• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.97-111
• /
• 2002

Despite the substantial increase of the elderly population in Korea, welfare policies such as housing programs have not been developed enough to meet the diverse needs of the aging people. Particularly, caring for elderly dementia patients is becoming a serious social problem in Korean society. Families are still primarily responsible for taking care of the elderly dementia patients, and thus are suffering from tremendous caregiving burdens. In many Western countries, group homes, which are small-scale care facilities with home-like atmosphere, have become common housing alternatives for elderly dementia patients. Group homes effectively create a therapeutic environment while helping reduce the elder care burdens for the families. This article proposes to review group homes as a housing option for the elderly with dementia in Korea. The purpose of this article is to make suggestions for housing policies, separately or as a part of more general welfare policies. Based on the questionnaire survey conducted on 912 persons currently residing in Seoul and five different provinces, various possible policies and suggestions to promote establishing group homes and other facilities for elderly dementia patients are discussed in this article.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.40-47
• /
• 2020

Because the psychophysical symptoms of hearing loss and dementia in the elderly are very similar, untrained healthcare professionals in dementia facilities can easily overlook a severity of hearing loss in their patients. The present study identifies their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on hearing loss using a survey whether they may help hearing problem of the patients with dementia. A total of 29 health-care professionals responded to the KAP survey. Also, 2 family members participated. The results showed that most of the nurses and caregivers in elderly medical welfare facilities who worked with dementia patients did not have knowledge of their hearing loss. Even the facility managers did not know how to conduct hearing tests for their patients although they did recognize that some of their patients had a hearing loss. Eventually, actual practice was not possible at this moment by the professionals. However, our respondents did have a positive attitude toward screening for hearing loss and help their patients with dementia wear hearing aids if a clinical guideline was provided. We suggest to develop clear and precise clinical guidelines of the hearing screening test for the dementia patients due to the interrelationship between dementia and hearing loss. When these guidelines apply to elderly residents in a medical welfare facility, early diagnosis and treatment of their sensory loss will help alleviate their dementia as well.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.40-47
• /
• 2020

Because the psychophysical symptoms of hearing loss and dementia in the elderly are very similar, untrained healthcare professionals in dementia facilities can easily overlook a severity of hearing loss in their patients. The present study identifies their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on hearing loss using a survey whether they may help hearing problem of the patients with dementia. A total of 29 health-care professionals responded to the KAP survey. Also, 2 family members participated. The results showed that most of the nurses and caregivers in elderly medical welfare facilities who worked with dementia patients did not have knowledge of their hearing loss. Even the facility managers did not know how to conduct hearing tests for their patients although they did recognize that some of their patients had a hearing loss. Eventually, actual practice was not possible at this moment by the professionals. However, our respondents did have a positive attitude toward screening for hearing loss and help their patients with dementia wear hearing aids if a clinical guideline was provided. We suggest to develop clear and precise clinical guidelines of the hearing screening test for the dementia patients due to the interrelationship between dementia and hearing loss. When these guidelines apply to elderly residents in a medical welfare facility, early diagnosis and treatment of their sensory loss will help alleviate their dementia as well.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.14 no.4 s.51
• /
• pp.70-78
• /
• 2005

The considerable increase of the elderly with dementia is expected annually and when we think about the family members' and the patients' suffering, it could be painful. Above all things, it imposes heavy economic burdens on the family members that have patients who suffer from diseases of age like dementia or paralysis that caring them at home and also, it is not desirable for those old people in point of physical or environmental circumstances for medical care. Thus, it is needed urgently that the expansion of specified facilities and improvement of services for these old people. Under this present condition, it is the special feature that the subject of research is people/facilities that offer services, not the elderly with dementia-the main user of those facilities. Thus, it is the time that we need various accessing plans that can grasp the patiences' activities and specialties and solve these problems in view of designing interior space. So, I tried to make designs that manage the elderly with dementia effectively and adequate to run facilities with considerations on the state of domestic specialized long-term care facilities for the elderly with dementia and researched guiding principles on physical healing surroundings with analysis that focused on the patients' activities, especially.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.66-95
• /
• 1999

This study was conducted to analyze the medical charges of the elderly dementia inpatients, to identity their characteristics, and there by to evaluate feasibility of the per diem payment system for the patients. Data on medical charges of the patients were collected from the National Federation of Medical Insurance and sample hospitals from October through December 1997. The data were analysed in order to find the characteristics and test hypotheses postulated. The results are summarized as follows; Firstly, there was no difference statistically in between disease groups and between the dementia inpatients belonging to each disease group. Secondly, the amount of the non-insurance medical charges of the elderly dementia inpatients is considerably high compared to the insurance medical charges paid by the patient, which implies that some measures are to be prepared by the Government. Finally, medical charges per inpatient day of the dementia patients are not different statiscally by sex, by age group, and by disease group. This result supports the feasibility of the per diem payment system for the elderly dementia inpatients.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.368-376
• /
• 2019

