• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.37-45
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• 2018

There are many advantages to unit-care welfare facilities' care services for the elderly in Japan. The field research was conducted after holding interviews with employees at five elderly welfare facilities in Japan. This research analyzes the space arrangement of unit-care welfare facilities in Japan's Tohoku rural area. The purpose of this study is to provide design data on the space arrangement of a unit-care facility for Korea. The results of research are as follows. 1. Cafes, restaurants, and stores were operated in the elderly welfare facilities, which were open to the general public as well. Therefore, local residents frequently visited. 2. The kitchen, living rooms, private bedrooms and construction of the elderly welfare facilities were similar to that of normal residential houses. 3. The event hall is conveniently located at the center of the facility. 4. It was easy to understand the health status of the elderly by having a health office in the open living room. 5. There were open spaces which are frequently used by the homebound elderly, including room rehabilitation, daycare and short term residence. The above results will be used for space planning data in Korean unit-care facilities.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.225-236
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• 1997

This study was conducted to investigate the elderly in urban and rural ares. The subjects were selected in a convenient sampling and the total number was 189(Urban : 95, Rur al : 94). The data were collected by one to one interviews in the period of Sep. 1-30, 1995(Koje) and March 15-28, 1997 (Taejon). The study tools for this study were 1) ADL and IADL 2) Self rating scores for health status. The data were analyzed by percentage, T-test, ANOVA, $X^2$ Test, Pearson correlation coefficiency by SPSS pc WIN. 7.0 program. The results were as follows: 1. The self rating score for health status of the elderly in urban area was lower than that of the rural when compared in the same age group. 2. In the comparison of ADL scores between the elderly in urban and rural areas, there was no statistically significant difference. The IADL score of the rural elderly were higher than that of the urban elderly and there was a statistically significant difference. 3. In the comparison of ADL & IADL scores according to the self rating score for health status, there was a statistically significant difference among health status levels.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1149-1179
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine the participation of rural elderly people in senior employment programs, their satisfaction level and needs in an effort to provide some information on the improvement of rural elderly people's quality of life. The findings of the study were as follows: First, the largest group of the rural elderly people investigated took part in senior employment programs for the public good. The biggest group engaged in activities for environmental improvement, and the greatest group participated in these programs to earn their livelihood. Second, they were most satisfied with their relationship with the working-level employees of the institutions that were in charge of these programs, and they were least contented with their own pay. Third, the rural elderly people perceived that in terms of senior education for employment, customized education should primarily be conducted in consideration of the differences and diversity of senior citizens, and they faced the most difficulty due to traffic while they participated in these programs. Given the findings of the study, it's required to take measures to bolster the self-support of rural elderly people.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.27 no.spc
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• pp.625-634
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• 2016

This study aims to verify the effect of the rural community living home use through an analysis of depression among the elderly women who live alone in the rural community living home. A survey was conducted from July to September 2015 through direct interviews with 236 elderly people who live alone in community living homes at 52 locations across the country. The main results of this study are as follows. First, social support from family/relatives and neighbors/friends was found not to affect depression in the elderly living in community living homes. Second, satisfaction with health status, economic status and life appeared to affect their depression. This indicates the need for various measures to increase the subjective satisfaction of health. Third, when the demographic characteristics, social support and personal satisfaction were controlled, the period of use, satisfaction with use and operational service/no service were proven to have an impact on depression in the elderly living alone in community living homes. In other words, since the level of satisfaction with community living homes is very high and this has a positive impact on the elderly living in community living homes, it is desirable to have an ongoing policy for the homes to be utilized as important welfare resources. Based on these findings, this study proposes improvements in the user experience and programs and services offered for rural community living home business programs.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.57-69
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of the physical health on health behaviors of the rural elderly. In this study, physical health is measured self-rated health and farmer symptoms. The specific questions addressed in this study are: What are the general tendencies of health behavior, self-rated health and farmer symptoms? What are the direct impacts and indirect impacts of respondents' characteristics, self-rated health and farmer symptoms on health behaviors of the rural elderly? For this purpose, survey data was gathered from 881 rural elderly who live in a village. The statistical methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics, correlations, and path analysis with spsswin 12.0 program. The major findings of this study are as follows: The level of health behaviors and self-rated health is low and the level of farmer symptoms is high. In general, it can be said that respondents of this study have the low level of physical health and health behaviors. A path analysis shows the relation of variables, which influence on health behaviors. Economic status, education status and farmer symptoms play direct and positive effects on health behaviors. Especially, the effect of farmer symptoms is more important than the others. Sex and age are indirectly significant on health behavior. The results obtained from the study confirm that objective physical health, like as farmer symptoms, plays important roles in health behavior of the rural elderly. It means that the Korean rural elderly need many facilities and services to promote their physical health.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.341-349
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• 2011

