• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.716-725
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• 2003

In this study, the dietary behaviors, depression rates and nutrient intakes were assessed for elderly females living alone (ELA) and elderly females not living alone (ENLA). The subjects were 140 elderly females (living alone 70; not living alone 70) residing in Bucheon city. Dietary data were obtained using the 24-hr recall method. There were more subjects with low monthly incomes (less than 500,000 won) in the ELA group. The proportion of the ELA group which skipped at least one meal per day was 38.5% and the main reasons given were low appetite and depression. Fewer of the ELA group were observed to have smoking and drinking habits. However, the majority of the ELA smokers smoked more than 6 cigarettes per smoking. The drinking score of the ELA group was also higher than that of the ENLA group. The total score of depression for the ELA group was higher than that of the ENLA group. The total score of nutrition risk index (NRI) of the ELA group (8.09) was also higher than that of the ENLA group (2.31). The dietary assessment using the 24 hr-recall method showed that the ELA group had lower nutrients intakes, and significant differences were shown in the intakes of energy (1137 kcal vs 1275 kcal), animal protein, animal fat, carbohydrates, animal Ca, and animal Fe. There was a positive correlation between the NRI and the depression scores. However a higher NRI was associated with lower intakes for most of the nutrients in the ELA group.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.3-20
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was diagnosed to grasp the needs for the elderly-elderly care activity in rural areas. The research was conducted in questions and case studies in 7 farming villages. The major findings of this study as follows: First, the senior citizens in rural areas were not in good health, and the illnesses were revealed to be arthritis, high blood pressure, and diabetes. At the occurrence of an illness, they complained about the discomfort in doing daily life routines and expected eir spouses or offsprings to te care of them. Elders in the rural community responded that they had difficulty and financial problems in family maintenance. Leisure activities included watching TV, playing card/board games, or spending time without any specific activities. Second, recipients of elderly-elderly care expected to receive services from a woman in her 50s $1{\sim}2$ hours, once to twice a week. Third, the service providers wanted to be elderly-elderly care takers, hoping to work once a week for $2{\sim}3$ hours. They wanted the education for the elderly-elderly care to be once a week for 3 hours, with understanding the elderly, consultation, preventing senile dementia, and health as the contents.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.47-57
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to understand experiences of successful aging of community-dwelling elderly living in the Korean community using mixed methods. This study is a mixed methods research using convergent parallel design. 483 elderly people living in the 2 cities were selected as subjects to collect quantitative data. For qualitative data collection, 6 elderly people participated. The level of successful aging for elderly people living at home scored an average of 4.30 ± .59 out of 5 points (4.46 ± .64 for self-efficacy, 4.31 ± .65 for good self-control, 4.29 ± .70 for satisfaction with children's success, and 4.26 ± .61 for partnership with spouses). The main themes of successful aging derived by interview were as follows: 1) fulfill responsibilities of raising children as parents, 2) establish a stable life to overcome difficulties, 3) accept the body being different from the past, and 4) live in harmony with people around them. Based on these results, it is necessary to provide useful health care services that can be used in the local community and to provide service utilization information through various routes in order to achieve a successful aging.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.105-114
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary pattern and the Community Periodontal Index in elderly people who live alone in rural areas and to provide necessary data to strengthen nutrition education about the oral health of elderly people who live alone. Methods : Dental examinations and questionnaires were conducted with 380 elderly people who live alone in rural areas of Gyeonggi-do. Results : The Community Periodontal Index was higher when the elderly people who live alone had a low intake of vegetables and fruits, a high intake of sugars, a low number of breakfasts, a high frequency of overeating and a high frequency of instant ingestion. Conclusions : It is necessary to provide nutritional management services for the elderly people who live alone in rural areas and to provide preventive centered comprehensive oral care.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2017

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of life and stress level of the elderly living alone in their neighborhood volunteers. Methods Data collection was done from July 1 to October 1, 2015 and the data were collected by self-reported questionnaire at Nowon community in Seoul area in South Korea. The subjects were 146 older adults living alone agreed to participate in the study(accepted by IRB). The questionnaire was constructed with quality of life 26 items, 5-point Likert type scale(1-5), stress 15 items, 5-point Likert type. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results Socially isolated older adults had significantly higher scores ($3.7{\pm}.03$) in quality of life, moderate scores ($2.9{\pm}.03$) in stress. Conclusion The peer support undertaken by older community volunteers was effective in improving quality of life in socially isolated older adults. It is necessary to listen to the voice of elderly people living alone through the activation of volunteer groups in the community.

• Proceeding of Spring/Autumn Annual Conference of KHA
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.229-234
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• 2009

Korea's aging population is increasing rapidly every year. In addition, because of the increase in quantity of apartment complexes, the number of elderly living in apartment complexes is also rising steadily. Consequently, caring about the elderly residents is getting more important in apartment complexes. Currently the most common recreational facility for senior in the apartment complex is 'Kyungrodang'. However, 'Kyungrodang' has not been used as an active community area to elderly residents due to lack of leisure programs and other services. The purpose of this study was to give direction to support leisure life and healthy living for senior residents and to make 'Kyungrodang' usable community space for the residents of all generations. In connection with this, this study also identified to find ways to revitalizing for 'Kyungrodang'. The result of the study suggested the ideas than can improve the usably of 'Kyungrodang' not only to the elderly residents but also to all residents in terms of space planning and leisure programs.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.65-86
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• 1990

