• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.103-123
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• 2018

The purpose of this research is to study how an elderly male lives after the experience of bereavement, and to understand the experience's essence. The researcher picked 3 elderly men living alone after separation by death as test subjects and gathered information through in-depth interviews. The analysis of the information was done based on the three-dimensional space of narrative presented by Clandinin and Connely(2000), and it restructures the common experience under five meanings. The mutual themes of 'It's the life of a sinner, but not wanting to be seen as a widower to others', 'The fear for death, and the preparation for after death', 'Trying to stay alive for the children', 'Entering the world to find meaning in a gloomy life', and 'A lone goose lost in search of social warmth' came from the research results. The essence of the experience studied with the mutual themes as basis came out to be 'A struggle to take flight again after one broken wing'. This research has a major significance in that elderly males' experience of bereavement was studied in the dimension of time continuity, and that individual social interactions that are made by elderly males to continue their lives after the experience of bereavement were studied.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.477-483
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• 2020

Purpose: The aim of this study is to test a brief modified version of intervention for problem drinking monitoring program for bereaved men who lost their loved one. Methods: Inclusion criteria were experiencing the recent loss of a spouse and providing informed consent for participation. Of the 32 referred individuals who met the inclusion criteria, 26 participants were recruited. Study participants were randomly assigned into Alcohol problem monitoring(APM) group (N=13) or comparison group (N=13). Results: Older men receiving APM substantial decreased in problem drinking during three months of intervention. Improvement over time was observed on the outcomes, particularly in the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test-Geriatric Version(SMAST-G). Conclusion: The findings that a modified version of APM for bereavement helped improve complicated grief symptoms and social impairments and reduce levels of problem drinking, provide important insights into the interventions for psychological and alcohol-related difficulties in bereavement.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2004

Purpose: Population using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and the cost or it are increasing all over the world. In this study, we investigated the utilization state of CAM in the elderly people during the last 6 months of life. Methods: We found 4,210 persons in Seoul, older than 65 years who received a funeral subsidy from health insurance after death during the latter half of the year, 2001. We stratified them by age and gender and selected 301 persons and surveyed them by questionnaire. Results: 247 persons (83.1%) used at least one of CAM during their last 6 months of life. Diet and Nutrition remedy showed the highest utilatization rate (65.5%), and drug therapies also were much used (29.9%). Utilization rate was higher in female (60%) and according to the cause of death, the highest in a geriatric disease groups, and the lowest in the cancer group. Whole satisfaction to CAM was high with average 4.25 points out of total 6, and adverse effects were almost free with average 5.55 points out of total 6. Satisfaction was the highest in Diet and Nutrition remedy but the lowest in Manipulative and Body-Based methods. Adverse-effect score was best in Manipulative and Body-Based methods. According to age and the causative disease of death, there were significant differences in satisfaction and adverse effect levels. Conclusion: Majority of old people used at least one of CAM during their last 6months of life. Whole satisfaction and adverse-effect level were very excellent.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1327-1340
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• 2009

The purposes of the study were (1) to identify the level of successful aging of older people living in a city, (2) to identify associated factors with successful aging, and (3) to identify a risk group for successful aging using classification and regression trees (CART) analysis. One hundred eighty seven older people (>65years) participated in the cross-sectional survey. Trained interviewers collected data with a structured questionnaire on demographic information, Korean geriatric depression score, activity of daily living(ADL), instrumental activity of daily living(IADL), and Young's successful aging instrument in subject's home. A CART analysis split subjects into ten homogeneous small groups based on five determinant factors. Older people who are male, with higher education, living with family, and not receiving Medicaid showed better scores in successful aging than their counter parts. Depression was a strong primary determinant for successful aging. A risk group for successful aging of older people was identified by depression and IADL. An intervention to prevent and manage depression and to improve physical function of older people can be developed to promote successful aging of older people. It is suggested to consider an assessment of depression to develop the policies for older people welfare.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.872-880
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• 2014

