• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.120-126
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• 2007

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of leisure programs over 8 weeks on elderly women 60 and over who lived in a rural area. Did the program affect feelings of depression and self-esteem? Method: The leisure programs in this study included rhythm gymnastics for elderly women, recreation, balloon art, paper folding, viewing movies, shuttle cock game, exhibition and evaluation activity. As a Quasi-Experimental study, the design of this study was a Nonequivalent Control Group Pretest-Posttest Design. Results: It was shown that leisure programs for elderly women for 8 weeks, consisting of rhythm gymnastics, self-introduction, hobby activities and recreation can reduce depression and enhance the feeling of self-esteem in elderly women in the rural area. Conclusion: It is concluded that public health centers in rural areas should conduct leisure programs during the farmers' slack season, and that the community halls for elders can contribute to improving the life quality of elderly women by being more affirmative and positive if they develop as healthy and active cultural centers where elderly women will want to come and participate.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.149-165
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• 2004

In Korea, as the elderly population is growing, the quality of life of the rural elderly is becoming a major concern. By the way, social welfare services is less available and accessible to the rural elderly. And we have very limited information about community -oriented welfare services for the elderly. The lack of social welfare services in rural area resulted from mainly geographic isolation and economic deprivation. So, the present research aimed at; 1) to explore what the social welfare service is benefited from governmental or local assembly. 2) to explore what kind of community services is provided for the rural village and elderly. 3) to appear the political propose for the rural elderly. In South Korea, The Rural Development Administration currently operate 'villages which is supported special programs for the improvement of QOL of rural elderly' in 110 villages. It is a model governmental welfare service for rural area. For the purpose, the survey data is gathered from community level data per village (107 villages), individual survey data(881people) who live in the village and qualitative data. Two kinds of quantitative data is combined to form a data. The statistical methods used for data analysis are descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA. The major findings of this study were as follows : It was founded that the majority family type of the rural elderly is elderly-only households(75%). In case of poor elderly, they have very limited social insurance benefit and they can not get medical services with satisfaction. The result show that the welfare facilities per village and welfare service for the elderly is extremely low while the needs of welfare service is greate high. A distinctive characteristics in rural villages is that they receive a lot of services from private sectors, like as Women Farmers Union, Adult Union. They operate voluntary welfare services related to food supporting, education for the elderly, free haircut services and so on. In conclusion, the community care services from private sector has specialty in rural area. We conclude it is a distinguishing characteristic of rural community.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to compare dietary behavior and food intake in relation to physical complaints, such as farmer' syndrome(FS) and gastro-intestinal(GI) problem among Korean farmers. The questionnaire was composed of 24 Cornell Medical Index (CMI), 8 farmers' syndrome, and 5 GI problem questions. Food intake data was gathered by the semi-quantitative food frequency method. The subjects(male 226, female 415) who had FS and Gi problem were 12./8% and 8.3%, respectively. The physical complaints were higher in female and the elderly group. In the FS group, lower activity was seen that in normal groups. The lower health status and fatigues were found in the physical complaint groups. Dietary behavior showed low appetite in the physical complaint group, irregular lunch in FS, and irregular breakfast in GI problem group. Changes in dietary behavior were shown in the aspects of lower amount of intake quantity(40.8%), lower consumption in fat(32.8%) and salty(38.8%) foods, and diverse food items(47.8%). Quantity of food consumed was significantly different withing groups with FS. Kinds of food consumed, intake of protein source foods, milk and calcium and total animal foods were lower in the FS group. But milk and calcium source food and all animal food intakes were higher in the GID problem group. The results suggest that dietary behavior and food intake differ within the group of physical complaints.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.241-253
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• 2022

