• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.707-727
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• 2020

This study aims to empirically analyze the role that perception of the probability of lonely death among the elderly people living alone plays in the relationship between perceived social support and preference for institutional care based on Andersen's expanded Behavioral Model (2002). The subjects (n=676) of this study were the elderly people living alone, extracted from the "2018 Seoul Aging Survey." With "perceived social support" as an independent variable, "preference for institutional care" as a dependent variable, and "perception of the probability of lonely death" as a mediator variable, we conducted a Binary Logistic Regression to follow the three steps of analyzing mediation effect, as suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986). The results showed that perceived social support has a negative effect on the preference for institutional care and perception of the probability of lonely death among the elderly people living alone; at the same time, perception of the probability of lonely death was found to have a positive effect on their preference for institutional care. Lastly, perception of the probability of lonely death was found to partially mediate the effect of perceived social support among the elderly people living alone in terms of their preference for institutional care. Based on these findings, the practical implications of this study can be summarized as follows. First, various programs and support should be provided to the elderly people living alone in order to enhance the level of perceived social support, a factor that has been confirmed to increase preference for institutional care among the elderly people living alone. Second, as the perception of the probability of lonely death was confirmed to be a psychosocial factor of the preference for institutional care, we need to promote education and support for older people living alone to prepare them for lonely death. These efforts are expected to form a foundations for implementing a community-based integrated care system, "Aging in Place," which is the policy direction required for older people care.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.467-475
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• 2007

The nutritional status and chronic disease occurrence of the elderly living in local areas is affected by certain factors, including low energy intakes, low food diversity, poor nutritional quality and living alone. Moreover, elderly people who live alone may have low incomes and be socially isolated. Thus, we have provided them adjustable and balanced menus using standard recipes. In this study, we investigated aspects of nutritional status and living conditions in the elderly status, in relation to food, activities of daily living(ADL), nutrition risk index, average intake of calories and nutrients, the mini dietary assessment index score, depression score, menu satisfaction, menu demand, satisfaction with menu offerings. The result indicated significant nutritional improvements by providing menus to the elders and suggest that by providing adjustable and balanced menus using standard recipes, the nutritional status of isolated elders can be changed and improved.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the factors influencing the happiness according to gender of the elderly living alone. Methods: This cross-sectional study used the raw data from the 2015 Community Health Survey. The subjects of this study were 14,705 elderly people aged 65 years or older, of which 2,198 were male elderly and 12,507 were female elderly. Results: The factors influencing the happiness of both male and female elderly were household income, depression, subjective stress level, subjective health level, quality of life, and lack of required medical service experience (p<.05). In addition, the male elderly were affected by the age, and the female elderly were affected by education, sleep time, walking and breakfast practice, and health screening (p<.05). Conclusions: It is necessary to develop and apply programs that can reduce the stress to increase the happiness of the elderly living alone, and efforts should be made not to cause a blind spot in terms of the health and welfare of the elderly living alone.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.72-78
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• 2018

Objectives The high suicide rate has risen as a main concern in South Korea. Given the complexity of the mechanism resulting in complete suicide, studies targeting various populations are needed for broader understanding of its risk factors. This study aims to analyze the factors affecting the suicidal tendency in the population of the elderly living alone in Seoul depending on basic elderly-care services. Methods A total number of 415 people participated in the study. Home-visit interviews were administered by trained interviewers. Suicidal tendency was measured by the Korean version of mini international neuropsychiatric interview (K-MINI). Health-related quality of life was measured by a brief version of the World Health Organization Quality-of-life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). Alcohol problem was assessed by the Korean version of the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT-K). Among total subjects of 415 interviewees, the actual responses of 408 people were used for the final analysis. Results The result showed that the suicide risk was high in persons isolated from social support [odds ratio (OR) = 4.49], having depression (OR = 14.85), and having low quality of life (OR = 4.39). Conclusions We found that social support, depression and health-related quality of life are associated with suicidal tendency in the elderly living alone on basic services. Our evidence will contribute to suicide prevention policy for the elderly living alone on care services.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.262-269
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• 2016

The aim of this study was to identity the death anxiety of elderly people living alone, and the factors that affect their death anxiety. The subjects did not have an impaired cognitive function, and were from one Chungcheongnamdo 2 district in the elderly University. The subjects were 187 elderly people over the age of 65 living alone in the district. The character, communication, and data was collected from February, 2014 to 2 May, 2015 and analyzed using the SPSS 18 program. The death anxiety whole point of elderly people living alone was 2.94 (${\pm}0.32$); it was 3.06 (${\pm}0.32$) points according to the sub-region 'death process anxiety', 2.88 (${\pm}0.51$) points according to 'after-death anxiety', and 2.75 (${\pm}0.43$) points according to 'presence loss anxiety'. The factors affecting the death anxiety were economic status, depression, and spiritual wellbeing. Economic status (${\beta}=-.36$, p= .000) had the largest effect with an overall explanatory power of 20.3%. Therefore, for the death anxiety of elderly people living alone, life needs to be strengthened through social security systems with intervention programs to improve the quality of depression and spiritual wellbeing.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2020

