impairment rate of vision, hearing and bowel or bladder control was 59.0%, 20.1%, and 28.4% respectively. But that of lover extremities 3.4%. In terms of cognitive function, short term memory loss was found in 33.7% of males and 44.7% of females. The percentage of fully independent in the six ADL items was 72.2% in men and 58.9% in women. In the social supportive system, 49.5% of the elderly were living with spouse, and 22.9% living alone, 26.3% having care giver. These results will provide basic data for the development of community-based health program, which gives appropriate health service for the elderly living in the community.