• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.39-58
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors determining the participation of the poor elderly in economic activity. This study analyzed secondary data of the second wave of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Binary logistic regression was used to identify the factors that are associated with the economic activity of the poor elderly. The results of the analyses showed that age, gender, region, public assistance, education, health status, chronic illness, contacts with acquaintances, and support from children were associated with participation in economic activity. The study's findings have several implications for policies and services. The study identified the need for an age- and gender-specific approach to promoting participation in economic activity among the poor elderly. Regional differences should also be considered in the creation of work opportunities for older adults. In terms of human capital, the positive effect of good health indicates that strategies are needed to address the needs of older adults with health issues. In addition, there is a need for more jobs for elderly job seekers with high levels of education. Finally, policy makers and practitioners should explore interventions for enhancing the social network involvement and community support for the elderly living in poverty.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.69-84
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• 2024

Objective : This study aimed to categorize the lifestyles of older adults into two types - healthy and unhealthy, and use machine learning to identify the personal values that influence these lifestyles. Methods : This cross-sectional study targeting middle-aged and older adults (55 years and above) living in local communities in South Korea. Data were collected from 300 participants through online surveys. Lifestyle types were dichotomized by the Yonsei Lifestyle Profile (YLP)-Active, Balanced, Connected, and Diverse (ABCD) responses using latent profile analysis. Personal value information was collected using YLP-Values (YLP-V) and analyzed using machine learning to identify the relative importance of personal values on lifestyle types. Results : The lifestyle of older adults was categorized into healthy (48.87%) and unhealthy (51.13%). These two types showed the most significant difference in social relationship characteristics. Among the machine learning models used in this study, the support vector machine showed the highest classification performance, achieving 96% accuracy and 95% area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The model indicated that individuals who prioritized a healthy diet, sought health information, and engaged in hobbies or cultural activities were more likely to have a healthy lifestyle. Conclusion : This study suggests the need to encourage the expansion of social networks among older adults. Furthermore, it highlights the necessity to comprehensively intervene in individuals' perceptions and values that primarily influence lifestyle adherence.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.89-102
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• 1990

The research is a comparative study of death attitudes between male and female elderly people. There is no doubt as to the inevitability of death. And yet, there is a vast conspiracy involved in the word of dead or death. The aged are considered to be nearer death than are people in other age groups. Kalish(1976) emphasized that for the aged two meanings of death have significance for evaluating their life ; first, that older people are known to have a limited life time and face death ; second that older people are known to have suffered many death-imposed losses that are often associated with the dying process. In considering these implications, the level of anxiety regarding death and dying is a crucial factor in determining mental health. In the study, 152 male elderly and 145 female elderly residing in Seoul, Korea was compared on the four dimensions of death anxiety and assigned personal variables. Therefore, the purpose the research was (1) to examine the characteristics of subjects on the independent variables(age, marital status, family relationship, social activities, religiousity etc.) ; (2) to examine the relationship between the independent variables and each dimension of death axniety ; (3) to determine the proportion of variance in the respective of death anxiety which is accounted for by the respective independent variables ; (4) to examine whether a significant difference between the respective independent variables and each dimension of death anxiety has ; (5) to determine the combination of variables which is the most successful in explaining the variance in death anxiety. Finding from this study support the following conclusions; 1. There was a significant differences between the male and female subjects in the level of death anxiety. In turn, the male older adults had lower death anxiety than did the female elderly. This implies that male tend to look forward to death rather than deny it. 2. As there was evidences from several studies, this research found that fear of death decreases as age increases. 3. The following two variables that correlate best with dying anxiety of others in both male and female older adults : 'marriage life', 'social interaction'. 4. The variables 'age' and 'children' for both female and male elderly accounted for the most variance in death anxiety of self. The findings of the study lend this investigator several suggestions, implications and recommendations for future research. There can be no death without life, and conversely, no life without death. Psychologists and health-related professionals may be learn as much about death as they can in order to develop more healthy attitudes and in order to be able to better aid and comfort dying people and their familities. Perhaps most importantly, professionals may be help those who are not faced with death at present to develop an understanding of it and healthy attitudes toward it. The programs of death education are needed for dedication to the evitability of death and the preparation of life for the older adults. More seminars, symposiums and research on death attitudes are needed. Finally, study for female older adults has been negelected topic in the areas of women's study and health education. Future study, for female elderly, have to deeply investigate where those problems come from and how to cope with in order to the female elderly segment can live the rest of their lives in satisfaction with well-being.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.380-390
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• 2017

This study examined the relationship between social support, social participation and physical functioning among older adults in community senior centers. The subjects of this study were 194 persons aged 60 years or older who participated in the senior center in K province and D city, from June 16 to June 30, 2016. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, T-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and structural model analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 and IBM AMOS 21.0. The result showed that the social support and physical functioning of the elderly in the community were above normal, and social participation was somewhat low. Interestingly, an analysis of the physical functioning between social support, social participation and depression revealed significant correlations. The factors affecting the physical health were 23.4% of the respondents who had a significant influence on social support and leisure activities. In addition, the result of structural model analysis showed that social support had a significant influence on the social participation, depression and physical functioning. Therefore, the results suggests that the development of educational programs and an age-friendly environment should be actively provided to older adults in the community by strengthening the physical function through social support for active ageing.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a prediction model for the characteristics of older adults with depression using the decision tree method. Methods: A large dataset from the 2008 Korean Elderly Survey was used and data of 14,970 elderly people were analyzed. Target variable was depression and 53 input variables were general characteristics, family & social relationship, economic status, health status, health behavior, functional status, leisure & social activity, quality of life, and living environment. Data were analyzed by decision tree analysis, a data mining technique using SPSS Window 19.0 and Clementine 12.0 programs. Results: The decision trees were classified into five different rules to define the characteristics of older adults with depression. Classification & Regression Tree (C&RT) showed the best prediction with an accuracy of 80.81% among data mining models. Factors in the rules were life satisfaction, nutritional status, daily activity difficulty due to pain, functional limitation for basic or instrumental daily activities, number of chronic diseases and daily activity difficulty due to disease. Conclusion: The different rules classified by the decision tree model in this study should contribute as baseline data for discovering informative knowledge and developing interventions tailored to these individual characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.227-245
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• 2013

