• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.285-292
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to increase the experience of using kiosks for elderly in the non-face-to-face age. Through prior research and literature research, feature of kiosks and characteristic of elderly user were identified, and improvement were suggested through Ethnography and in-depth interviews. The research method was conducted for 13 days from April 4 to 16, 2021 for 11 senior citizens in their 60s or older living in Incheon. A total of 11 people were interviewed by adding 3 people who had experience in using kiosks. As a result of the experiment, interfaces and psychological factors were derived with paint points in the process of use of the elderly, and the five improvement plan was proposed by combining them. This study is expected to serve as a source for research on the experience of elderly kiosk users or kiosk interface design.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.126-138
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• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of assistive products usage on activity of daily living for the beneficiary older adults people in Korean long-term care insurance system. The study subjects were divided to assistive products users and non-users among the beneficiary older adults based on Korean long-term care insurance system to compare function improvement of the activity of daily living. Methods : In national wide 12 community elderly care center enrolled the National Health Insurance Corporation, The numbers of 281 beneficiary older adults(long-term care Grade I: 66, Grade II: 58, Grade III: 157) participated in this study. This survey assessment tool for activity of daily living was used the long-term care assessment instrument of the physical functions in the law of Korean long-term care insurance. The function items of Activity of daily living were included in clothing, washing, tooth brushing, bathing, eating, posture converting, stand sitting, move sitting, out of room, using toilet, controlling of stool, controlling of urine, washing hair. According to independence to complete dependence functioning level, remarks pointed 1 to 3 points. The data were analyzed by chi-square, two-way anova using SPSS V. 12.0. Results : The results appeared that the mean score of the functions in activity of daily living of assistive products users was a 27.60, and that of non-users was a 30.66. Assistive products were not effected in Grade I and II recipients, but that effected in Grade III recipients. Conclusion : Preparing for activation of assistive products based Korean long-term care insurance system, the result application as follows is possible. The usage of assistive products could improve the function of daily living activity in older adults. Related to Grade III beneficiary elderly people were improved function in activity of daily living by using assistive products, it is necessary to extend coverage the non-eligible elderly people in Korean long-term care insurance system.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.95-123
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• 2016

As Korean society grows rapidly older, a systematic analysis of the determinants of labor supply behavior among the elderly becomes a prerequisite for designing more effective senior employment policies and income security regime for the elderly. Literatures review shows that a majority of previous researches have been ignoring the problem of "endogenous predictor" especially when it comes to the estimation of the effects of the two key variables, education and non-labor income, on labor supply decisions among older people. They have failed to take into consideration the unobserved heterogeneities which might affect both labor supply decisions of the elderly and their levels of education and non-labor income, which means, according to some econometric literatures, that the estimated coefficients of the two predictors can be inconsistent. The paper tries to redress the endogeneity problem by employing a panel logit model with data from the 1st. to 4th. wave of the KLoSA(Korean Longitudinal Survey of Ageing) to estimate the effects of key predictors on the probability of getting jobs among older people(ages of 60 or older). Both a random effects and a fixed effects model reaffirms that non-labor income has a negative effect on the chances of being employed. And a random effects model shows that the effect of education is also negative, as has frequently been reported by previous studies. That means the effects of education and non-labor income on elderly employment remain negative after the effect of unobserved heterogeneities is controled for and the problem of endogenous predictors is redressed through an appropriate panel data analysis. These findings mean, in turn, that when Korean baby-boomers, who had acquired an unprecedentedly higher level of education and were expected to enjoy ever-larger amount of non-labor income than their preceding generations, retires in near future, their incentives to work will become much weaker and the lack of labor-force and the burden of financing increased public pension expenditure will become more troublesome. The paper concludes with recommending some policy initiatives helpful to solve these expected problems.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.557-564
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• 2018

