• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.506-525
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• 1992

Older people, because of the psychological and physiological changes related to the aging process are more vulnerable to experiencing powerlessness than any other age group. This self destructive cycle of depression in older people related to the experience of continued and long term powerlessness can lead even to death. The purpose of this study was to measure powerlessness and resources to increase power in older people, and to measure the effectiveness of a psychological rehabilitation program for reducing powerlessness. The research methodology used was a two step process. In the first step, a survey was done of perceived powerlessness and power resources comparing four groups of elderly people ; those living at home, those in hospital, those living in nursing homes and those attending educational programs for the elderly. The total sample size was 236. In the second step, a psychological rehabilitation program was carried out, pre and post measurements were taken related to this program. The sample consisted of 29 residents in a nursing home. The results of the study are as follows : 1. Powerlessness was classified as cognitive, emotional, activity and learning. The lowest score for powerlessness was in the area of activity, that is the people in the sample felt more power concerning their activities. The highest score was in the area of cognition where they felt they had less power. 2. When the different groups of elderly were compared, it was found that the residents of the nursing home had the highest score on perceived powerlessness and the group who were living at home had the lowest score. 3. Among the general characteristics, the factors influencing the powerlessness score were age, sex, level of education, financial resources and health status. In the interaction effects among these factors, it was found that level of education and health status were factors influencing perceived powerlessness. The elderly with lower education and poorer health status had the higher scores for perceived powerlessness. 4. The power resources could be classified into the following areas : physical strength, emotional strength, positive self-image, energy, knowledge, motivation and belief system. Belief system was given the highest score among the power resources and energy, knowledge and motivation were given low scores. 5. The group participating in an educational program for the elderly had the highest score for power resources while the group made up of residents of a nursing home had the lowest score as well as the highest score for perceived powerlessness. 6. The factors influencing the power resource scores were sex, level of education, financial resources and health status. In the analysis of the interaction effect among the factors, it was found that sex, level of education and financial resources were the factors that influenced the power resource score, that is, women, those with a low level of education and those with poor financial resources reported a lower level of power resources. 7. There was a negative correlation between perceived powerlessness and power resources in the elderly in this study. Since power resources explainded 49% of the variance for powerlessness, it can be concluded that the power resources can be used to reduce powerlessness. 8. The psychological rehabilitation program was carried out with the nursing home residents over a period of five weeks. No statistically significant difference was found in the scores on powerlessness between the pre and post tests, but there was a slight decrease in the raw scores on the post test for emotional, activity and learning powerlessness. There was a statistically significant increase in the power resource scores for emotional strength, positive self-image, energy, knowledge and motivation in the post test as compared to the pre test. In conclusion, the study indicates that a psychological rehabilitation program for the elderly could be effective in increasing power resources and this in turn could lead to a decrease in perceived powerlessness.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.668-678
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• 2002

Purpose: The number of nursing home residents has been increasing in Korea. Nurses need to know the lived experience of relocation of the elderly to long-term care facilities. However, studies on this issue has not yet been conducted in Korea. Therefore, this study was carried out to understand the experience of institutionalization of the elderly using a phenomenological approach. Method: There were 11 participants who consisted of 5 men and 6 women living in 3 different nursing homes. The data was collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation from June 1999 to October 2001, and analyzed by Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Result: A total of 275 meaningful statements related to the experience of institutionalization by the elderly were obtained. Of the 275 statements, 175 were found as the statements with more general forms. 28 themes were grouped into 8 theme clusters. These theme clusters included' resentment at their sons', irresistible admission', 'humiliation on institutionalization', 'being unbearable to shock', 'grief to unfamiliarity', 'being in agony of outwards', 'regret for self-life' and 'comfort for new residence'. Conclusion: Based on these results. we can understand the lived experience of institutionalization of the Korean elderly. We need to develop a nursing program to help the elderly cope with this crisis, and studies about the familys experience on their parents admission to institutionalized facility warrant further exploration.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.243-258
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an oral health care education program for care providers on the nutritional status of the elderly in a long-term care facility. This study was conducted at a long-term care facility located in K metropolitan city using a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. Fifty-four nursing home residents aged 65 years or older were assigned either to the intervention group (n=27) or the control group (n=24). The intervention group received oral health care from the care providers' intervention group, who provided oral health care for 6 weeks after 6 weeks of oral health care education. Data were collected from the control group and intervention group at the baseline 6 and 12 weeks after oral care education and were analyzed using SPSS windows 16.0. The halitosis was lower in the intervention group than the control group at 12 weeks (P<0.01). Body mass index of the intervention group at 12 weeks was higher than that at 6 weeks. Iron intake of the intervention group at 12 weeks was lower than that at baseline. At baseline, the intakes of riboflavin, folate, and potassium were lower than 75% of dietary reference intakes. In conclusion, an oral care education program for care providers was effective in improving the oral hygiene of nursing home residents, and dietary plans are needed to improve the nutritional status of them.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.71-80
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• 2019

