• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.332-338
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• 2003

Objective : To investigate the relationship between medical expenses and the burden of families caring for the elderly in the last 6 months of life, and to evaluate the factors relating to the burden of family caregivers. Methods : The families of 301 persons older than 65 years, who died between 1 July and 31 December 2001, and were registered in Resident-based- Health Insurance Programs in Seoul, were interviewed. The medical expenses and length of stay among the elderly were collected from Korean Health Insurance Corporations. Results : 31 percents of the elderly had no medical expenses in the last 6 months of life. On average, the objective burden (4.92) was higher than the subjective burden (3.35). Families caring for male elderly had a higher burden. With increasing age af death, the objective burden was significantly increased. The burden on a family seemed to be influenced more by the family income than the property of the elderly. With increasing total health care costs, the objective burden on the family caregivers was significantly increased, but with increasing medical expenses, the subjective burden was significantly decreased. Conclusion : An association between healthcare utilization and burden on families was observed. The reason for the decreasing subjective burden when medical expenses were decreased was unclear. Further research will be needed.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 2011

The Korean society is recently becoming the aging society at an unprecedentedly rapid speed. Following the increase of the older population, their needs for special care is also rocketing. However, due to the increase of working women, nuclear-families, and old persons living alone, new facilities for the elderly such as nursing home are urgently needed. Thus, many nursing homes for the elderly are also rapidly providing. It is needed to examine if such nursing homes are properly designed for the dependent elderly to live. This study was carried out by the field observation using a checking sheet with measuring and taking photograph. The subjects were 12 nursing homes which gave positive responses for walking through their facilities. The items for observing and measuring were made based on the regulation on improving the facilities for the disabled, the elderly, and the pregnant. Whether each item fits the regulation or not was examined. The 9 areas in each nursing home were examined : entrance, hallway and corridor, stair, elevator, ramp, bed room, shower and locker room, bathroom, and rest room. It was founded that many accessible-related items were met. However, many supportive-related items such as ones for the visual disabled, and many supportive-related and accessible-related ones for bathroom, shower room, and restroom were unmet. In the process of this research, it was founded that the tool for evaluating the design of nursing home in terms of universal design should be developed.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine household food insecurity and the associations of food insecurity with socioeconomic characteristics, food behaviors, health status and nutrient intake among elderly people in a rural area. This study included 191 elderly people (mean age = $72.0{\pm}7.4$) in Jeollabuk-do, Jangsu-gun. House food insecurity was measured using an adapted version of the USDA short form household food insecurity scale, and nutrient intake measured by a 24-hour dietary recall. Only 15.2% of the subjects were in food-insecure households, 84.8% of the elderly households were food-secure. The food-insecure households were significantly lower in the number of family, frequency of shopping, and perceived health status than the food-secure households. In addition, they had serious tooth problems and NSI (Nutrition Screening Index) scores. Food-insecure households were significantly lower in most areas of nutrient intake (energy, protein, fat, Ca, P, Fe, K, Na, Zn, Vit. $B_2$, niacin, Vit. E), and also lower in nutrient intake compared to dietary reference intake (energy, protein, P, Fe, K, Na, Vit. $B_1$, Vit. $B_2$, niacin, Vit. E). These results suggest that the household food insecurity measures used in this study were an important indicator of nutritional well-being among elderly persons in the rural area. Food insecurity should be considered an important issue to public health and food service programs should be expanded for food-insecure households in rural areas.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.235-245
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• 2013

This study attempted to study the relation between the social capitals and self esteem, psychological wellbeing of the elderly. This study took a questionnaire survey to 162 elderly persons over 65 years old in Busan Metropolitan City. The results of the impact of social capitals upon mental health of the elderly were as follows. For the social capitals and self esteem, formal reliability, formal network and the norm, women had significantly positive(+) impact on self esteem. For the social capitals and psychological wellbeing, formal reliability, women had significantly positive(+) impact on psychological wellbeing, while the norm had significantly negative (-) impact on psychological wellbeing. Based on such results, this study suggested meaning and necessity to construct the social capitals and its activation for the improvement of psychological health of the elderly. Finally, it remarked the limits of the study and the suggestions for the further research direction.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2006

