• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.649-660
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to compare the dietary life and nutrient intakes among elderly persons residing at nursing homes and their homes in order to provide fundamental data for improved foodservice and dietary management. We recruited 150 subjects at a nursing home stay and 150 home stay elderly persons for a survey. The results were as follows. There was no significant difference in frequency of napping between the two groups. The frequency of going out was higher in the home stay subjects, but regular exercise was higher in nursing home stay subjects. Subjects possessed the following diseases: dementia and digestive disorders for nursing home stay elderly men, blood vessel disorder and diabetes for home stay elderly men, digestive and blood vessel disorders for nursing home stay elderly women, and blood vessel and heart disease for home stay elderly women. In a health-related assessment, smoking, drinking, and teeth condition of nursing home stay subjects were not higher than those of home stay subjects. The ratio of subjects who ate meals everyday was higher in nursing home stay elderly women than in home stay women. While most nursing home subjects ate adequate amount of meals, home stay subjects ate until they were full. The daily energy intakes of men and women were 2,229.9 kcal and 2,302.1 kcal for nursing home subjects and 1,894.0 kcal and 1,885.9 kcal for home subjects, respectively. Nutrient intake was also higher in nursing home than home stay subjects. In summary, the dietary life of elderly persons residing in a nursing home was higher than that of elderly persons residing at their home from the view point of meal frequency, meal intake, and nutrient intakes. Therefore, systematic assessment and management of nutrition for elderly staying at a nursing home or at home alone should be conducted continually.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.120-126
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• 2010

Purpose: The study sought to identify the differences in chronic diseases and physical activity in elderly women by BMI. Method: The subjects of this study were 644 elderly women 60-80-years-of-age living at home. The research instruments were physical activity levels and chronic diseases. Subjects were given a self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS win program. Result: Hypertension, prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hyperlipemia were significantly different in the subjects according to body mass index, being higher in obese subjects than in non-obese subjects. Physical activity in each of the body mass index groups did not differ significantly. Conclusion: Obesity increases the risk of chronic diseases. This knowledge could help elderly women control their weight, reduce chronic diseases, and ultimately, gain better health.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2012

Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate the needs for wound care services in the elderly care institutions by analyzing hospital-based home care nursing in select facilities in Korea. Methods: A total of 92 staffs at the elderly care institutions, located throughout the country, completed self-report questionnaires between February 1 and November 31, 2009. SPSS ver. 17.0 was used for data analysis, regarding frequency and chi square. The 5% level of significance was the critical level for acceptance of the study's hypotheses. Results: Results were as follows; group A and group B were rated as 'high' and 'very high', respectively, in care of simple pressure ulcer, care of complicated pressure ulcer, stitch out, care of simple surgical wound, ostomy care, complicated ostomy care, simple dressing and complicated dressing. Conclusion: Political decisions intended to promote visits by hospital- based home care nurses to the elderly care institutions would be a prudent course.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.5-23
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• 2002

