• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.454-462
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to explore the lonely-death phenomenon and to understand the circumstances surrounding the lonely-death cases among elderly people by examining the articles on such phenomenon and the media reports of such cases. The cases of lonely death reported from 2007 to 2017 were used. Case analysis was conducted, and the news articles that described the lonely death cases were identified using an internet search engine. Forty seven cases were analyzed. Several risk factors emerged from the data obtained, such as economic hardship, chronic illness, mental health problems like alcohol addiction, social isolation, disconnection from family members or the neighborhood, unemployment, single household, unmarried or divorced status, and living in an urban area. Based on the findings, prevention strategies were addressed.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.23-31
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• 2022

Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and an aging population and an increase in single-person households, the amount of time that household members spend doing various activities at home has increased significantly. In this study, we propose an algorithm for detecting anomalies in members of single-person households, including the elderly, based on the results of human movement and fall detection using an image sensor algorithm through home CCTV, an activity sensor algorithm using an acceleration sensor built into a smartphone, and a 2D LiDAR sensor-based LiDAR sensor algorithm. However, each single sensor-based algorithm has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to detect anomalies in a specific situation due to the limitations of the sensor. Accordingly, rather than using only a single sensor-based algorithm, we developed a fusion method that combines each algorithm to detect anomalies in various situations. We evaluated the performance of algorithms through the data collected by each sensor, and show that even in situations where only one algorithm cannot be used to detect accurate anomaly event through certain scenarios we can complement each other to efficiently detect accurate anomaly event.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.141-155
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• 2024

Background: This study aimed to identified the relationship between the risk of obstructive sleep apnea, subjective health, and health-related quality of life among the middle-aged and elderly population in Korea. Methods: Adults aged 40 or older were extracted from the total 22,559 respondents to the 2019-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VIII, and secondary analysis was conducted on a total of 6,659 middle-aged and elderly people with no missing values. Logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted to examine the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea risk factors and subjective health as well as quality of life. Results: The subjective health status decline in the high-risk group compared to the non-risk group for obstructive sleep apnea was statistically significantly higher, with an odds ratio of 1.84 (p<0.001). The health-related quality of life was also statistically significantly lower by 0.02 points (β, -0.02; p<0.001). As a result of subgroup analysis on specific variables, the association between the risk of obstructive sleep apnea and subjective health and health-related quality of life was statistically significant depending on gender, sleep time, presence of depression, household income, and number of household members. Based on the obstructive sleep apnea risk group, women had a higher correlation with low subjective health and lower health-related quality of life scores than men. Sleeping time of more than 8 hours or less than 6 hours was more associated with low subjective health and lower health-related quality of life score than sleeping time of 6-8 hours. Patients with depression were more likely to have low subjective health than those without depression. The lower the household income level and the smaller the number of household members, the higher the association with low subjective health and the lower the health-related quality of life score. Conclusion: It is essential to recognize that the risk of obstructive sleep apnea not only directly affects sleep disorders but also impacts individuals' subjective health and quality of life. Consequently, social support and education should be provided to raise awareness of this issue. Particularly, programs for preventing and managing obstructive sleep apnea should target vulnerable groups such as women, individuals in single-person households, low household income, and those with depression, aiming to improve their subjective health and quality of life.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.235-246
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• 2014