Living conditions of the rural elderly were assessed in terms of clothing behavior, health and nutritional status, housing and envioronmental condition, and psychological adjustment. The subjects were eighty individuals over sixty residing in the rural community of Iksan-kun, Chollabukdo. The interview method using questionnaires, direct measurement, and observation was used for this study. Data were compared with those obtained from a previous study of the elderly residing in an urban area. Clothing behavior showed that the elderly residing in the rural community were more concerned about plain and conservative design of clothes than their urban counterparts. Special protective clothes for cropdusting with agricultural chemicals had not been prepared. The following urgent needs were pointed out: development and supply of agricultural chemical protective clothing and development and education of appropriate washing and clothing care methods. The health status of the elderly was generally good, but poor eating habits were found more frequently in the rural elderly than among the urban dwellers. Several dietary nutrient intakes were insufficient. Contrasting the urban elderly with the rural group, it was found that the urban group lacked sufficient vitamin A and vitamin C and the urban women had insufficient calorie whereas the rural group was deficient in protein, vitamin A, calorie, and fat. A significant relationship was found between dietary nutrient intake and health index, food habit points, self recognized health status, meal satisfaction, and economic status. Urgent needs of the development of a nutrition education program for the elderly were pointed out. Most of elderly residing in the surveyed rural communities were living alone or with their spouse only, therefore only one room was used among the three or four available rooms. Most of the rural elderly were living either in a traditional Korean house built with differing floor levels or in a modified Korean style house. Minimal modernization had been made for kitchen facilities such as sink and gas range or for heating facilities with the briquette boiler. However, sanitary space such as lavatory and bathroom had not been remodeled. A housing welfare program for rural communities should be implemented at the national level. The comparison of psychological characteristics of the rural elderly with their city counterparts revealed that the rural elderly have a more stable psychological status and optimistic attitude than those living in a city. However, it was found that most of the elderly did not have any future plan. Community programs for the elderly including hobbies or leisure activities or education programs to generate close interpersonal relationships with their children should be developed and provided.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2010

Objective : This study aimed to investigate and compare the prevalence of depression and suicidality among the elderly in a rural city according to their residence type. Methods : Participants were 311 elderly people (109 male and 202 female) in Icheon City, whom trained researchers interviewed and examined Geriatric Depression Scale, Social Support Scale, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Activities of Daily Living, Quality of Life Scale, and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), module C. Using these data, we analyzed participants' risk factors associated with depression and suicidality. Results : The prevalence of depression was 28.0%. The prevalence in the elderly living alone and those admitted to residential facilities was significantly higher than that among the elderly living with family. Suicidality frequency was 19.6%. The suicidality frequency among the elderly living alone and those admitted to facilities was significantly higher than that among the elderly living with family. The risk factors for depression were age, admission to a facility, and low economic status. The suicidality risk factors were living alone, admission to a facility, poor social support, and a history of headache. Conclusion : These results showed the prevalence of depression and frequency of suicidality among the elderly in such a city was quite high. The results of this study remind psychiatrists of the importance of early detection and therapeutic intervention for the elderly with a high risk of depression and suicidality.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2013

Objective : The objective of this study is to present basic data to find health care plans for the elderly by comparing time-management ability and ADL and identifying the relationships between groups with subjects of elderly people living alone and living with family in Daejeon Metropolitan City. Method : A total of 80 elders who lived alone or with family that were aged 65 or older were selected with MMSE-K, 40 people were selected as subjects for each group. For time-management ability, a questionnaire was used. ADL were assessed by using FIM. The study period was May to June 2013. Result : Comparison of scores for time-management ability and FIM of the elderly who live alone or living with family did not show any statistically significant difference. In comparison of detailed scores between groups, there were statistically significant differences between the two groups being social interaction, problem solving and memory in social cognition items among detailed items. Conclusion : Through this study, we understood that social cognitive function of the aged living alone who had less opportunity of interaction compared to that of the aged living with family was lowered. Based on this, development and study on various programs should be made with consideration of sociodemographic characteristics of the elderly within community-based occupational therapy in the future.

• 한국노년학
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.853-870
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• 2017

This study examined the changes of depression and life satisfaction among the elderly living together in group-home and congregate housing. And in this course, it was to verify the practical effects of the recent government and local authority community life of elderly people by comparing them with the groups of elders living alone. The study was divided into Time 1 and Time 2, and 205 person's data were used for the final analysis. PASW Statistics 18.0 was utilized to analysis the data of this study, because it is difficult to explain the results of this analysis, secondary qualitative research has been used to identify additional contextual information. The major results of this study are as follows. First, the depression of the subjects was significantly improved in the case of living in group-home and congregate housing, and it was significantly worse in the group of elders living alone. Second, the life satisfaction of survey subjects was significantly improved when living in congregate housing, group-home was significantly worse, and the group of elders living alone were not statistically significant but slightly worse. Third, mixed research methods were applied to make accurate interpretation of changes of life satisfaction of the elderly living in group-home. Based on the results of this study, it is possible to establish appropriate measures for the elderly to improve early adjustment and quality of life in community life. And the community life of the elderly can contribute to a real social safety net by solving the blind spot of welfare. At the national level, it can be utilized as a standard reference to improve and strengthen existing policies by providing data that can simultaneously examine the performances and problems of various policies related to housing or the welfare of the elderly.