• Korean Public Health Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.99-109
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• 2018

Objective : Health literacy (HL) is, defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions." Being old is one of the main risk factors with limited health literacy. This study aims to adapt Chew's health literacy scale into the Korean language and validate the scale for the use of the elderly. Methods : Data were drawn from the '2016 Seoul Survey on Elderly Health and Functional Assessment, which includes a total of 725 people aged 60 to 79. The sample was randomly divided into two groups for reliability and validity tests of the modified Chew's scale of 8 items. The Korean version of the questionnaire was developed by group translation, expert reviews, and forward-backward translation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess and validate the factor structure of the scale. Results : Results suggest the two-factor structure ("Understanding" and "Applying" of HL) with 8 items. Exploratory factor analyses of the first sample (n=400) revealed that the internal reliability of the scale was high (Cronbach's ${\alpha}=.904$). Principal axis factoring extracted two factors ("Understanding" and "Applying" of HL) and explained 78.3% of total variance (KMO=.872, Bartlett's ${\chi}^2=2431.3$, df=28, p<.001). Confirmatory factor analysis of the second sample (n=325) was performed and the two-factor model was supported (GFI=.960, CFI=.979, TLI=.969, RMSEA=0.075). Conclusions : This study provides evidence for adequate criterion and validity of the health literacy scale for the community dwelling elderly in Korea.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.169-185
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• 2018

The purpose of this study examined the feasibility and efficacy of a senior center-based diabetes self-management program applying action research approach. The cyclical action research method was applied for this study: plan, act, evaluate, and reflect in delivering three waves of the intervention program. Three waves of a 12 weeks-length small group diabetes self-management program were offered during the period of 15 months in a senior center in Seoul. Planning of $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ wave program were based on reflection of $1^{st}$ and $2^{nd}$ program evaluation respectively. Among the 46 participants, 93.48% (N=43) completed the program. The quantitative evaluation showed statistically significant improvement in HbA1C(p<.001), fasting plasma glucose(p<.001), BMI(p=.016), waist circumference(p=.001), systolic blood pressure(p=.036), diabetes self-management behavior(p<.001) and health knowledge(p=.008). Qualitative data revealed that individual management was very helpful in empowering and adhering for own diabetes care for the participants. Participants reported high satisfaction towards the program with mean satisfaction score of 65.12. Application of the Diabetes Self-management program with action study strategy was successful in community setting for improving participants' subjective and objective outcomes. Action research method guides the practitioner to tailor the program to respond for the participants and field needs.

• 재활복지
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.131-150
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• 2016

This study aims to compare global policies on ICT accessibility and to suggest possible solutions that help to enhance ICT accessibility for socially disadvantaged groups. The results indicated that related laws and standards in Korea are relatively well established than Asian countries' whereas they need improvements when compared to the US or the UK. Particularly, in spite of rapid development in information communication technology industry, incorporating the definition of newly developed technologies into existing laws related to ICT accessibility seemed slow that caused reluctancy of related parties to address accessibility issues the new technologies create. In addition, Korean government seems less effortful to develop policies and standards apart from web and mobile application accessibility. In order to resolve the problems, firstly, the period or process of enacting and amending laws can be shorten. Next, a government affiliated research institute can be established to do research and develop ICT accessibility related to user scenarios so that effective policies and standards could be readily provided. Even though other possible solutions can be suggested, what is more important than that is that any interested parties should sustainably make efforts to provide equal opportunities for the underserved populations.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.231-247
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• 2019

This research aims to examine whether depression has mediating effects in the effects of socioeconomic deprivation, especially of lower variables of socioeconomic deprivation on life satisfaction of the elderly. For this purpose, the 12th year(2017) data of the Korea Welfare Panel Study were used. The mediated effect analysis method of Baron and Kenny(1986) were used, and mediating effect of depression was validated through Sobel Test. The results of this research are as follows. Firstly, the lower variables of socioeconomic deprivation of the elderly -deprivation of housing, deprivation of dietary life, social deprivation, deprivation of employment, and deprivation of healthcare- had partial mediating effects of depression in life satisfaction. It was verified that as the elderly experienced deprivation of housing, deprivation of dietary life, social deprivation, deprivation of employment and deprivation of healthcare, depression increased and life satisfaction was lowered. Therefore, it was suggested that to enhance the living satisfactions of the elderly, policies and services reflecting the personal characteristics of socioeconomic deprivation and depression must be made, and that criteria to identify the multidimensional poverty and deprivation experienced in everyday life must be prepared in addition to poverty focusing on income.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.373-381
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the social distance between the demented elderly and nursing college students. In this study, responses from 158 nursing college students in city D were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed. As a result, the correlation between variables, social distance, and dementia attitude towards the demented elderly (r = .53, p<.001) showed a statistically correlated relationship, while ageism (r = -.41, p<.001) showed a negative correlation. The results of this study are as follows: first, the interactions between the elderly with dementia and the nursing college students were more frequent (${\beta}=.29$ p=.012), and second, attention to early prevention of dementia (${\beta}=.32$ p=.002) was significant. The explanatory power of these influential factors on the social distance toward the demented elderly was 41.0%.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.167-174
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• 2019