BACKGROUND: Social, legal, and economic factors have changed the delivery of care to elderly who are frail and/or chronically ill. Increasing number of the elderly are now treated in the community, while living with or in close proximity to their family. It is evident that families play a major role of support for elderly persons in our society. This paper provides a review and analysis of studies that have investigated informal caregiving issues encompassing physical, psychological, emotional, and social domains. RESULTS OF THE REVIEW: Family caregiving often interfered with workplace and other responsibilities, creating physical, emotional, and financial stress for caregivers. Relatively high volumes of research addressed caregiving issues in the families of Alzheimer patients and in the areas of emotional and psychological impact of caregiving. Few studies explicitly investigated the role of informal caregivers in the management of other chronic conditions such as stroke or depression or physical consequences of long-term caregiving. While most studies were focused on negative aspects of caregiving, a few studies found it rewarding. Often the burden, stress, and socio-economic effects on the family caregiving for an elderly person were not sufficiently appreciated. CONCLUSIONS: Positive outcomes for both the caregiver and the care recipient are more likely to occur when effective levels of collaboration exist between health professionals and caregivers. As a first step, a better understanding of the caregiving experience such as caregiver characteristics, care recipient characteristics, and social stigma is important for nurses to minimize the burden of care so that appropriate interventions can be developed. In addition, further studies are needed to examine the role and needs of informal caregivers in the care of increasing number of frail and/or chronic ill elderly treated in the community.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.31-38
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of changing the steps height on the joint moment of lower extremity in stair-descent activity of elderly persons. Data were collected by 3-D cinematography and force platform. 9 male elderly subjects in the 60s and 70s participated in this study. All subjects performed a stair-descent in four different heights of stairs (10, 14, 18, 22cm) having 5 step staircase. The results were as follows. 1. For the step height of 22cm the maximum. plantarflexion moment was the smallest and the largest for the step height of 14cm. 2. There was not a statistical difference shown for the extension moment of the knee joint for the different height of steps. 3. There was not a statistical difference shown for the flexion moment of the hip joint for the varying height of steps but on average for the 18cm step this increased rapidly. 4. The smallest maximum. value for inversion moment was revealed for the step height of 10cm and this increased significantly for the step height of 22cm. 5. The smallest maximum. value for abduction moment of the hip joint was revealed for the step height of 10cm and this increased significantly for the step height of 22cm. 6. There was no significant difference shown for the maximum. abduction moment for the hip joint. The main conclusion is that there is a huge difference in the moment of the lower extremities for the elderly while walking down a stairs with a step height above 18 cm and that this moment increased or decreased rapidly under a condition of step height being 22cm. With the results from this research and related research of elderly walking upstairs it can be shown that the step height has a large role in the safety for the elderly.

• 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.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.780-787
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• 2017

The consumption of high-salt foods is an independent risk factor for increased hypertension. Thus, evaluating the relationship of taste sensitivity and pleasantness of high-salt foods such as Korean jang products, would help contribute to an understanding of salty food eating behaviors of the Korean rural elderly. This study aimed to verify the association between taste sensitivity and salinity of Korean jang products, and the preferences of food groups and nutrient intake in the rural elderly. We studied 269 elderly persons (males 83, females 186) aged above 65 years, residing in the rural area, Sunchang gun Jeonbuk. For each subject, a recognition threshold of 4 basic tastes and pleasant concentrations of NaCl were estimated using the sip- and-spit method. Taste preferences, frequency of intake of food groups, nutrient intakes, and salinity and sweetness of Korean jang products (Doenjang, Ganjang, Gochujang) were assessed. No association was found between salt taste recognition threshold and optimally preferred concentration of salt and salinity of Korean jang products. However, the sweet taste recognition threshold was positively related to the sweetness of Korean jang products. Also, the salinity of Doenjang positively correlated with the frequencies of food groups and nutrient intakes. That is to say that the sweet taste sensitivity was related to the sweetness of Korean jang products, but was not sensitive to the salty taste. The salinity of Doenjang correlated with the consumption of food and nutrient intakes. Taken together, these findings suggest the need for appropriate intervention and education to reduce the salinity of Doenjang, which is an important modifiable factor contributing to reducing sodium intake in the rural elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.15-33
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• 2005

This study was aimed at examining the effect of the intergenerational program on the attitudes and intimacy between the elderly and children. The pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. The subjects were 232 old persons and 1,687 infants or children. The experimental programs was composed of 232 programmes focused on the education by the elderly and each program was implemented for three months and over. The results of this study showed that the attitude toward other generation of the elderly and children was changed significantly positive and the intimacy between two generations was increased significantly higher after participating in the experimental programmes. Based on the results, the various long-term intergenerational programmes need to be developed and implemented.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.15-24
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to unveil the characteristics of residential space organizations in dementia units. Observation, interview, and drawing analysis of the sample units were used to collect the data for new dementia unit plans. The findings revealed the lack of minimum requirement of residential spaces per person in some sample units, the necessity of consideration of group units, and the change of units based plans to each floor based plans. However, insufficient recreation rooms and the lack of caregivers' resting spaces in the sample units were uncovered. Thus, various recreation rooms such as a reading room, flower room, pottery room, bakery room, or game room should be provided in the sample units. The conclusion is that asylum oriented residential types should be changed to each floor based units having privacy and high satisfaction of residential life. The study of floor oriented residential units focusing on minimum spaces of the floor, space numbers, number of elderly persons on each floor should be studied in the near future.