As elder abuse has become a social problem, it has drawn a great deal of attention from researchers and policy-planers. While there have been a number of studies addressing various issues related to elder abuse, the present study aims to explain whether and how the perception of elder abuse would differ among the elderly themselves. In particular, the study focuses on the differences between urban and rural areas. Family-centered culture is believed to have a stronger influence in rural areas compared to urban areas. This cultural tradition highlights the importancy of the family compared to the individuals. Thus, the elderly who experience abuse would take it as personal matter rather than publicizing it. In addition, the information and campaigns on preventing elder abuse are less prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas due to limited communication networks. For these reasons, the study suggests a hypothesis that the elderly in rural areas are less perceptive to elder abuse. Using 6,709 persons aged 65 and over from a nationwide survey conducted by the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2009, the study ran regression analysis on 4 types of elder abuse including psychological, financial, physical and neglect. The results show that regardless of types of abuse, the elderly in rural areas have lower levels of perception than the elderly in urban areas do. In addition, the frequency of social activities is positively related to the perception of elderly abuse. This is also true for the different types of elder abuse. The findings suggest that social effort to prevent elder abuse consider the urban-rural differences and their sources.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.80-93
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• 2006

This purpose was to explore various directions of elderly service welfare space in village community center. Data were collected 3 types that floor plans of village community centers from 24 villages, interview data of these centers use and needs from 24 aged leaders or 96 elderly. The results were as followed: 1) The floor plans of more than 50% was type IV that was composed a basic spaces(entrance, living room, two rooms, kitchen), a toilet space, a heating system space and a storage space. This type was a current basis of the rural village community centers for elderlies. 2) Elderlies used the centers at winter or out of agricultural season, and visited these to pass the time and to promote friendship among them. 3) Also they went these to take a meal together and to save down personal heating expenses. Their needs for centers were a temporary share dwelling space at winter, a maintain social relationship throughout a health, a education and a side work activity, supplying health or sports facilities, and setting up toilet space. Therefore the current centers were needed to add functions of a temporary share dwelling, a energy saving heat system and a social promoting relationship, and so these could be represented to a elderly welfare service center in rural villages.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.193-204
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• 2009

Although the majority of elderly are residentially stable, many western studies have recently reported that there has been a gradual growth of retirement migration. However, little is known about that in Korea. Therefore, this study intended to examine the trend and nature of elderly migration. For this purpose, inter- and intra-province migration among the aged 65 and over were analyzed, using the migration data of the Korea National Statistical Office, compiled from the 2000 and 2006 resident registration records. The results were as follows. First, there was an increase of elderly migrants to 531 thousand persons in 2006 from 383 thousand persons in 2000. Secondly, the migration rate of elderly has steadily grown with a 11.7% in 2000 and 12% in 2006. Also, the move of female among old population was active but this trend tended to decrease in 2006. Thirdly, the number of provinces which showed a positive net inter-province migration of old population increased from 7 provinces in 2000 to 8 provinces in 2006. Fourthly, we found that the destinations of elderly migrants were mostly neighboring province except the Chungnam, Jeonbuk, and Jeju. These results suggested that elderly migration would be expected to increase gradually and be important in the future of Korea.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 2017

Background: South Korea is one of fastest aging countries in the world. Poor balance and falls of the elderly are main health issues. Objects: The goal of this study was to understand the association between the socioeconomical factors and the standing balance of elderly living in the rural and urban area. Methods: One hundred sixty-six elderly participants who were older than 65 and were able to walk without an assistive device were recruited in the city of Gwangju and in the rural area of Jeonnam, South Korea. All participants performed the static and dynamic standing balance tests. Static standing balance was measured with chronometer in seconds while standing on one leg. Dynamic balance was tested with the timed up and go test (TUG), measured in seconds while getting up from a chair and walking 3 meters and back to sit. The static and dynamic standing balance was analyzed using analysis of variance and the Fisher's Least Significant Difference post hoc test. Results: Male participants from both areas had no difference in one leg standing and TUG. The female elderly living in rural area took shorter in TUG than females living in urban area. Age decreased the one leg standing time in both areas while did not affect the TUG significantly. As the monthly income increased, both of one leg standing and TUG increased in urban area, while the medium monthly income showed best performance (it was not statistically significant) in both of one leg standing and TUG in rural area. Conclusion: Socioeconomical factors affects differently the standing balance of the elderly living in rural and urban South Korea. Female living alone in urban area with low monthly income demonstrated worst standing balance in this study.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.355-365
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• 2019

Objectives: In rural areas of Korea, where public transportation infrastructure is lacking and alternative systems are poor, the elderly experience inconveniences in using healthcare, although their need is high. This study aimed to analyze the association between the convenience of transportation and unmet healthcare needs among the rural elderly. Methods: The data used were collected in the 2016 Community Health Survey among rural elderly individuals aged 65 or older. Dependent variable was the unmet healthcare needs, explanatory variable was the convenience of transportation. The elderly were divided into 3 groups: with no driver in the household, with a driver, and the elderly individual was the driver (the self-driving group). Covariates were classified into predisposing, enabling, and need factors. They included gender, age, education, income, economic activity, household type, motor ability, subjective health level, number of chronic diseases, anxiety/depression, and pain/discomfort. The data were analyzed using logistic regression and stratification. Results: A significant association was found between the convenience of transportation and unmet healthcare needs. When examined unadjusted odds ratio of the group with a driver in the household, using the group with no driver as a reference, was 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54 to 0.68), while that of the self-driving group was 0.34 (95% CI, 0.30 to 0.38). The odds ratios adjusted for all factors were 0.69 (95% CI, 0.59 to 0.80) and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.67 to 0.91). Conclusions: We confirmed a significant association between inconvenient transportation and unmet healthcare needs among the rural elderly even after adjustment for existing known factors. This implies that policies aimed at improving healthcare accessibility must consider the means of transportation available.