Purpose: In Korea, the prevalence of dementia patients has increased, which makes the care burden of nurses important. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting the care burden of nurses caring elderly patients with dementia. Methods: A cross-sectional design was conducted using a convenience sample of 127 nurses from two hospitals and a nursing home in Korea. Participants completed questionnaires on knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia, social support, self-esteem, dementia problematic behavior (DPB), and professional caregiver burden index. The data were analyzed by using the t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression with the SPSS/windows version 21.0 program. Results: The influencing factors for nurse burden include day shift, DPB, self-esteem, social support, which explain 28.0% of care burden of nurses. Conclusion: To reduce the burden of the nurses, there needs to be an administrative system that focuses on enhancing their self-esteem and social support. Active institutional support may be necessary for the nurses taking care of elderly patients with dementia.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Interior Design Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.217-222
• /
• 2005

The considerable increase of the elderly with dementia is expected annually and when we think about the family members' and the patients' suffering, it could be painful. Above all things, it imposes heavy economic burdens on the family members that have patients who suffer from diseases of age like dementia or paralysis that caring them at home and also, it is not desirable for those old people in point of physical or environmental circumstances for medical care. Thus, it is needed urgently that the expansion of specified facilities and improvement of services for these old people. Under this present condition, it is the special feature that the subject of research is people/facilities that offer services, not the elderly with dementia-the main user of those facilities. Thus, it is the time that we need various accessing plans that can grasp the patiences' activities and specialties and solve these problems in view of designing interior space. So, I tried to make designs that manage the elderly with dementia effectively and adequate to run facilities with considerations on the state of domestic specialized long-term care facilities for the elderly with dementia and researched guiding principles on physical healing surroundings with analysis that focused on the patients' activities, especially.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.111-125
• /
• 2020

In modern society, dementia patients are increasing due to busy daily life. Due to the nature of dementia, family members are having a hard time with their caring activities. Dementia diseases reduce the quality of life not only of the patient, but also of the family, and nursing activities lead to social problems such as unemployment or frequent turnover. This study aims to reduce the difficulty and stress of the nursing process by supporting daily life of dementia patients and nursing activities through smart care platform. Ultimately, we will reduce the cost of treatment for people with dementia and delay the worsening of symptoms through a systematic care program for people with dementia. The smart dementia care platform features smart technology to help the dementia patients' daily lives and support their caregivers.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.845-858
• /
• 2019

Objectives: This study aims to contribute to devising systems for family caregivers of dementia patients by examining the state of oral care of dementia patients, and depression and social support among family caregivers of dementia patients. Methods: Family caregivers of dementia patients in the metropolitan area were selected in this study. The inclusion criteria were individuals who have provided care for a dementia patient at home for at least six months and those who come in contact (including phone calls) with the patient at least twice a week. Results: Oral health knowledge of the elderly, caregiving burden, depression, and social support were examined. The mean scores for oral health knowledge of the elderly and caregiving burden were $57.11{\pm}16.94$ out of 100 and $17.33{\pm}8.61$ out of 48, respectively. Further, the mean caregiving behavior score, depression score, and social support score were $8.49{\pm}13.71$ out of 100, $5.11{\pm}3.05$ out of 10, and $72.75{\pm}17.03$ out of 100, respectively. Factors affecting oral health knowledge of the elderly were examined. The results showed that the level of oral health knowledge of the elderly increased with an increasing perception of a need for oral health education (p<0.05), caregiving burden (p<0.01), and social support (p<0.01). Conclusions: These findings suggest that developing and popularizing oral care intervention programs for family caregivers of dementia patients are necessary to ensure systematic oral care for dementia patients.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.972-978
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify correlations among the continence function, cognitive function, and activities of daily living(ADL) in elderly male patients with dementia in geriatric hospitals. The subjects were 64 patients aged 65 or above who were diagnosed with dementia among the hospitalized male patients in a geriatric hospital. For the subjects' cognitive function, a questionnaire developed for the Korean Mini Mental Status Examination(K-MMSE) was used. For the continence function and ADL, data were collected using a patient evaluation table. As a result, a lower level of cognitive function resulted in corresponding higher levels of dependence in all items of ADL except bathing(p<.05), and a lower level of cognitive function led to corresponding declines in the continence function(bowel control, bladder control)(p<.01). In addition, a higher level of dependence in ADL resulted in corresponding higher levels of difficulty in bowel and bladder control(p<.01). This study showed correlations among the cognitive function, ADL, and continence function of elderly men with dementia. The results of this study may be used as basic data for the management and treatment of hospitalized elderly male patients with dementia in geriatric hospitals.