This study used the third wave of individual data of KReIs(Korean Retirement and Income Study) because the third wave of data only had the necessary variables which fit into this study. The data was collected in 2010 using national random sampling. The target population was adults who are older than 65 and the sample size of this study was 4,080. The factors of successful aging were compared by the recognition of old age (group (1): people who recognize they are not older adults(n=620); group (2): people who recognize they are older adults(n=3,460)). For comparison of each variable by the recognition of old age, t-test, chi-square test and ANCOVA were used depending on the types of variables. To test the effect on the life satisfaction of the factors of successful aging, hierarchical regressions were used for each group. 1) Except for the number of leisure activities, older adults who recognized they were not old(group (1)) had a higher level of factors composing of successful aging than older adults who recognized they were old(group (2)). 2) For group (1), age did not affect their life satisfaction in a statistically significant level, but for group (2) age negatively affected their life satisfaction. 3) The results indicated that cognitive and physical functioning were more important than avoiding disease and disability. 4) For group (2), IADL affected life satisfaction positively in a statistically significant level, but for group (1), IADL did not affect life satisfaction. 5) For group(2), whether they had a job or not affected the life satisfaction differently.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.53-77
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to review the literature on music interventions with older adults and to analyze the rationale for the type of intervention and type of music selected. A search of KCI journals for research including older adults and music-based interventions identified 33 published articles, and 23 of these studies met the criteria for inclusion in this analysis. Included studies were analyzed in terms of the contents of the interventions and the appropriateness of the rationale reported for selecting the intervention and music. Each study was analyzed in terms of the relevance of the reported rationale to target goals and the characteristics of the study participants. The results showed that many of the included studies incorporated a variety of activities but failed to include a valid rationale for using those activities to achieve the target goals. Also, many of the studies tended to select music based on participants' preferences or perceived familiarity without thorough consideration of the therapeutic function of music in the given intervention. This study presents how music therapy interventions with older adults have been conducted without sufficient attention to the selection of the intervention and presented music. There remains a need to delineate which intervention and music characteristics should be utilized to obtain particular outcomes with specific populations.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.256-265
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• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify levels of health literacy and reported health behaviors among older adults with cardio-cerebrovascular disease residing in rural areas. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 134 older people (mean age=75.5 years, 71.6% Female) registered at seven health centers. The structured questionnaires were used to measure levels of health literacy and health behaviors. Results: The average functional health literacy score was $6.08{\pm}3.04$, and the health behavior score was $62.92{\pm}6.45$. Respectively health behavior was positively associated with health literacy. Education, economic status, number of family members, number of social activities and health literacy were contribution factors explaining 40.64% of the variance in health behavior. Health literacy specifically explained 12.5% of health behavior. Conclusion: These findings suggest that strategies for improving health behaviors and reducing health inequalities may benefit from adopting a stronger focus on health literacy within prevention, patient education, and other public health interventions. Further longitudinal studies are needed to help confirm that improving health literacy in the elderly may be effective in changing health behaviors.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.395-403
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• 2021

Objectives: Previous studies have shown that participation in social activities (SA) can prevent cognitive decline (CD) and that living arrangements (LA) can affect cognitive function. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of SA and LA on CD, as well as their interactions, using longitudinal data. Methods: Data were used from the 2006-2018 Korean Longitudinal Study for Aging, which followed 10 254 adults older than 45 years over a 12-year period. CD was defined as a ≥4-point score decrease in the Mini-Mental Status Exam over 2 years. We developed an extended Cox proportional hazards model for time-dependent covariates to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of CD in 4 groups: (1) socially active and living with others, (2) socially active and living alone, (3) socially inactive and living with others (SILO), and (4) socially inactive and living alone (SILA). The model was stratified by gender and adjusted for important confounders. Results: The HR of CD was significantly higher in the SILO group in men (HR,1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08 to 1.78) and in the SILA group in women (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.08 to 2.75). However, the interaction term for gender was not significant. Conclusions: Among socially inactive elderly adults, the HR of CD was elevated in men who lived with others and in women who lived alone, although the interaction term for gender was not significant. Socially inactive men who live with others and socially inactive women who live alone are particularly encouraged to participate in SA to prevent CD.

• Korean Journal of Gerontological Social Welfare
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• v.73 no.2
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• pp.79-105
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to validate the Korean version of the Engagement Meaningful Activity Survey(K-EMAS) which modified and translated 12 items of the Engagement Meaningful Activity Survey(EMAS) developed by Goldberg, Brintnell, & Goldberg (2002). The data were collected from 315 questionnaires answered by older adults and were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 20.0. The reliability of K-EMAS was verified, and exploratory factor analysis and item-factor total correlation were conducted to evaluate the two-factor structure of 'Exhibition of Individual Ability (5)' and 'Usefulness of Social Activity (7)'. The corrected two-factor model of K-EMAS was confirmed through fit Indices of confirmatory factor analysis, which proved its convergent validity and discriminant validity. In addition, K-EMAS was shown to have criterion validity by correlation analysis on Depression (CES-D), Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Breif), Meaning in Life (MIL), and the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ). Validation of the Korean version of the scale (K-EMAS) for qualitative measurement of older adults' activity has implications as basic research to support meaningful activities for older adults as well as to provide an instrument that could be used in related research fields.