Along with the aging society, the prevalence of dementia is also increasing. Dementia causes short-term memory loss as well as difficulties of performing daily activities and gradually causes suffering of the patients and their family. In spite of various programs for prevention of dementia of older people are being implemented, there is a lack of developing natural-based program for physical and mental health promotion. Therefore, it is necessary to develop programs for the elderly living alone who are more vulnerable to dementia because of their social and economic isolation. The purpose of this study was to develop a natural-based program and investigate the effects of 10 weeks forest therapy program for dementia prevention to improve the psychological and physical health of the elderly living alone. The experimental subjects were 30 elderly (aged 65 or older) and 31 elderly participated in control group. The Stress response, depressive symptoms, weight, body mass index (BMI), fat mass and muscle mass were measured for pre and post test. The results showed that the experimental group showed subjective stress relief (t=5.249, p=.000), improvement in symptoms of depression (t=4.152, p=.000), and decreases in weight (t=2.686, p=.012), BMI (t=2.629, p=.014) and fat mass (t=2.918, p=.007) after the forest therapy program. The experimental group showed lower stress reactions(t=-7.185, p=.000) and less depressive symptoms (t=-5.303, p=.000) than control group after participating the program. These results suggest that periodic forest exposure can help having less stressful and depressive status than non-forest exposure and the forest therapy program can reduce participants' psychological and physical risk factors of dementia.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2021

Objectives: Physical inactivity is the fourth leading global risk factor for mortality, followed by obesity. The combination of these risk factors is associated with non-communicable diseases, impaired physical function, and declining mental function. The World Health Organization recommends physical activity to reduce the mortality rate. Thus, this study examined the effects on anthropometric measurements of a 12-week walking program for elderly people in Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia with a 7000-step goal and weekly group walking activities. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted involving 109 elderly people with a body mass index (BMI) ≥25.0 kg/m². BMI, body composition, and average daily steps were measured at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0, and repeated-measures analysis of variance with the paired t-test for post-hoc analysis was conducted. Results: In total, 48 participants in the intervention group and 61 participants in the control group completed the study. A significant interaction was found between time and group. The post-hoc analysis showed a significant difference between pre-intervention and post-intervention (within the intervention group). The post-intervention analysis revealed an increase in the mean number of daily steps by 3571.59, with decreases in body weight (-2.20 kg), BMI (-0.94 kg/m²), body fat percentage (-3.52%), visceral fat percentage (-1.29%) and waist circumference (-2.91 cm). Skeletal muscle percentage also showed a significant increase (1.67%). Conclusions: A 12-week walking program combining a 7000-step goals with weekly group walking activities had a significant effect on the anthropometric measurements of previously inactive and overweight/obese elderly people.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.327-335
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• 2002

This study was performed to investigate the relationships among bone mineral densities (BMD), anthropometric data and lifestyle factors in the elderly. Subjects included 138 elderly (male: 38, female: 100) aged over 65 years, who were home-(dwelling in a low-income area of Puchon City. The BMDs of the lumbar spines (LS), femoral necks (FN), Ward′s triangles (WT) and trochanters (TC) were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The females showed significantly lower BMDs in four sites (p < 0.0001) . The elderly aged over 75 revealed significantly more decreased femoral BMDs than the elderly aged 65 to 74. Female with BMIs of 20 to 25, showed significantly higher BMDs in LS, FN and trochanter than those with BMIs of less than 20. However, males displayed significantly higher BMDs in only LS with increasing BMIs. THe BMDs of LS correlated with weights (r = 0.543, p < 0.001), heights (r = 0.477, p < 0.001), upper arm circumferences (r=0.368, p < 0.01), waist circumferences (r=0.367, p < 0.001), subscapular skinfold thicknesses (r=0.363, p < 0.001) and flip circumferences (r=0.231, p < 0.01). Non-smokers and non-drinkers shelved significantly higher BMDs in trochanters only in the case of the males. Female milk-drinkers showed significantly elevated LS BMDs. Eighteen percent of the males were assessed as having osteoporosis, as compared to fifty percent of the females. Ninety-three percent of the females and 81.6% of the males responded that they often or always had "difficulty in standing for a long time".

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.392-399
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• 2016