In the late 1980s, 5 new towns such as Bundang, Ilsan, Pyeongchon, Sanborn, Jungdong were constructed to solve housing problems and to disperse functions concentrated within Seoul. As the city got matured, it began to appear the initial signs of urban problems such as aging of high rise-density apartment sites, traffic congestion, lack of parking spaces and aging of infrastructure. Therefore, in order to cope with urban problems, it is very important to apprehend the process of urban growth, its change and the feature of physical/human elements. So, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze the changes in housing and population characteristics for past 20 years by use of Census data from 1995 to 2010. First, the new town's goal of population and housing plan at the time of construction was analyzed how it was achieved, and it is close to the performance of the goal. And the trend of changes in the population and household characteristics was analyzed by every five year's data. As the result of analysis, it shows socio-demographic changes such as aged and elderly population growth, rapid increase in one generation's household and single person household, highly educated city, monthly rent household's increase and charter household's reduction. Results of this analysis can be utilized to aforethought management of new towns. But it is required more sustained and systematic urban monitoring and data analysis because the one-off analysis of the city's characteristics alone is difficult enough to grasp them.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1119-1134
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is firstly to understand socio-demographic and health characteristics and economic characteristics of elderly single households aged over 60 and secondly to examine the relations between these factors and level of life satisfaction, especially differentiated relations by income level. We used the data drawn from third KREIS (Korean Retirement and Income Study) surveyed by National Pension Research Institute. The statistical methods used for the analyses were t-test, X², multiple regression analysis. For the whole sample, the results showed that the life satisfaction is positively related to higher income, better physical and emotional health status and having a religion. When we conducted the regression on two groups, the religion and income level were no longer significant factors. On the other hand, being a woman and enjoying good health contributed to life satisfaction for lower-income group while having a job and enjoying good health played a positive role in life satisfaction for higher-income group.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.73-90
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• 2019

The growth in the number of single-member households is a critical issue worldwide, especially among the elderly. For those living alone, who may be unaware of their health status or routines that could improve their health, a continuous healthcare monitoring system could provide valuable feedback. Assessing the performance adequacy of activities of daily living (ADL) can serve as a measure of an individual's health status; previous research has focused on determining a person's daily activities and extracting the most frequently performed behavioral patterns using camera recordings or wearable sensing techniques. However, existing methods used to extract common patterns of an occupant's activities in the home fail to address the spatio-temporal dimensions of human activities simultaneously. Though multiple sequence alignment (MSA) offers some advantages - such as inherent containment of the spatio-temporal data in sequence format, and rapid identification of hidden patterns - MSA has rarely been used to extract in-home ADL routines. This research proposes a method to extract a household occupant's ADL routines from a cumulative spatio-temporal data log of occupancy collected using a non-intrusive method (i.e., a tomographic motion detection system). The findings from an occupant's 28-day spatio-temporal activity log demonstrate the capacity of the proposed approach to identify routine patterns of an occupant's daily activities and to reveal the order, duration, and frequency of routine activities. Routine ADL patterns identified from the proposed approach are expected to provide a basis for detecting/evaluating abrupt or gradual changes of an occupant's ADL patterns that result from a physical or mental disorder, and can offer valuable information for home automation applications by enabling the prediction of ADL patterns.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.57-78
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• 2004

The economic crisis in $1997{\sim}1998$ caused massive unemployment and unprecedentedly increased the number of the poor in Korea. As many unemployed families fell into poverty, the poverty rate skyrocketed to higher than 10 percent. Not later than 2000, unemployment late got back to normal and real average income among urban households approached to the income level prior to the economic crisis. Although the economic crisis has been passed through, poverty was not decreased to the low level prior to the crisis by 2000. Why does it remain high? This study attempts to provide an answer to this question by analysing the poverty trend over the 1990s. Data come from the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditures 1991, 1996, and 20001. Results show that poverty was rapidly reduced in the first half period of the 1990s. This reduction in poverty is largely explained by steady and rapid economic growth. Modest improvement in income inequality also contributed. In contrast, the poverty rate considerably increased in the latter half of the 1990s. Average income was not fully recovered to its prior level, which reflected the economic crisis and the subsequent economic stagnation. Worsened income inequality led to higher poverty rate too. In addition, demographic changes increased the share of economically vulnerable types of families, such as families headed by single parents and the elderly. The most significant factor in explaining the higher poverty rate was extended income differential among non-elderly adults, while the next was the increased number of the elderly families. Yet, findings a little differ depending on which concepts of poverty to adopt. In the analyses based on the concept of absolute poverty, economic growth the most significantly affected the poverty trends in the 1999s. Changes in income inequality played the most important role in explaining the trend in relative poverty. Adopting the concepts of quasi-absolute poverty, which is preferred in this study, results show that rapid economic growth significantly reduced poverty in the first half of the 1990s and both worsened income inequality and stagnated economic growth increased poverty in the latter 1990s.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.197-216
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• 2020