This study is a descriptive research study to identify osteoporosis knowledge and osteoporosis prevention activities among care providers in nursing home. The subjects were 142 care providers in S and Y city. The Data were collected from July 1 to July 20, 2019, and analyzed SPSS 24.0 Version. The result showed that the osteoporosis knowledge of among care providers was moderate. It showed differences in educational status, osteoporosis management training experience, residents number and importance awareness of elderly bone health. And prevention activities differed according to osteoporosis management training experience and importance awareness of elderly bone health. There was a positive correlation between knowledge and prevention activities of osteoporosis. Therefore, it is necessary to develop education programs for the management of elderly osteoporosis and to raise importance awareness of elderly bone health among care providers in nursing home. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of the program.

• 한국노년학
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.357-370
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• 2007

The purposes of this study were to 1) develop fluid intake enhancing program for the institutionalized elderly and 2) examine the effect of fluid intake enhancing program on amount of daily fluid consumed, urine specific gravity, and urine color. Data were collected from 39 nursing home residents in a nursing home located in urban Chung-chung providence. With a convenient sample of 39 nursing home residents, consecutive three days of 24 hour fluid intake, were measured and recorded. Urine samples were obtained and urine specific gravity, urine color were analyzed at pre-intervention, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks following the intervention. When compared to pre-intervention, the average amount of daily fluid intake was significantly increased at 4 weeks and 6 weeks following the intervention. The proportion of subjects who consumed less than Adequate Intake(AI) was 35.9% at pre-intervention and was decreased to 10.3%, 7.7%. In conclusion, inadequate fluid intake among institutionalized elderly is prevalent. From careful employment of the fluid intake enhancing program, increase in fluid consumption among institutionalized elderly can be expected.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.552-568
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• 1992

Recent improvements in the standard of living, national income and medical care, and a decline in the infant death rate which have occurred related to economic growth and modernization, have led to a longer average life-span and a higher ratio of elderly people in the total population, Therefore, not only in the field of nursing science, but also in the field of many other discipline, issues concerning the elderly have been given increasing interest. A great deal of effort has been spent on increasing the quality of life for elderly people. This study was conducted to analyze the correlation between social support and quality of life. The sample consisted of III subjects residing at home and 107 subjects residing in institutions all of whom were over 65 years of age. The data collection period was from October 23, 1990 to January 26, 1991. Social support was measured using the Norbeck social Support Questionnaire developed by Norbeck, translated by Oh, Ka Sil and quality of life was measured using the QOL scale developed by No, You Ja. Data were analyzed using pereentages, t-test, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and ANOVA. The results of this study are as follows : 1. There was a statistically signifivant difference in the level of social support between the two groups (t＝-8.83, p＜.001), The elderly at home reported a much higher level of social support. 2. There was a statistically significant difference in the level of QOL between the two groups (t＝-5.77, p＜.001) . The elderly at home reported a much more positive quality of life. 3. There was a positive correlation between social support and QOL for the elderly at home ard it was statistically significant (r＝.32, p＜.001). 4. There was a postitive collealtion between social support and QOL for the elderly in institutions and it was also statistically significant (r＝.19, p＜.05). 5. The relationship between the general characteristics of the elderly at home and the variables of social support and of QOL were as follows ; 1) according to sex(t＝10.57, p＜.01) and the number of offspring(F＝6.19, p＜.01), there was a statistically significant difference in social support. 2) according to amount of Pocket money, there was a statistically significant difference in QOL(F＝2.98, p＜.05). 6. The relationship between the general characteristics of the elderly in institutions and the two variables were as follows ; 1) according to sex(t＝6.24, p＜.05), the number of offspring(F＝6.16, p＜.001) and religion (F＝2.58, p＜.05), there was a statistically significant difference in social support. 2) according to religion, there was a statistically significant difference in QOL(F＝2.90, p＜.05). In conclusion, it can be said that social support is an important variable related to QOL in the elderly and that social support levels are higher for the elderly residing at home. Therefore, more specific and objective approaches and efforts are needed to effectively use resources to maintain the elderly at home and to enhance social support available to the elderly in institutions and thereby increase QOL regardless of residence.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.180-199
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• 2008

