• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.182-187
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• 2018

As the elderly population increases, they are increasingly affected by oral health problems. Therefore, efforts are being made to improve the oral health of older people, alleviate mental discomfort, and reduce unmet dental needs. This study was conducted to confirm the relationship between the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage and the unmet dental need for the edentulous elderly, as part of the protection policy. We analyzed the 2011 and 2013 Community Health Survey data of the edentulous elderly, aged 75 years or older, before 2012. In order to more precisely confirm the effects of the denture donation policy on unmet dental care, basic life recipients who were subject to the free elderly prosthetic project were excluded from the analysis. The final analysis included 20,400 subjects. According to our investigation of the factors that affect the unmet dental needs of the elderly, the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage did not affect unmet dental needs. The statistically significant variables that affected the unmet dental needs of the elderly were education and income levels, which are representative socioeconomic status variables. The lower the level of education, the unhealthier the dental care experience, and income levels showed a similar tendency. The elderly who have a low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience unmet dental needs because they lack the knowledge and socioeconomic ability to pay for dental care. Therefore, the policy for health protection of the entire elderly population should be continuously expanded. In addition, the socioeconomically vulnerable groups may have health problems due to the restriction of medical use, which may lead to quality of life deterioration.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.19-28
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study to assess long-term care facilities in Seoul and certificate Seoul-type elderly care facilities. After certification, Seoul city can provide certificated facilities with budget and support to improve service quality. Methods: Questionnaires to elderly care facilities experts and field surveys to facilities in Seoul have been conducted for the data collection. Results: The result of this study can be summarized into three points. The first one is that a direction of operation for Seoul-type elderly care facilities is to improve manpower and provide special program for enforcing quality assurance. The second one is that this study provide index of evaluation for Seoul-type elderly care facilities. The indexes include management, facility environment and safety, service delivery process, and service results. The third one is that management plan for this policy should be carried out. The management plan include demonstration project, opinion research. Implications: Seoul-type elderly care facilities can have positive effects on quality of service. For the introduction of this policy, Seoul city and autonomous Gu have to make careful preparations for this policy.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.61-75
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• 2012

Objectives: A great number of the elderly are not aware of having metabolic syndrome, and this pattern differs among regions of the nation. This issue is particularly important for the elderly people with chronic diseases. This study was conducted in order to identify the prevalence, predicting factors of perception and exercise behaviors of among the elderly population. Methods: Using data from the 2009 Korean Community Health Survey, we employed two-level logistic regression models to determine whether individual and community factors are associated with perception and exercise behaviors among the elderly population. Results: Results from weighted two-level logistic regression analyses indicated the individual-level factors of smoking, education level, health center education, community exercise program participation and unmet needs in men, and marital status (being separated), health center education women predicted the elders' perception. As for the community-level predictors, higher smoking and living in regions with high suicide rates significantly predicted the elders' perception and exercise behaviors of metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that education according to stage would increase the perception and motivation toward healthier behavior particularly for the elderly with lower perception levels of metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.193-212
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• 2010

The pre-elderly approaching old age in our society confront having a harsh economic status. The main purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing the preparation of the pre-elderly for overcoming this status. In particular, it focused on financially stable pre-elderly persons. The data from the 2008 Chungcheongnam-do Welfare Plan for Five Years collected by the Chungnam Women's Policy Development Institute was used to analyze the research questions. The participants in this study included 735 persons (ages 55-64) living in Chungcheongnam-do. Five hundred and eighty-one self-reported questionnaires were used for the final analysis using SAS, version 9.1. This study attempted to identify the important variables needed to find the factors related to socio-demographic and economic characteristics, the adult-child relationship, the preparation plan for old age, etc. The results showed that job and health status were key to preparation for financial stability among the elderly. Another finding was the importance of concrete financial planning for the elderly; that is to say, the pre-elderly who made more concrete plans than indefinite ones were likely to belong to stable households. Another significant finding was that it is important to consider both objective and subjective factors for the financial preparation of the elderly. These results should serve as reference data for the future welfare policy for the elderly, because the financial independence of the elderly will be vital for a healthy relationship between new and old generations.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.162-175
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between social support, psychosocial factors, and health behaviors of old adults in korean society. Methods: The data which was used in this study was extracted from the second wave of the Korean longitudinal study of aging in 2008. A total of 3,978 elderly aged 65 years or older were included in this study. We conducted $X^2$-test, t-test for the elderly health behavior in accordance with their social support and psychosocial factors. Also, multivariate logistic regressive analysis was performed in order to find how degree social support and psychosocial factors are associated with health behavior after adjusting sex, age, smoking (alcohol drinking), and other significant variables. The data was processed by SAS ver. 9.1 and Stata SE ver. 11. Results: Social support in older adults was significantly associated with lower smoking, alcohol drinking, exercise, and eating habit. Also, psychosocial factors were positively associated with smoking, alcohol drinking, regular exercise, and eating habit. Conclusion: health behaviors of old adults are likely to be vulnerable to social support and psychosocial factors. To increase effectiveness of the health policy for the elderly in Korea, it is important to adapt new strategy to include the empowerment of elderly's social networks, policy support to enhance subjective expectation, and life satisfaction.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.407-419
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate the recognition on the national health insurance and the actual condition of denture among the elderly in Seoul city. This survey was performed on 710 of the elderly aged over 60 years and visited the senior welfare centers. The recognition of the elderly on the national health insurance of denture was 61.7%, but there was a low recognition on the details. The elderly had started using dentures from 66.24 years old. The average used period of the past denture was 7.09 years. In conclusions, the provider is required to promote the insurance coverage of denture to increase the coefficient of utilization of the elderly. Also, further studies for the extending coverage of the details are needed.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.39-46
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• 2003

