• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.277-288
• /
• 2015

Purpose: As the rate of senior citizens living alone increases in the current aging society, there is much concern regarding the health and nutritional intake of solitary senior citizens. Therefore, this study compared the nutritional intake of senior citizens according to their family type. Methods: In July and August of 2011, two senior citizen welfare centers in Seoul were visited to survey 267 elderly women. Excluding 54 subjects for which the data were incomplete, information from 213 subjects was analyzed. The subjects were divided into three family types, living alone (LA, n = 74), living with spouse (LS, n = 78), and living with children (LC, n = 61). Results: The mean age of the LA group was the highest, while the mean age of the LS group was the lowest (p < 0.001), and WHR of the LC group was the highest (p = 0.049). Income was the highest in the LS group (p < 0.001). Frequency of eating out was the lowest in the LA group (p = 0.031). By Duncan's multiple analysis, the amounts of energy intake, vegetable protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, Vit D, Vit E, $Vit\;B_2$, niacin, $Vit\;B_6$, $Vit\;B_{12}$, and cholesterol were significantly higher in the LS group compared with the LA or LC group (p < 0.05). The intakes of calcium, Vit D, $Vit\;B_{12}$, and cholesterol were still significantly different among the three groups, even after adjustment for age and monthly income. The LA group ate less fruit and fish than the LS or LC group (p < 0.05). The LA group showed the lowest dietary diversity and the LS group showed the highest diversity (p = 0.014), however, the significance of dietary diversity score among the three groups disappeared after adjustment for age and monthly income. Conclusion: Elderly women living with spouse were receiving better nutrition than elderly women living alone or living with children. Therefore, solitary elderly women who do not live with their spouse or children should be offered greater opportunities to receive a balanced meal at a congregational kitchen or welfare center. To ensure their healthy diet, it is essential to provide continuous nutrition education with these groups in mind.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.509-519
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude toward own aging among community-residing elderly and the predictors of the attitude focusing on personal resources, social support, and social participation. Data were collected from 198 elders aged 60+ with the cooperation of several social service center for the aged, senior centers, and senior citizen associations in Daejeon Metropolitan City. SPSS 22.0 software was used for descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that (1) the research participant elderly's attitude toward own aging indicated fairly negative perception of their own aging; (2) self-esteem and economic status were statistically significant factors indicating the higher levels of self-esteem and economic status predicting the positive attitude of their own aging; (3) emotional support from family was statistically significant factor that predicted the positive attitude of their own aging; (4) the level of social participation was also statistically significantly associated with the positive attitude; (5) In the full model of all independent variables, the significance of emotional support from family and social participation disappeared, but self-esteem and economic status among personal resources remained statistically significant influential factors. Based on the findings, suggestions for social welfare policy and practice to improve community-residing elderly's positive attitude toward their own aging were discussed.

• Industry Promotion Research
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.89-98
• /
• 2020

This study is to find ways to build economic participation for the elderly through job projects to help the elderly live a pleasant life. The results of this study are as follows. First, the relevant laws must be overhauled. To this end, jobs targeting the elderly should be selected first, and legal procedures should be prepared in the government. Second, they should extend the retirement age and support senior employment businesses. The extension of the retirement age believes that a resumption of the wage structure is inevitable in order to increase employment for senior citizens. It is also desirable to implement policies such as giving tax benefits to companies that employ older people more than a certain percentage of them. Third, there should be self-help efforts by the elderly. Three factors are essential to keep the work of old age pleasant and faithful. In other words, it is important to always learn new knowledge and hone one's ability in order to do a rewarding job of living without health and some economic stability. In conclusion, measures to establish economic participation for the elderly through the work-seeker project will require, among other things, a sufficient extension of the retirement age to allow the elderly to engage in their jobs, while overhauling the system, including legal maintenance.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.85-102
• /
• 1982