This study examined the distribution of metabolic syndrome according to the age groups among the elderly people to reveal the sociodemographic and health related factors. The survey in 2011~2014 from the National Health Insurance Corporation under regular medical check-ups, which received a recognition survey targeted 1,756 people aged over 70. Multiple logistic regression was performed on the relation metabolic syndrome and its related factors. As a result, the risk ratio for metabolic syndrome increased significantly in females than in males, living with a family than living alone, high economic status than in the low group, obese than in the normal weight group, have a history of stroke group than the no history group, smoking group than the non-smoking group, and drinking group than the non-drinking group. The distribution of metabolic syndrome differed significantly according to the sociodemographic characteristics and health-related variables.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.49-68
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was 1) to review communal housing in the UK, 2) to consider the policy implications for elderly communal housing in Korea. The research methods used were 1) literature review about communal housing and related policy in the UK 2) field survey in the UK 3) interpretative suggestion for the proper policy implication to develope communal housing for the elderly in Korea. Sheltered housing in the UK had been developed as communal housing for the elderly with special needs since the 1970s. The type of sheltered housing were category 1 and category 2. Very sheltered housing with more facilities and meal services was added in 1980s. Sheltered housing was evaluated as the most humanistic solution for older people in the UK in 1980s. Because of the policy of moving institutional care to community care, sheltered housing became less in demand because of more options for older people including being able to stay in their own home. So new completion of sheltered housing by registered social landlords reduced saliently. Sheltered housing already totalled over half million units in which 5% of all elderly over 65 still lived and a small quantity of private sector for sale schemes emerged in the 1990s. The reason why the residents moved to sheltered housing was for sociable, secure, and manageable living arrangements. In general the residents were satisfied with these characteristics but dissatisfied with the service charge and quality of meals, especially in category 2.5 schemes. The degree of utilisation of communal spaces and facilities depended on the wardens ability and enthusiasm. Evaluation of sheltered housing indicated several problems such as wardens duty as a \"good neighbour\" ; difficult-to-let problems with poor location or individual units of bedsittiing type with shared bathroom ; and the under use of communal spaces and facilities. Some ideas to solve these problems were suggested by researchers through expanding wardens duty as a professional, opening the scheme to the public, improving interior standards, and accepting non-elderly applicants who need support. Some researchers insisted continuing development of sheltered housing, but higher standards must be considered for the minority who want to live in communal living arrangement. Recently, enhanced sheltered housing with greater involvement of relatives and with tied up policy in registration and funding suggested as an alternative for residential care. In conclusion, the rights of choice for older people should be policy support for special needs housing. Elderly communal housing, especially a model similar to sheltered housing category 2 with at least 1 meal a day might be recommended for a Korean Model. For special needs housing development either for rent or for sale, participation of the public sector and long term and low interest financial support for the private sector must be developed in Korea. Providing a system for scheme managers to train and retrain must be encouraged. The professional ability of the scheme manager to plan and to deliver services might be the most important factor for the success of elderly communal housing projects in Korea. In addition the expansion of a public health care service, the development of leisure programs in Senior Citizens Centre, home helper both for the elderly in communal housing and the elderly in mainstream housing of the community as well. Providing of elderly communal housing through the modified general Construction Act rather than the present Elderly Welfare Act might be more helpful to encourage the access of general people in Korea. in Korea.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between unmet healthcare needs due to financial reasons and catastrophic health expenditures. Methods: This study used secondary data from the 2014~2015 Korean Health Panel survey. The subjects of this study were 21,495 people aged 20 or older, and of them, there were 16,227 people aged 20 to 64 and 5,268 people aged 65 or older, which were surveyed between 2014 and 2015. The association between unmet healthcare needs due to financial reasons and catastrophic health expenditures was analyzed through logistic regression. Results: In 2015, 1.7% of people aged 20~64 years and 7.9% of those aged 65 or older experienced unmet healthcare needs due to financial reasons. In the 20~64 age group, people who repeatedly experienced catastrophic health expenditures (=10%,=20%) were less likely to experience unmet healthcare needs due to financial reasons than those who did not experience catastrophic health expenditures for two years (OR=0.50, OR=0.41). However, in the 65-or-older group, people who repeatedly experienced catastrophic health expenditures (=20%) were more likely to experience unmet healthcare needs due to financial reasons than those who did not experience catastrophic health expenditures for two years (OR=1.68). Conclusion: A greater percentage of the elderly repeatedly faced both catastrophic health expenditures and unmet healthcare needs due to financial reasons compared to the non-elderly.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.153-166
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Swedish group home for elderly people with dementia coed be applied to the situation in Korea. One hundred and ninety six Korean subjects, responsible for supporting a member of their family afflicted with such an illness in their own homes, comprised the sample population for this study. Data was collected using questionnaires. frequency distribution, mean, and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. The results of this study indicated a great possibility for adapting these kinds of group home in Korea. The respondents showed positive opinions with the basic concepts and space plans of Swedish group homes excepts for some details, like the number of residents per room. The respondents felt that a group home for dementia with the fellowing features was desirable : smart scale, single-family detached house,3-4 rooms, a total of 6-8 residents, managed by non-profit organizations or the government at a monthly cost of 530,000-1,000,000 won. In order to develope these group homes for dementia people in Korea, political assistance, combined with economic support, are strongly needed. The successful establishment of a group home will contribute not only to the welfare of elderly people with dementia but to their families as well.