This study was conducted to assess the characteristics and satisfactions related with facility foodservice for the elderly in the Northern Gyeonggi-do area (Republic of Korea). To accomplish this, a survey was conducted to investigate the general characteristics of the elderly, health information, and satisfaction with the foodservice of a welfare facility in the area. The main sources of health information for both the male and female elderly included 'health professionals' (49.0, 45.7%) and the 'mass media' (34.4, 33.5%), and they were revealed to trust the information from 'health professionals' (65.6, 59.5%), more so than the 'mass media' (19.8, 20.8%). The principal diseases of the elderly were 'hypertension' (27.1%), 'diabetes' (21.9%), 'palsy' (19.8%) in males, and 'hypertension' (32.4%), 'diabetes' (24.9%), 'arthritis' (15.0%) in females. Most male and female elderly indicated the main reasons for skipping a meal to be 'no appetite' (37.5, 53.8%) and 'indigestion'(19.1, 17.3%), respectively. The facility foodservice was used by the male elderly for the reasons of 'irritating to cook' (28.1%), 'to meet a friend' (26.0%), and 'economic' (14.6%), while the female elderly used it for the reasons of 'economic' (25.4%), 'to meet a friend' (23.1%), and 'irritating to cook' (23.1%). The reasons for satisfaction with the facility were subject to 'meal supply' (28.0, 37.2%), 'social exchanges' (20.0, 22.3%), and 'good facilities' (18.7, 18.2%). Regarding the officers and nurses of the facility, 13.3% and 9.3% of males and 8.3% and 12.4% of females indicated satisfaction, respectively. The satisfaction with foodservice influenced the welfare facilities, and providing a successful environment for foodservice requires strengthening of the education of facilities employees to become friendlier. Based on these results, greater efforts should be made to provide meaningful information regarding the facility foodservice for the elderly related to the silver service industry in the Northern Gyeonggi-do area as soon as possible.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to analyze the dietary habits and food intake status according to the prevalence of depression in adults. Methods: A total of 496 subjects, 224 men and 272 women aged 50 to 100 years were recruited from more than 13 cities in Korea. The questionnaires consisted of general characteristics, dietary life status, food intakes, the mean mini dietary assessment and satisfaction with food-related life questionnaire of the subjects to ask according to the degree of depression. Depression status was evaluated according to the Korean form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (K-GDS). Results: All subjects were divided into depression or normal groups; the prevalence of depression was 13.8% (male) and 23.9% (female). People aged 65 or older were more likely to have higher prevalence of depression and to be bereaved. People in the depression group had poor appetite, almost never dined-out, and ate alone. The food intake of miscellaneous cereals, beans, tofu, chicken/duck meat, cabbage, carrot/amber, fungi, apple, pear, strawberry, grapes, and banana was significantly higher in the normal group compared with the depression group. In particular, significantly higher intake of vegetables and fruits was observed in the normal group. In addition, subjects in the depression group ate more fatty meat and were more dissatisfied with food-related life than those in the normal group. Conclusion: The results of this study imply that the prevalence of depression may affect the dietary habits, food intake, and dietary behaviors in the older adult population.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.147-161
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• 2020

The purpose of this research is to investigates 10-year trajectories of cognitive functions among older adults in their 70s to understand changes in cognitive functions as a continuum until very late life. This study also examines differences in trajectories of cognitive functions by gender and by changes in marital status, especially widowhood. Among participants of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA), the sample of this study includes 800 older adults in their 70s during the first study wave (2006) and those who reported their cognitive functions for six consecutive study waves (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016). The analyses were conducted in two steps. First, we conducted Latent Class Growth Analyses(LCGA) to investigated heterogeneous trajectories of cognitive functions in 10 years. Then, we performed multinomial logistic regression. Three heterogeneous trajectories of cognitive functions were identified. One group of 48.7% of older adults showed high cognitive function at baseline and maintained it over 10 years. Second group of 14.7% of older adults reported low cognitive function scores at baseline and showed continuous decline over time. Third group of 36.6% were showed mid-level cognitive functions and maintained their functions over time. We also found significant gender differences but not significant differences in marital status when we consider both in our model; however, the we found significant differences in changes in marital status when we did not consider gender in the model. The results suggest that the importance of considering dynamics of gender and changes in marital status to understand changes in cognitive functions in later life.