The current employment status among young home economists and perspectives in occupations for prospective Home Economics graduates were explored in this study which utilized information from 17 to 21 colleges in Korea and colleges in the United States during the five years of 1977∼1981. The Home Economics content areas covered in this study were Clothing and Textiles, Foods and Nutrition, Housing and Interior Design, and Child Development and Family Life. The highest percentage of Korean graduates in Clothing and Textiles was employed either as teachers at the junior high school level or as designers in the clothing and textile industries. Quite a number of the graduates were engaged in further studies at the graduate level. Korean graduates with a master's degree were teaching at the college level and some had furthered their studies at the doctorate level either here or abroad. Koreans with a bachelor's degree in Foods and Nutrition held jobs as teachers in junior high school, dieticians at mass feeding institutions and hospitals, food scientists in food industries, and researchers in institutions. Those with a master's degree were teaching at the college level. Americans with a bachelor's degree worked as dieticians, supervisors in restaurants and institutions, extension workers, researchers at various facilities, teachers and clerks. Americans with a master's or doctorate degree were engaged in teaching at colleges or supervising at research or working as extension specialists. In general, Korean graduates were found to hold positions in less varied areas than their American counter-parts. Among forty-nine graduates those working in their professional field reported less sex discrimination that those working in other fields. The major area of employment in Housing and Interior Design or Home Management graduates in Korea was teaching while in the United States it was extension work, business, governmental work and teaching. It was suggested that in the future, career development in Korea be further explored to include extension service, research, social welfare, financial planning, business, free-lancing, funeral home, home-call, and correctional education. Interviews with executives from 6 business enterprises indicated that most of them were aware of the potential contribution home economists could make for their companies but they expressed a negative attitude towards women in general due to their short stay on the job. Jobs held by Child Development and Family Life majors with a bachelor's degree in Korea were mostly teaching positions in public, junior and senior high school. However, jobs such as nursery school teaching, working in clinical setting, business, and teaching at public, junior and senior high school predominated in the United states. Most Korean graduates with a master's degree were teaching in professional colleges while in the United Stated the job variation among the graduates was rather evenly distributed among teaching at college level, public and high school, nursery school and administration areas. Reports from 7 child development majors on the job indicated that they were paid less that secretarial workers. Only half of them were working in their major area and these expressed satisfaction with their work. Two thirds of the respondents indicated no sex discrimination. It was suggested that in the future Child Development and Family Life majors pursue employment in counseling, guidance, recreation, mass media, administration and outreach work as well as education, research and parent education in services for children, teen-agers, adults and families.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.467-480
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender difference of community-residing elderly's life satisfaction and influential factors. Data were collected from 461 elders aged 60+ with the cooperation of several social service center for the aged, senior centers, and senior citizen associations in Daejeon Metropolitan City and Chungcheongnam-do(Cheonan-si and Okcheon-gun). SPSS 22.0 software was used for t-test and cross tabulation analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed there was statistically significant difference of elderly's life satisfaction by gender in multivariate analysis including sociodemographic factors, social network and relationship with children variables, but no difference in bivariate analysis. There was also significant difference in the factors affecting community-residing elderly's life satisfaction by gender. A few factors like friend support, number of regular social gatherings, and subjective health status were statistically significant in predicting male elderly's life satisfaction. Predictors of female elderly's life satisfaction which were perceived elderly parent-children conflict, friend support, monthly income, subjective health status, support to children, support from children were more diverse, compared to the predictors for male elderly's life satisfaction. Based on the findings, suggestions for social welfare policy and practice to improve community-residing elderly's life satisfaction considering the gender difference were discussed.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.16 no.7
• /
• pp.63-69
• /
• 2018

This study is to examine the determinants of the elderly poverty by using the Decision-tree analysis. In line with this perspective, this study includes individual characteristics, family characteristics, working characteristics, and periodic income characteristics after retirement as determinants for senior poverty. The study uses data from the Korean Retirement and Income Study based on panel survey and employs the Decision-tree analysis to explain the causes of the elderly poverty. As the result of analysis, earned wage has the greatest effect on the elderly poverty. Depending on status of the earned wage, there are 2 different variable groups. One with no earned wage includes public pension, education, and residence, paid employee and gender in the other with earned wage. Based on the analytical results, the study suggests measures to address the elderly poverty.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.19 no.8
• /
• pp.525-534
• /
• 2019