The negative impact of climate change on the agricultural sector is rapidly increasing, and it is urgent to prepare policies at the government level to mitigate it. In the case of Rwanda's agricultural sector, which lacks the government's budget and farmers' capital, efficient and effective policy implementation is of paramount importance. To this end, rather than establishing related policies in the public sector from the top down, it is necessary to establish a bottom-up customized policy that is reflected in policy establishment by identifying the characteristics and behaviors of farmers who actually participate in adaptation activities. In this study, the effects of farmers' characteristics and farmers' perception status/adaptation status to climate change on the selection of adaptation methods for climate change were analyzed. 357 rice farmers randomly selected from Eastern Rwanda were surveyed to explore the information related to farmers' perception to climate change and adaptation methods as well as basic information of the farm. Research shows that the probability of selecting a variety of adaptation methods rather than not responding to climate change increases the younger the age, the higher the education level, and the easier access to climate information and credit. As a policy proposals, it is judged that public support such as strengthening agricultural technology support services, including more detailed guidance for elderly and low-educated farmers, and improving access to farm loan services by agricultural financial institutions is needed. In addition, it is necessary to adjust the planting time and cultivation method, provide timely information related to climate change, and provide crop variety improvement services to farmers.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.495-501
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• 2013

Objective: The purpose of this study was to survey of the subjective health status of the elderly farmer. Background: With increase of aged population, the health of the elderly farmer has become main concerns of the elderly in the rural community. For the effects of the factors related to quality of life, subjective health condition showed the largest influence. Method: The survey was conducted by 326 elderly farmers aged 50 and older in rural areas through structured questionnaires. Survey questionnaire consisted items of general characteristics, health-related life habits, levels of stress(SF-PWI), symptom of musculoskeletal diseases and general level of health(SF-36). For the data analysis, SPSS 19.0K was used, and analysis was conducted by using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. For the symptom prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and comparison of average level of health, chi-square test and t-test were used. Results: The results of the study are as follows. It was shown that the symptom prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders had a significant difference in gender (p<0.01). Frequency analysis on presence of musculoskeletal symptoms in each part of body showed that leg/knee region was 28.1%, back region was 26.6%, shoulder region was 18.0%, arm/elbow region was 11.9%, hand/wrist region was 8.2% and neck region was 7.2%. According to comparison of average level of health, a social functioning were the highest as score 87.3, followed by mental health(65.6) and role limitation-emotional(65.5). Conclusion: Health promotion program for the elderly and female in the rural are needed. Application: The survey of the subjective health status of the elderly should be used for planning factors to make a health improvement plan in elderly farmer.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2008

We analyzed the effects of regular Jjimjilbang(Korean sauna) exposure on the physiological responses in seven elderly farmers(Male=3, Female=4). Jjimjil training group took a bath in Jjimjilbang 8 times twice a week. Jjimjibang exposure was limited three times per day. Rectal temperature, total sweat rate, body fat (%), blood pressure, pulse, $Na^+$ concentration in sweat, and subjective sensation were measured during Jjimjil training exposure. The results are as follow: During Jjimjil exposure, changes of rectal temperature in male farmers were more stabilized than female farmers. The gradual decrease in total sweat rate and Na+ concentration in sweat was observed in both sexes. After Jjimjil exposure, the decrease in blood pressure was observed in both sexes, but not observed changes according to regular Jjimjil exposure. Subjective thermal comfort sensation was changed positively. In conclusion, the regular Jjimjil exposure has positive effects upon improvement in regulation of body temperature, blood pressure, and $Na^+$ concentration especially in heat tolerance.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.1143-1152
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• 2021

The study aims to assess the impact of factors on the access to financial services by Vietnamese farmers. The number of respondents in this study is 402 household heads participating in six diverse agricultural value chains in Vietnam. The explanatory variables of the Multinomial Logit model estimates variables at the individual characteristics while the Mixed Logit model can combine the two types of variables together to estimate the effects simultaneously. On the other hand, the Ordinal Logit model is used to evaluate the determinants of the increase in the quantity of financial services used by individuals. The estimation results show that male-headed households have more access to financial services than females. Younger farmers are more likely to use formal financial services than the elderly. Financial literacy, land ownership, and shocks in agricultural production all have a positive impact on the probability of dealing with banks. In addition, the degree of linkage and credibility of the value chain have a significant positive impact on the accessibility of financial services to farmers. The findings of this study suggest that limiting gender inequality, focusing on youth marketing and developing agricultural value chains will have a positive impact on farmers' access to financial services.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2022