The propose od this study was to examine the extent of using physical restraint on elderly patients (over 65 years old) and who were patients in long-term care hospitals. The data was collected, from March 3 2018 to March 29 2018, from the electronic nursing records by using a recording tool, and clinical observation was also used for assessing the use of physical restraint and the related factors. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients and logistic regression were then performed. The usage rate for physical restraints in long-term care hospital was 83.7%, and the most common type of physical restraint was side rails. The use of physical restraints showed a positive correlation with the fall risk scores and a negative correlation with the MMSE. Logistic regression analysis showed that the Fall Risk Score (OR=1.02, 95% CI=1.01~1.03), MMSE (OR=0.94, CI=0.88~0.99) and the use of medical devices (OR=0.80, 95% CI=0.65~0.98) were related with using physical restraints. Therefore, it was confirmed that physical restraint was used in cases of a high risk of falling, severe cognitive impairment and the use of complex and fragile medical devices to treat the patient. Clinical nursing practice should be changed so that treatment alternatives can be applied for elderly patients rather than using too many physical restraints.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2021

Objective : The purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze the quantitative changes in, and the status of, overseas occupational therapy using text mining. Methods : Using PubMed, research papers on Elderly, Health and Occupational therapy published between 2009 and 2019 were selected for analysis, Abstracts of the selected papers were analyzed. The number of annual papers, the key words, the key words by year, and the relationship between the words were analyzed. Results : The number of papers published from 2009 to 2019 was 9,941, there was a gradual increase from 2009 to the highest in 2017 or 2018, followed by a decreasing trend in 2019. Within the last five years, the most frequent words were Care, Group, Intervention, Pain, Treatment, and Work. There was a strong relationship between the words based on the average frequency over the last 11 years, function, health, event, and partition. Conclusion : This study is meaningful because it applied a new research method called text mining to the empirical and systematic analysis of trends in occupational therapy and presented macroscopic and comprehensive results. The findings are expected to help establish new research directions at clinical and research sites for occupational therapy related to older adults.

• 한국노년학
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.991-1007
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare depression and quality of life(QOL) according to the severity of insomnia in elderly. Method: The survey participants were 463 community-dwelling adults aged 65 or older. Severity of insomnia was measured by assessing a time-length to get to sleep, the number of breaks in sleep, a time-length to get to sleep after awakening, and a usual sleep pattern. Depression and QOL was measured, respectively, a modified Zung's depression scale and SF-36. The data were collected from May to June in 2005 and analyzed using the SPSS program for descriptive statistics, ${\chi}^2$-test, t-test, and ANOVA with Scheffe test. Results: A majority of the participants(75.6%) presented mild(65.0%) or severe(10.6%) insomnia. Severity of insomnia was different depending on sex, a marriage status, and sleep patterns such as hours of sleep on average, time to go to bed, and time of awakening(p<0.05). Depression and QOL were related to the severity of insomnia(p<0.05). The elderly suffering from insomnia needs nursing interventions considering demographics and sleep patterns in oder to prevent depression and to improve QOL. Future research is in need for predicting and preventing depression and QOL in elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.309-328
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to develop a perceived elderly stigma scale for intergenerational research and practice. Although negative stereotypes on elderly population have worsened physical and psychological health of older people, there has been a lack of systematic efforts to measure and monitor stigmatic perception and behavior of younger generation on elderly people. We initially constructed a 34-item perceived elderly stigma scale, by integrating the processes of literature review and exploratory item generation. After confirming the face validity of the scale, a 31-item perceived elderly stigma scale was tested with 252 adults recruited from an online research panel. The result of an exploratory factor analysis suggests a 5-factor solution with 28 items: ability, personality, appearance, authoritarian dependancy, and family-obsession. The convergent/discriminant validity was confirmed by examining its relationships with ageism, elderly discrimination, attitude toward elderly, and respect for elderly. After a series of refinement and empirical tests, the perceived elderly stigma scale would contribute to understanding the current state of elderly discrimination in our society and to develop necessary policies and promotion strategies to eliminate intergenerational conflicts.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.168-176
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• 2020

Objectives : Loneliness and poor sleep quality are common phenomena in old age and are associated with negative physical and mental health. However, little is known regarding the relation between loneliness and sleep quality. The aim of this study was to examine the association of loneliness and sleep quality among the elderly living alone. Methods : This is a cross-sectional study that enrolled 1,090 subjects who are the community-residing elderly living alone. Sociodemographic status, medical condition, cognition, mood disorder, sleep quality and levels of loneliness were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and a specific semi-structured interview conducted by trained nurses. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data regarding sociodemographic variable and loneliness. Univariate and Multivariate regression analyses were applied to examine the association between loneliness and sleep quality after adjustment for multiple confounding variables. Results : The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) mean score of "lonely group" (9.2±4.2) was significantly higher than that of "not lonely group" (7.3±3.7) (student-t test, p<0.001). Loneliness was significantly associated with PSQI (standardized β=0.065, p=0.025), sleep disturbance (standardized β=0.086, p=0.005), use of sleep medication (standardized β=0.065, p=0.034) after adjustment for possible confounding variables including sex and mood disorder. Conclusions : Loneliness was associated with sleep disturbance and this finding implied negative impact of loneliness on sleep quality of older adults. Public health promotion efforts to reduce loneliness may improve sleep quality and mental health in the elderly living alone.