Korea is facing one of the fastest aging population problems in the world due to the extension of life expectancy and low birth rates due to economic development and the development of health care. It has become difficult to take care of elderly people in need of long-term care at home, and social problems such as dementia and the increase in stroke cases are serious problems. The government is enacting and implementing the Long-Term Care Insurance Act for the purpose of improving the quality of life for senior citizens subject to long-term care and alleviating the burden of family support in order to solve such social structure and problems for senior citizens. However, as a result of the implementation of the long-term care insurance system for the elderly, the privatization of the facilities and the disorder are causing widespread requests for public accountability of the services and the enhancement of the quality of the facilities. In addition, various arrangements are needed for the production of low-wage medical care workers, tasks for quality improvement, problems regarding financing methods, and so on. In order to maintain and develop the long-term care insurance system for the elderly, the government will consider seeking ways to improve the legal and institutional aspects according to changes in the social environment of the age, as well as seeking mental and psychological measures for the stabilization of old life as well as physical health.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.73-88
• /
• 2019

This research was conducted to compare the rhythm reproduction abilities between older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and analyze the abilities depending on the rhythm idiom. Participants between 60-85 years of age were recruited from senior community centers, dementia prevention centers, and senior welfare centers. A total of 57 participants were included in this study: 27 diagnosed with MCI and 30 healthy older adults (HOA). The experiment was conducted individually in a private room in which a participant was given random binary time rhythm idioms and instructed to reproduce the rhythmic idioms with finger tapping. Each participant's beat production was recorded with the Beat Processing Device (BPD) for iPad. BPD calculated rhythm reproduction as measured through rhythm ratio and error among beats. Results showed marginal differences between the two groups in terms of mean scores of rhythm reproduction abilities. In terms of the rhythm ratio among beats, both groups' highest rhythm reproduction rate was for <♩ ♩>, and their lowest reproduction rate was for <♩. ♪>. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in rhythm reproduction ability between the HOA and MCI groups. However, the study found an interesting result related to performance level of rhythmic idioms. This result provides therapeutic insight for formulating rhythm tasks for older adults.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.445-459
• /
• 2022

This study presented a plan to improve the life satisfaction and leisure status of the elderly in the With COVID-19 era, and the life satisfaction of the elderly. For this purpose, we investigated life satisfaction and leisure life for 107 senior citizens at the Gyeonggi Senior Welfare Center, and the following results were obtained. First, it can be seen that overall life satisfaction was relatively lower after Corona than before. Second, in the correlation between leisure activity and life satisfaction, there was no significant correlation between the level of leisure activity and life satisfaction before Corona, and a significant positive correlation was found between the level of leisure activity and life satisfaction after Corona. seemed If alternative measures are proposed according to these results, first, it is necessary to seek ways to improve and manage the environment for the elderly in the with Corona era in the local community. In particular, in order to reduce the adaptation gap among the elderly due to the many changes in digital technology, institutions related to the elderly are providing education on how to use smartphones and kiosks, but it needs to be expanded as a community-wide measure. Second, a systematic system for health care for the elderly in the era of With Corona must be provided. Third, the old-age income security system and support are required so that the minimum living security is guaranteed for the elderly who are experiencing economic difficulties due to the corona virus. Fourth, it is necessary to revitalize programs related to talking to the elderly and counseling for the improvement of relationships and location satisfaction due to social distance and relationship atrophy due to Corona.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.359-377
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine the direction of the elderly theatre by analyzing an example of the elderly theatre program which is attempted in a way of the welfare of senior citizens in terms of cultural support. To this end, the 'Hoechun Circus' composed of elderly women in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, was investigated and analyzed. Research methods uses a case study, performance theory, and peer review strategies to increase the validity of the study. The results of the study are as follows: Firstly, the elderly women intended to communicate with children and adolescents through performance; Secondly, they wanted to communicate with other physically uncomfortable elderly people; Thirdly, they also attempted to communicate with young or middle-aged as well as all residents; Fourthly, they experienced a new genre of theatre to identify themselves in a different ways and enhance their sense of accomplishment and spent their old age pleasantly and informally. Based on these findings, the following suggestions were made. First, we should expand the theatre programs of senior citizens which benchmark the 'Hoechun Circus'. Second, various cases of elderly theater should be studied and policy research to support such elderly theatre is necessary. Besides, educational courses to train elderly theatre experts should also be developed. Third, it should also seek ways for the program to move beyond regional limits and interact with organizations at home and abroad. Fourth, there is room to explore new ways in the field of theater therapy, and the development of sociodrama or psychodrama programs can be an alternative.