Purpose: To determine the effect of the Fall Prevention Program(EPP) on gait, balance and muscle strength in elderly women at a nursing home. Method: The subjects of this consisted of 38 elderly women between the ages of 70 to 89 years living at a nursing home located in Seoul. Each of the experimental group and control group was composed of 19 subjects. The subjects in experimental group have participated in FPP for the 8 weeks which consisted of exercise, education and foot care. They started to exercise for 40 minutes per session, 3 sessions a week during the 1st week at 40% of age adjusted maximum heart rate. From the 2nd week to the 4th week, they increased the duration of exercise to 50 minutes per session and the intensity to 60% of age-adjusted maximum heart rate. They participated in 50 minutes at 60% of age-adjusted maximum heart rate from the 5th week to the 8th week. Each exercise session consisted of 10 minutes of warming-up exercise, 30 minutes of conditioning exercise and 10 minutes of cooling-down exercise. They participated in education for 20 minutes per week from the 1st week to the 4th week. Then they participated in a 30-minute foot care program per week from the 5th week to the 8th week. Gait, balance and muscle strength for each subject were measured before and after FPP. Gait was evaluated by step length, step width, gait speed and walking distance. Balance was measured by the duration of standing on one leg with their eyes closed and open each, and a get-up and go test. Grip strength was measured by hand dynamometer. Hip extensor and flexor strength, knee extensor and flexor strength and ankle plantarflexor and dorsiflexor strength were measured by manual muscle tester. Data was analyzed using SPSS form Windows. t-test and Chi square test were utilized as a homogeneity test. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to test the effect of FPP. Result: 1) Step width significantly decreased, and step length, gait speed and walking distance significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group after FPP(p<0.005). 2) There was no significant change in standing time on one leg with their eyes closed after FPP. The standing time on leg with their eyes open and the time of "get-up and go" significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group after FPP(p<0.005). 3) Muscle strength-grip strength, hip extensor and flexor strength-significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group after FPP(p<0.005). 4) There was no significant difference of frequency of fall between the experimental group and control group during the period of FPP. Conclusion: These results suggest that FPP can increase gait, balance and muscle strength of elderly women at a nursing home.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.651-662
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a sleep improvement program combined with an aroma-necklace on sleep, depression, anxiety, and blood pressure in elderly women living at home. Methods: A program consisting of a four-week (one hour per week) sleep improvement intervention plus use of an aroma-necklace, was developed based on Cox's Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior. 70 elderly women were assigned to the experimental (n=35) or control group with no intervention (n=35). Data from 62 participants (32 in the experimental and 30 in the control) were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 program. Women in the experimental group were instructed to constantly wear the aroma necklace filled with marjoram and orange oil until the program was completed. Sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and blood pressure were measured to identify the effectiveness of the program. Results: Significant group differences were found in sleep quality (t=-5.10, p<.001), sleep duration (z=-3.10, p=.002), sleep satisfaction (z=-4.13, p=<.001), depression (t=2.53, p=.015), and anxiety (z=-2.47, p=.014). No differences were found in the systolic or diastolic blood pressure. Conclusion: The results indicate that a sleep improvement program combined with an aroma-necklace was effective in improving sleep disturbances in elderly women living at home. Nurses may contribute to improving sleep among elderly women by applying this program to aged women living in various environments.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.232-250
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was designed to define the roles, tasks, and activities of home visiting nurses aimed at enhancing the quality of nursing care under the long-term care insurance regulation for the elderly introduced on July 1, 2008 in Korea. Methods: A review of domestic and foreign literature was used to formulate the proposed roles, tasks, and activities of visiting nurses, which were subsequently modified and complemented by the agreement of home visiting nurse experts and acceptance of 127 nurses. Data was collected from 04 June - 17 September 2008 and analyzed concerning frequency and percentile using SPSS ver. 15.0. Results: The established functions of home visiting nurses were direct nursing service provider, case manager, patient educator, decision maker, care coordinator, and research worker. These functions involved 27 different tasks and 167 activities. Conclusion: The roles, tasks, and activities of visiting nurses, established based upon the guidelines of the Long-term Care Insurance Act for the elderly, were verified for their applicability by nurses involved in home care delivery. These parameters will provide a useful tool in developing an assessment to enhance the quality of home-based care for the elderly in Korea.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.409-419
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of foot reflexology on sleep, depression and skin temperature of the female elderly at home. Methods: This research used the non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 45 elders residing at home: 23 in the experimental group and 22 in the control group. The experimental group received 30-minute foot reflexology 8 times for 2 weeks. The results were analyzed using ${\chi}^2$ test, t-test with the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. Results: The results showed that foot reflexology was significantly effective in improving the quality of sleep, reducing depression, and raising the temperature of both feet. However, the temperature of both palms was not statistically significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that foot reflexology is an effective nursing intervention in improving the quality of sleep, reducing depression, and raising the temperature of both feet. Therefore, it is recommended to use foot reflexology as a complementary nursing intervention for elderly women at home in community.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.285-301
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• 2010

