• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.31-42
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• 2008

Research outcome shows the following: 1. Estimation by the year 2015 on the number of the aged people and on the number of the household of living alone and living with spouse only, per age-cohort by 5 years, per basic self-govern-ins local groups and the city of Daegu. The result is supposed to serve as meaningful basic material in building up future policies in many areas for the aged people living in their homes. 2. Estimation varies according to the areas and the age-cohorts. In urban areas, increase of the numbers of the households of the aged people living alone and living with spouse only is estimated in every age-cohort. In rural areas, variance between two age-groups, old-old and young-old, is observed. Both of the numbers of the households for the aged living alone and the aged living with spouse only have increased continuously by the year 2005. But the hither-to increase tendency is estimated to reverse itself to a decrease starting from the younger within the young-old age group, and the ratio of the old-old age-group in rural population will sharply increase starting from the year 2005. Such increase in the number of the aged people in need of the housing and the social support requires the increasing policy consideration for the issue of housing for the aged living in their homes. In spite of the decreasing tendency in the number of the aged people living alone and living with spouse only in rural areas, still there will continue to be more number of such households than in urban area for the time being. The government of Gyeongsangbuk-Do should pay more consideration to the old-old aged living alone and living with spouse only in rural areas, while being prepared for the sharply increasing households for the aged living alone and living with spouse only in urban areas.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.615-628
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• 2004

This study is designed to examine influences of living arrangements on psycho-social factors, health and nutritional status, dietary adequacy and meal service utility patterns of the elderly. Nutritional status was evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Three hundred and nine elderly (110 men and 199 women) who participated in meal service in the Chung-buk province were investigated. Proportion of the elderly living alone, couples only, living with spouse and family, living with family without spouse; and living with other than family were 30.7%, 25.9%, 14.2%, 24.3% and 4.9% respectively. The mean age of the elderly was 74.1 years and the elderly who are living couples only and living with spouse and family were younger than those with other living status. Living arrangements seem to be related to psycho-social factors, health and nutritional status, and dietary quality. Those who live alone and live with other than family were mostly women and they have lower socio-economic status, psycho-social, health and nutritional status and dietary patterns compared with those of the elderly who are living with spouse or family. It was found that the elderly who live a couple only and live with spouse and family had better emotional, health and nutritional index than those of the elderly who live with family without spouse, especially in case of females. Most of elderly perceived that participation of meal service programs had a positive effect on their daily life and satisfied with meals. The elderly living alone and living with other than family were more frequently using meal service but had a negative attitude about the charged meal service for better quality than the elderly with other living status. The most important reason for all the elderly to participate in meal service was to meet their friends and then to get other services. Particularly those who are living alone and living with other than family showed lack of moivation to prepare and set the meal, and for them the economic reason is also important. They also replied that the poor health and lack of other help were the most difficult problems for them to prepare meals. It would be effective to provide nutritional services that meet specific needs of the elderly according to their characteristics and living environment.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.73-82
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• 2005

This study attempts to find out more efficient way of improving the housing conditions, by reviewing the existing improvement programs for the traditional rural housing and by aiming at finding advantages to inherit and correcting the inconvenience of the traditional forms of housing, through a survey on the housing conditions of the aged living alone and living with spouse only in the traditional rural housing. Research result shows that the openness and buffering zone of the traditional rural housing are relevant housing elements which provide the aged appropriate living space and therefore should be actively inherited and that the existing improvement programs have been largely inappropriate. But as the aged can hardly practice the appropriate way of improvement on their own, government policy consideration is urgently needed as part of the welfare policy for the aged.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.940-955
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to compare the degree nutrient intake, health status and other characteristics of females aged 65 years and over in a longevity area according to family arrangement. For analysis, 585 female elderly were recruited from the Kugoksoondam area (Kurye, Goksung, Soonchang and Damyang counties), known as the longevity-belt region in Jeonla province, Korea. The subjects were categorized into three groups according to family arrangement (living alone, living with spouse only and living with family). Demographic characteristics were collected, as well as information on physical measurements, blood tests for biochemical indicators, health status and health-related life style, dietary behavior, favorite food groups, consumption frequency of food groups, nutrient intake and mini nutrition assessment. In the group living with their spouse only, the highest education, physical activity, diverse food intake, frequency of eating meats and fish, energy and nutrients intake, and score on the mininutrient status assessment (MNA) were found to be significantly favorable factors. Taken together, these results demonstrated that the group living with their spouse only had relatively superior nutrient intake and the quality of diet. In contrast, the group living alone showed the lowest self-rated economic status, diversity of food intake, and physical activity, with the highest frequency of drinking, smoking and regular exercise for almost everyday compared with the other groups. On the other hand, those living with family demonstrated the lowest intake of supplements or functional foods, and levels of hemoglobin hematocrit MCH, but the highest HBA1c and blood sugar. Therefore, the group living with family was assumed to be at risk of anemia and diabetes. These results could be useful to plan effective strategies to increase the health-life expectancy of Korean elderly people living in rural areas, according to family arrangement.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.635-652
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• 2019