This study aimed to suggest leisure activities and policy-level support in the light of the characteristics and needs among the elderly by examining constraint factors of leisure activities among the elderly. Data of 3887 elderly with the age of 65 and above with economic burden and health problems from the 6th Korean Retirement and Income study were used for the statistical analyses. Hierarchical linear models were tested by entering factors stepswise; demographic factors(age, gender, marriage status, single household, region, living expenses, health status) in the first step, leisure factors(leisure time, leisure motivation) in the second step, and lastly leisure activity factors(desired leisure activities, undesired leisure activities) in the third step. The results were as follows: First, major factors that constrict leisure activities of the elderly were financial burden and health problems. Second, there were significant differences among three(financial constraint, health constraint, and financial and health constraint) groups. Financial constraint group was the highest in the level of leisure satisfaction but leisure time was the shortest. The major reason to do leisure activities of the financial constraint group was to keep relationships with families and friends. In terms of desired leisure activities, health constraint group wanted resting, financial constraint group wanted hobbies and entertainment, and the financial-and-health constraint group wanted social activities. Third, financial constraint group demonstrated higher levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted to take care of pets or gardens; however, they showed lower levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted to domestic trips for desired leisure activities. In case of health constraint group, they demonstrated lower levels of leisure activity satisfaction whether or not they wanted resting like watching TV or listening to the radio. And, the showed higher levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted social activities such as participation in religion or social gathering organizations. For the financial-and-health constraint group, whereas they showed lower levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted walking around or watching TV, and domestic trips for desired leisure activities, they demonstrated higher levels of leisure activity satisfaction when they wanted entertainment doing the game of go, or chess, and hobbies like hiking and social activities. Practice and policy level suggestions to offer leisure activities that meet the needs of the elderly were made based on the study results.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.119-128
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• 2012

This study investigated the effects of urban farm program on the participants' sense of community. Three public urban farms in Seoul were selected and surveyed. The results were as follows: First, the effects of the urban farm program on the sense of community were verified by a multifaceted analysis. There were significant differences in the interaction and sense of community between urban farms with and without regular programs. Program participants showed higher level of activity, interaction and sense of community compared to non-participants. Program participation was the most important factor in the path analysis. Second, the number of participating group, residential ownership and duration were important factors in the sense of community. This implies that urban farm programs should target house owners with long duration, in particular socially disadvantaged classes such as single-family and elderly household. Third, diverse cultural programs related to the regional society gained higher satisfaction than the simple agricultural educational programs.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.200-209
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• 2017

Objectives : The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between depressive symptoms and sociodemographic factors associated with geriatric depression and insomnia and to examine the effects of these factors on depression. Methods : The severities of insomnia and depression in elderly aged 60 and older lived in Gwangmyeong city were evaluated and the related sociodemographic factors were investigated. From April 20, 2016 to December 1, 2016, Gwangmyeong city Mental Health Sevices consignment by department of psychiatry of a university-affiliated general hospital conducted surveys and interviews for total 837 elderly peoples lived in Gwangmyeong city by visiting welfare center and wards located in the city. Structured interviews were conducted using Insomnia Severity Index(ISI) and Short form-Geriatric Depression Scale(S-GDS) to examine the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the severities of insomnia and depression. Results : There were significant differences in S-GDS mean scores and age(below 70 years old, 70s, 80s, above 90 years old), type of health care(health insurance, medical aid), type of residency(own, not own) and marital status(single, married, divorced or widowed).There was a significant difference in education level, especially between not educated(and/or) elementary graduates and college graduate(F=3.227, p=0.012). Also, there were significant differences in age, type of health care, type of residency, number of household on divided S-GDS score above and below 10 scores(p<0.05). Insomnia measured by ISI was not significantly associated with sociodemographic factors(p>0.05), but was significantly associated with depressive symptoms(p<0.05). These findings suggest more severe insomnia symptom indicated the higher probability of depression and elderly with depressive symptoms had more severe insomnia. Conclusions : Geriatric depression has significant relationships with age, type of health care, type of residency, marital status, education and number of households. In addition, insomnia which is main symptom of depression in elderly, has important role in predicting the severity and diagnosis of depression.