Purpose: This study investigated awareness of dying well, as well as attitudes and preferences toward advance directives (ADs), among elderly individuals who lived alone. Methods: The participants were 173 elderly people living alone. Data were collected from July 2019 to September 2019 using questionnaires on perceptions of dying well, awareness of advance directives, and general characteristics. Results: The majority of participants (68.2%) stated that they had never heard of advance directives. The information they requested to include in their advance directives mostly involved decisions on pain treatment, such as the use of analgesic drugs in the final stages of a terminal disease. Perceptions of dying well were statistically significantly different according to age and education. Conclusion: This study discussed the attitudes and preferences of elderly living alone regarding advance directives to provide basic resources for the systematic and active use of advance directives.

• Journal of the Korean society of biological therapies in psychiatry
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.184-193
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• 2018

Objectives : This study investigated the effects of social support and chronic medical conditions on depressive symptoms in elderly people living alone in a rural community. Methods : Sociodemographic information on 173 subjects aged 65 years or older who lived alone in a rural community and were recipients of National Basic Livelihood Security was collected and analyzed. All participants completed the Korean Form of the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Lubben Social Network Scale. Additionally, the current prevalence of chronic medical conditions that interfere with the activities of daily living was examined. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the associations of social support and chronic medical conditions with depressive symptoms. Results : Social support(odds ratio: OR, 0.96; 95% confidence interval: 95% CI, 0.92-0.99) and chronic medical conditions(OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.23-2.05) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in all subjects. When analyzed by gender, social support served as a protective factor against depressive symptoms in elderly men only(OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-0.99), and chronic medical conditions increased the risk of depressive symptoms in elderly women only(OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.26-2.40). Furthermore, osteoarthritis and lumbar pain were risk factors for depressive symptoms in all subjects(OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.10-4.56 and OR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.08-4.12) and in elderly women(OR, 4.07; 95% CI, 1.68-9.84 and OR, 3.34; 95% CI, 1.47-7.57), respectively. Conclusion : This study indicates that improving the social support and managing the chronic medical conditions of elderly people living alone are important for the prevention of depression in this population. Additionally, the present results suggest that it is necessary to establish different depression-prevention strategies for elderly men and women living alone.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of an arthritis self-management program on elderly women living alone in the community. Methods: This study recruited 36 individuals, who participated in the program once a week for six weeks at two community centers. The program consisted of muscle strengthening and flexibility exercises, health education on muscles and joints, and joint dance for aerobic exercise. The data collected were analyzed using the paired t-test and Wilcoxon rank test. Results: After six weeks, participants showed significant improvements in pain (t=3.03, p=.005), difficulties in activities of daily living (t=2.77, p=.010), health-related quality of life (t=-2.63, p=.014), flexibility of right shoulder (z=-2.42, p=.015), and balance (right leg, t=-2.63, p=.036; left leg, z=-2.36, p=.018). Conclusion: The results showed that the arthritis self-management program effectively improved outcomes for elderly women living alone. Thus, this program could be incorporated into various programs for elderly people living alone.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.19-26
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• 2007

As a result of rapid aging speed in our society, it is necessary to supply a lot of housing for older people in near future. When we think that high portion of residence in rental housing complex composed of small units is the elderly, the housing units in those apartments have to be designed for the physical, mental, social, and economical conditions of elderly people who lives in such a residential complex. Considering these living conditions of the elderly, this study proposes a remodeling prototype of a living unit for older people in rental housing complex. For the research of this topic, various characteristics of the elderly and the environmental requirements for them firstly have been analysed from the literature survey and the interviews with two residents living in a rental apartment. And the design considerations for each space of the housing unit such as entrance, living room, bed room, bath room, and so forth have been explored. Based on the design guidelines above, the remodeling plan of a housing unit for older people has been propose as a result of this study.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1245-1248
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• 2020

Elderly people living alone need smart care for independent living. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have allowed for easier interaction by a computer-controlled virtual human. This technology can realize services such as medicine intake guide for the elderly living alone. In this paper, we suggest an intelligent virtual human and present our virtual human toolkit for controlling virtual humans for a senior citizen living alone. To make the virtual human motion, we suggest our authoring toolkit to map gestures, emotions, voices of virtual humans. The toolkit configured to create virtual human interactions allows the response of a suitable virtual human with facial expressions, gestures, and voice.