A few studies have examined the relationship between living arrangements and mental health status among older Korean immigrants in the United States and older Koreans in South Korea. This study attempts to fill this gap by conducting a comparative study to understand the relationship between living arrangements and psychological distress. Survey data from older Koreans between the ages of 60 and 79 from the two countries (N= 480) was analyzed descriptively and in hierarchical multiple regressions. This study found that among older Korean immigrants in the United States 26.4 % of those living alone and 7.3 % of those living with a spouse only reported 'severe' psychological distress while their counterparts in South Korea 20.0 % of those living alone and 20.6 % of those living with a spouse only reported 'severe' psychological distress. The hierarchical multivariate analysis reveled that older Koreans living alone are not significant predictor of psychological distress in both countries. Interestingly, older Korean immigrants living with a spouse only and living with others are significant predictors of psychological distress. This study also contributes to the existing literature by searching for diverse conditions that lead to mental health problems among older Koreans in both countries.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.87-99
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between self-rated health and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) and self-care behavior of rural elderly in Korea, focused on the difference among three distinctive living arrangements; living alone, living only with his/her spouse, and living with their married children. For this purpose, data were gathered from a nationwide survey, a total of 586 elderly aged 65 or older and living in rural area, using the structured questionnaire. Also, self-care behavior were categorized into 4 groups; life-style practice, medical self-care, adaption to functional limitation, and emotional management. The major findings are as follows; 1) Rural elderly perceived their health little and more 'bad' but their ADL capacity were 'not difficult', especially among elderly living with spouse. 2) The level of 20 items in self-care behavior ($1{\sim}5$score) was ranged from 2.51 to 3.81 score. The behavior level of regular exercise, setting up additional phone, taking a nutrient, and testing BP or pulse regularly were low but that of taking a medicine according to prescription, close contact with other people, and regular eating were proportionally high. 3) The majority of self-care behavior were correlated with subjective health positively but medical self-care behavior were correlated with subjective health or ADL negatively. Based on these results, policy implications are discussed.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.691-706
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• 2020

This study aims to explore health behavior profiles and the association between the derived profiles and living arrangement among middle-aged and older adults. Using data from wave 6 (2016) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, latent profile analyses were applied to identify patterns of health behaviors and multinomial logistic regression models were conducted to predict profile membership using living arrangement (i.e., living alone, living with spouse only, living with family members) and sociodemographic characteristics. A sample of 7,048 respondents aged 55 and older were included in the study. Results revealed that Korean middle-aged and older adults can be grouped into four health behavior profiles: "High health-compromising" (4%), "Moderate health-compromising" (28%), "Low health-compromising" (65%), and "High physical activity" (3%). Also, living arrangement showed significant profile differences. Compared to the respondents living alone, those living with spouse only were more likely to belong to low and moderate levels of health-compromising behavior profiles than the "High physicial activity profile". Respondents living with family members were more likely to belong to the "High health-compromising profile" than the "High physical activity profile" compared to those living with spouse only. These findings indicate that living arrangement needs to be taken into consideration when developing health promoting programs and supports. Moreover, policy interventions suiting the needs of various sociodemographic subgroups are recommended.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.13-25
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• 2010

This study examined the effects of individual, family, and career characteristics on retirees' life satisfaction and investigated the interactive effect of gender on the relations between retirement and life satisfaction. Data were drawn from 2 waves of Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS). The analytic sample included 158 retired men and 145 retired women in the second wave and all of whom had worked at the first wave. The results indicated that psychological and physical health conditions significantly affected retirees' life satisfaction. Also, family characteristics in terms of a spouse's work status and children's developmental stages, such as marriage and employment, influenced retirees' life satisfaction. Financial support from adult children living elsewhere also significantly affected retiree's life satisfaction. The interaction effect of gender was only found in effects of living arrangement (living alone/with a spouse vs. multiple generations living together) on retirees' life satisfaction.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2002

This paper aims to analyze the changes in the living arrangements of the elderly in Chejoo-do for the elderly housing supply by using census data. The conclusions are as follows; The rate of living alone and living with spouse only of the elderly have been increasing. The trend in county was higher than that in city. Living alone rate of the elderly of Chejoo-do was higher than that of Korean average. Even in the oldest old, living alone rate has been increasing in Chejoo-do. It is a unique phenomenon in Korea and similar with U.S. In Chejoo-do, it is strongly required to evolve elderly housing by universal design for living alone elderly in county as well as for living alone elderly in city.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.43-65
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• 2007

This research aims at finding out how spare time activity, relationships with their children and loneliness affect the satisfaction of life of elderly people who have no spouse. To begin, according to the survey, in the case of elderly people who have no spouse, male elderly people feel more loneliness, lower unification with their offspring, and do less activity in their spare time than female elderly people. The elderly people with a higher educational level, feel less loneliness and have a close relationship with their offspring. When elderly people believe in a religion, they participate in positive activities in their spare time and have a higher satisfaction of life. Secondly, the less the elderly people have for a monthly income, the more they feel a deep sense of isolation. However, if the elderly have a sufficient monthly income, they spend their spare time on positive activities and feel a higher sense of satisfaction in their lives. These results show that economic situation is an important factor for elderly people to maintain good mental health and a good quality of life. Thirdly, the loneliness of elderly people who have no spouse was influenced by whether the elderly people have children or not. If an elderly person loses their spouse through death, they can find themselves in a desperate situation and feeling very isolated. Most elderly people who have no spouse want to live with their offspring and depend on their sons and daughters economically and psychologically. However, the elderly people living alone have lower satisfaction of life because of economic and psychological problems. Therefore, the results shows that the life satisfaction of elderly people who have no spouse was influenced by living with their children and having a close relationship with them. The elderly people who have no spouse feel hopelessness and rely increasingly on their sons and daughters. The elderly people who don't have a sufficient monthly income not only feel more loneliness than other elderly people, but are also restricted in their spare time activities. It proves that the economic situation(monthly income) is also an important factor to maintain personal relationships.