In rural areas, changes in the agricultural structure began to appear as the vulnerable class increased due to a decrease in population such as a decrease in fertility and aging, and the elderly were unable to engage in agriculture. The number of farmers and farmers is steadily decreasing, and the elderly population living in rural areas is steadily increasing. Rural houses are left empty due to the moving, hospitalization, and death of the elderly population. The purpose of this study aims to present the current status of vacant houses in rural areas, problems of vacant houses policy in rural areas, and improvement plans. The purpose of this study aims to analyze the population status and aging of rural areas, and to present a plan to improve the trend of vacant houses with cities and the problems of vacant house policies. This study was conducted in the following process. First, the definition of vacant houses in rural areas should be redefined. Second, it is necessary to analyze the causes of vacant houses in rural areas and plan the use of vacant houses linked to them.Third, the management system of vacant houses in rural areas should be clear.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 1998

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of farming in greenhouses with respect to subjective fatigue symptoms among farmers and the degree of symptoms. The study compared 176 green-house farmers with 216 open field farmers using a subjective fatigue symptoms rating scale developed by the Industrial Research Institute of Fatigue, Japanese Association for industrial Hygiene. 1. With respect to complaint rates of the subjective fatigue symptoms, the results indicated that greenhouse farmers have, in order of severity, high degrees of low back pain, difficulty in collecting thoughts, and apt to forget. 2. With respect to cumulative scores of fatigue symptoms, the results indicated that both groups of farmers exhibited a lack of attentiveness and a high degree of dullness and sleepiness(category I), body projection of fatigue(category II), and difficulty in concentration(category III). 3. With respect to general characteristics, it was found that the degrees of subjective fatigue symptoms were found to be higher among females, people with lower educational levels, and the elderly, regardless of the group. 4. With respect to work related factors, farmers with more years of experiences were found to have higher degrees of subjective fatigue symptoms, except for open field farmers with less than nine years experience. Both groups of farmers were found to have high degrees of subjective fatigue symptoms when working less than eight hours a day and less than six months a year. 5. With respect to health habits, for people who get less than eight hours of sleep per day exhibited higher fatigue scores than people who get more than eight hours. People who do not smoke and drink also exhibited higher fatigue scores than people who smoke and drink. 6. The results of multiple regression showed that the risk factors related to the subjective fatigue symptoms of farmers in the greenhouse group were ages, levels of education, sex and for the comparison group, were sex. years of farming, and hours of sleep. The R-square were 12.5% in the greenhouse group and 12.1% in the comparison son group. The differences between the greenhouse and open field farmers in the degrees of fatigue symptoms were found not to be statistically significant even if the working conditions of the greenhouse farmers were poor. This may be attributed to non-work related factors, i.e., social, economical, and psychological factors among greenhouse farmers.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.279-291
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• 2015

Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate appropriate weight for aged farmers in manually handling livestock feed in bags using ergonomic methods. Background: In the livestock industry in South Korea, despite the trend of aging of labor manpower, heavy items are still manually handled in many farms. In particular, among stockbreeding works, the handling of feed in bags weighing 25~30kg is reported as a cause of frequent injuries and musculoskeletal system diseases. However, studies on the standard for recommended weight allowed considering the physical characteristics of aged farmers older than 60 years with greatly decreased physical strength and muscle strength are insufficient. Method: To evaluate appropriate weight for handling of heavy livestock feed in bags, physical techniques for measuring recognized levels of physical work loads, the NLE (NIOSH lifting equation) a method that is an observation type technique, and an ergonomic modeling technique to predict compressive force imposed on L5/S1 were used. Subjects who participated in the experiment were organized into two groups of males/females with mean age exceeding 60 years, and lifting tasks were evaluated for nine weight levels. Results: Based on the results of psychophysical measurement, females showed a tendency of more drastic increases compared to males when weight was over 19kg. The results of estimation of regression models for the weight, 18.0 kg ($r^2=0.97$) and 15.3kg ($r^2=0.97$) were evaluated as stable load for males and females, respectively. In addition, both the observation type evaluation and ergonomic model evaluation showed stable loads in a range of 15~18kg. Conclusion: Given the results of the study, the weight of the feed in bags currently distributed to farms can become a cause of not only overexertion but also farm work related disasters such as musculoskeletal disorders and safety accidents. Providing livestock feed in bags weighing not more than 19kg for aged farmers is judged desirable, and managerial improvement for this matter is considered necessary. Application: The results of the present study can be utilized as useful data for institutional improvement of the weight of livestock feed in bags.