There are three main purposes in this study. First, we project the number of elderly dementia population in the future based on the projection of the elderly population in the Kyungpook area. Second, the demands of home-based care service and facility-based care for the elderly dementia are estimated. Thirdly, some policy implications for the improvement of welfare services for the elderly dementia are addressed. The findings of this study are as follows. Considering the size of the elderly dementia population, facilities for the elderly dementia are extremely insufficient and most of the elderly dementia patients rely heavily on home-based care. Although we expect that there will be a rapid increase in the number of the elderly dementia in the next two decades, the social welfare services for them in the future are very unreliable. Home nursing for the demented elderly needs to be recognized by law and financed by the government. In this context, we address some issues regarding the rapid growth of the elderly dementia population in the future and social welfare services for them as well. Finally we suggest some policy implications regarding this matter.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.953-975
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• 1999

The purpose of this document is to provide the direction of the policy for welfare of the elderly, by identifying the problems and status of the welfare service for the elderly. The primary source of degrading the living standard of the elderly is the increase of the elderly population and life longevity. The Welfare service for the elderly to enhance the poor living level of the elderly population should be established, to compensate their former economic and social contribution in the society and also to promote the basic human right. The agenda to achieve this goal sums up like these : First, the basic living of the unhealthy elderly belonging to the low-income group, such as government-provided income and medical service should be provided. Second, for those with working ability, more opportunity for working and social activities should be given, focusing on expanding the employment rather than adding income. Third, for those with middle and high income, silver industry and pastime activities should be nurtured. Lastly, rather than institutional protection for the elderly, the welfare service for those staying home should be enforced, thus naturally leading to the family support for the elderly. There cannot be a sound policy for welfare and improvement of living standard ignoring the Well-being of the elderly population. The effort to better the welfare for the minority groups who compose the base of the social base will, eventually, result in the progress of the entire society.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to find out how voice recognition technology can be utilized to solve the elderly problem rapidly aging in Korea. Public support services and civilian nursing services for the elderly are expected to expand in Korea. In this case, voice recognition technology can be used variously for the elderly who are not familiar with the media interface. To this end, our researchers visited Japan and examined the achievements obtained by voice recognition technology in the elderly care. Especially, when caregivers write reports, they have greatly reduced their working hours by replacing the handwritten reports with ones using voice recognition technology. This method can be easily implemented in Korea. In addition, the social cost of the elderly support can be gradually reduced through the development of a robot equipped with voice recognition technology. Consequently, we realize that when voice recognition technology is combined with artificial intelligence programs of various emotion recognition functions and various policy possibilities as well.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.5-22
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• 2004

The notion of independence is currently a focal point in public discourses in relation to the elderly. In most countries, the promotion of independence, not the alleviation of dependence, has been addressed as a priority goal in the formulation of social policies for the elderly and the term of independence is used in policy documents as if it were unproblematic. In most cases, policy documents do not offer a clear definition of independence, but generally the term is interpreted as self-sufficiency and health. Accordingly, in order to promote independence of the elderly, concrete strategies such as employment, social activities, participation, direct payments are being introduced in many advanced countries. This study critically reviews these discourses and strategies, and attempts at developing an understanding of how independence and dependence is constructed in contemporary social policies for the elderly. It is our critical point that we explores the meaning of the independence and dependence from the perspective of the elderly. Findings of this study are as follows: The elderly participated in this study tended to construct the meaning of 'independence' as privacy, self-esteem, autonomy and freedom. They also tended to perceive and interpret, from their perspective, the 'dependence' as a natural law and process, affection among human beings, reward and fruit of their lives, social justice and social responsibility. In this sense current policies for the elderly have not fully reflected the perspective of the elderly. Therefore, it is argued what is important in policy formulations for the elderly is to make efforts to reflect the perspective of the elderly on policy-makings for the elderly in terms of independence and dependence.