• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.165-180
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• 2003

The number of the functionally disabled elderly has been increasing in Korea and their families should have been in charge of supporting and taking care of them. This study was designed to grope for devices which were helpful to improve the psychological welfare of the functionally disabled elderly in the present situation. The results of this study were as follows: First, considering the level of psychological welfare of the functionally disabled elderly, the depression degree of the subjects was 52.9 which was higher than the middle point, 50. And the degree of family support the functionally disabled elderly were aware of, it also was high ; the score was 34.6 compared to the middle point, 33. On the other hand, the degree of public support that the functionally disabled elderly received was 2.01 which was lower than the middle point, 4.5. Second, the level of the depression of the functionally disabled elderly followed by background variables, the degree of agreement with family support, and public support represented significant differences among group according to religion, the type of previous occupation, the ownership of house, the type of residence, the presence of spouse, education level, and the source of income. Third, the relative influence toward the depression of the functionally disabled elderly was shown in the order of importance as follows: family support, the degree of functional disability, the ownership of house, public support, the presence of spouse, the source of income, the number of daughters, the degree of functional disablity.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.749-758
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• 2001

The purpose of the study was to analyze the functional status of low income elderly living at home according to their socio-economic factors, sensory function, health status, medical service utilization, commodity and types of chronic disease. Method: Functional status was defined by the level of mobility, ADL and IADL categorized as independently functional, mildly impaired, moderately disabled, and severely disabled. The data was collected by home-visit interviews with 567 community dwelling adults who were 65 years of age or more with low a income status subsidized by government in ChonAn. Results: 9.9% of community dwelling older adults were severely disabled, and 44.4% were moderately disabled in their functional status. There were significant differences in the functional status by age, education, religion, and types of family structure. The older adults with hearing impairment or dental problems had a significantly higher rate of severe disability. Self-rated health status and medical service utilization were also significant factors to the differences in functional status. The functional status of older adults was also significantly related to the presence of chronic health problems such as chronic back pain, stroke, and Alzheimer-dementia. Conclusion: The results confirmed that community dwelling older adults with low income status were more functionally disabled in comparison to general older adults at national level, while the relating factors to their functional status seemed similar to other studies on older adults. Further studies were suggested to look into functional status longitudinally and focus on the changes of functional status by managing modifiable influencing factors.