Purpose: The study was aimed at qualitatively enhancing and promoting a home visiting nursing program established in Korea on July 1, 2008, as part of the Long-Term Care Insurance for the Elderly program. Methods: Structural, procedural and consequential aspects of home visiting nursing care wereclassified on the horizontal axis by applying the standard notions for the evaluation of medical care (Donabedian, 1998). At the same time, the home visiting nursing care service support system and the service provision system weredivided on the vertical axis with reference to the accreditation standards for home visiting nursing care organizations suggested by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO, 2008). The data were collected from June 4, 2008 to October 27, 2008, and were analyzed using SPSS ver. 15.0. Results: Twenty-two (proposed) standards, centered on the standard elements under the conceptual framework of the study, were developed, and comprised structural aspects (n=10), procedural aspects (n=6) and consequential aspects (n=6). Those criteria and indicators underwent two content validity surveys among groups of home visiting nursing care research and training experts. The research produced 22 proposed standards, 50 proposed criteria and 166 proposed indicators. Conclusion: The home visiting nursing care standards developed pursuant to the Long-Term Care Insurance for the Elderly Act and the applicability of these standards need to be verified by home visiting nurses. These proposed standards should prove useful in developing an assessment tool to encourage the qualitative enhancement of visiting nursing care in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.125-145
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• 1994

The objectives of this study were to characterize the health status, the requirement of home nursing care, and dependency of daily life of the elderly so that the result could be used to provide basic data necessary for establishing home nursing care practices. The study subjects were 249 elders over 65 years old who resided at home in low income areas of three districts in Pusan. The field survey was conducted from December 27, 1993 through January 27, 1994, with a structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done by X²-test and Student's T-test using SPSS/PC/sup +/ program. The result were as follows; 1. Alcohol drinking rate was 50.0% for men and 27.7% for women, and cigarette smoking rate was 77.8% for men and 27.1% for women. 92.9% of elders aged 65-75 exercised regularly as compared to 81.9% of elders aged 75 and over(p<0.05). 2. 63.9% of male and 85.9% of female elders had chronic diseases showing singnificant differences(p<0.01), and both sexes had 1.7 kinds of chronic diseases in average; musculoskeletal diseases were the most common in 25.7%, while 6.8% of the elderly had cardiovascular diseases. 3. Partially movable elderly was 6.9% for men and 6.8% for woman, showing 47.1% of causes being cerebrovascular accidents. 4. The home nursing requirement was the highest for medication(66.3%), intramuscular injection(53.8%), and measurement of blood pressure·body·temperature·pulse rate(47.0%). 5. Among Physical Activities of Daily Life, bathing(10.4%) and movement(4.0%) showed high dependency rates, and among Instrumental Activities of Daily Life, phone calling(25.3%), shopping(24.5%), going out by bus(22.5%) showed high dependency rates. 6. For five categories of home nursing showing high requirements such as physical health examination, blood pressure·temperature·pulas rate measurements, medication, and intravascular injection, the requirements were different by age groups, education, and marital status(p<0.05).

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the effects of Tai Chi exercise on physical fitness and quality of life (QOL) in elderly women. Methods: This study was designed as a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group pre-post test design. The subjects were elderly women over 60 years old who enrolled senior citizen centers and elderly welfare center. Thirty-three people were conveniently assigned to an experimental group (n=15) or a control group (n=18). The data were collected from September 2009 to May 2010. The experimental group was trained Tai Chi exercise for 8 weeks (one hour Tai Chi classes twice a week and once a week by themselves at home). Data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test, ${\chi}^2$-test and independent t-test. Results: The experimental group experienced significant improvements in flexibility. The experimental group experienced significant improvements in physical component summary (p=.017) and mental component summary (p=.027) of QOL. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise can be used as a nursing intervention for improvement of physical fitness and QOL in elderly women.