Technology has had a tremendous impact on our daily lives. Recently, technology and its impact on aging has become an expanding field of inquiry. A major reason for this interest is that the use of technology can help older people who experience deteriorating health to live independently. In this paper we give a brief review of the in-home monitoring technologies for the elderly. In the pilot study, we analyze the possibility of employing the data generated by a continuous, unobtrusive nursing home monitoring system for predicting elevated(abnormal)pulse pressure(PP) in elderly(PP=systolic blood pressure-diastolic blood pressure). Our sensor data capture external information(behavioral) about the resident that is subsequently reflected in the predicted PP. By continuously predicting the possibility of elevated pulse pressure we may alert the nursing staff when some predefined threshold is exceeded. This approach may provide additional blood pressure monitoring for the elderly persons susceptible to blood pressure variations during the time between two nursing visits. We conducted a retrospective pilot study on two residents of the TigerPlace aging in place facility with age over 70, that had blood pressure measured between 100 and 300 times during a period of two years. The pilot study suggested that abnormal pulse pressure can be reasonably well estimated (an area under ROC curve of about 0.75) using apartment bed and motion sensors.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1100-1116
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• 1995

Nutritional and health status was assessed in the 86 healthy elderly women who aged 65 through 96 and resided in nursing home in chonbuk area. Nutritional status was determined by dietary intake, anthropometric and hematological indices and hair elements. Correlation analysis among nutritional indices were performed to identify the factors which related specifically to nutritional status of the elderly. Nutrients intake below two-thirds of the RDA were Ca, riboflavin and niacin. Especially mean Ca intake was only 51.9% of RDA and most of nutrients intake were decreased as theri age increased. Height, body weight and mid upper arm circumference were decreased with age but W/H ratio did not differ among age groups. These data suggested that body fat accumulation did not change with age but lean body mass was decreased with age in the elderly. Waist circumference was positively correlated to dietary fat intake, and body weight, BMI, waist and hip circumferences and total body fat were positively correlated with serum LDC/HDL ratio. It could be concluded anthropometric indices were good indicator that reflect the lipid nutritional status in elderly women. Hematological indices, Hb, RBC, MCH, albumin, globulin, transferrin levels, belonged to normal ranges of aged women. However, the lowest Hb level showed in the oldest-old group(aged 85 and over years group). The avalilavilty of hair analysis to measure nutritional status was tested. There were not found any significant correlations between many kinds of nutritional indices and hair elements except hair Zn content which was positively correlated with BMI.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2009

Purpose: The survey-based study aimed to determine the distribution and clustering tendency of metabolic syndrome risk factors in urban residents, and cluster odds ratios. Methods: Cluster sampling involved 827 urban participants and analysis of the collected data. Results: Regarding the prevalence of metabolic syndrome risk factors used for diagnosis, abdominal obesity was higher in women(69.5%) than in men(34.3%), high blood pressure was higher in men(57%) than in women(46.5%), and blood sugar was higher in men(6.9%) than in women(5.7%). Clustering increased with increasing body mass index(BMI), weight:height ratio(W/Ht) and abdominal obesity Risk factors for females were 1.7 times higher than for males. Participants with a family history of metabolic syndrome displayed related risk factors 1.5 times more than participants without a family history. Participants having a BMI ranking them as obese were 9.5 times more likely to display metabolic syndrome risk factors than non-obese participants. Obese participants were 20 times more likely to display risk factors than non-obese participants. Conclusion: BMI, W/Ht and abdominal obesity correlate with clustering of metabolic syndrome risk factors. The risk is increased by smoking and family history. Exercise weight control and non-smoking are recommended for comprehensive management of clustering of metabolic syndrome risk factors.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.24 no.6 s.84
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• pp.117-129
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to provide basic information about hierarchical spatial compositions of lounges and corridors in elderly skilled nursing facilities through the analysis of elderly residents' behaviors. For the study, five researchers observed the behavior of the elderly in the lounges and corridors of five facilities from 10 AM. to 4 PM. at 30-minute intervals for the investigation of hierarchical spatial compositions. And then, the design characteristics of public and semi-public area were analyzed by evaluating their openness, centrality, accessibility, and stimulations. The results of this study were as follows. First, the public area was focused on the lounge, and the semi-public area was formed on the comers of corridors and the parts of lounge walls. The private and semi-private area were distributed to the whole lounges and corridors. Second, in morning time, the semi-public area was concentrated on the wall of lounge instead of on the comers of corridors, and in afternoon, the residents' behaviors relevant to the private and semi-public areas were increased. Especially, the comers of corridors were utilized as the main semi-public areas. Third, the public area could encourage the participation of the elderly residents when it was opened to other areas more than 40% and close to the nursing station. But, the central garden made the accessibility from the elderly private room to the public area not good. The ideal openness of semi-public area was indicated as 25-30%, and its centrality was $10{\sim}15m$ which was a little far from the nursing station. Forth, furniture arrangements gave large influence to the behavior characteristics in the semi-public areas. Especially, sofa arrangements in the comers of corridors increased informal interactions among the elderly. In conclusion, the public area needs high rate of openness and should satisfy both of the centrality and accessibility so that it lead the elderly participations from the private and semi-private areas. The semi-public area should be in a little distance from nursing station and provide with furniture sets for the elderly informal interactions.