• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.610-621
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• 2017

Medical cost for elderly is increasing with ageing society and putting more and more burden on both individuals and government. To find a solution to reduce medical cost among elderly and to propose implication/suggestion to central government and a local government, different degree of medical cost burden by type of household and factors that affect increased medical cost are investigated based on elderly in Suwon city in this article. According to the research result, 59.3% of respondents felt medical cost burdensome. Also, according to the multiple regression performed to understand factors that increases medical cost by type of household, subjectively felt health status was found to be a statistically significant factor commonly in three groups which are living household with adult child, living household with spouse only, living household alone. And the degree of medical cost was higher in living household with spouse only, more higher in living household alone. And socioeconomic status and health status, health status, and health status and private insurance, medical security system were found to be significantly related to medical cost burden to household type of the elderly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.348-356
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• 2015

In 2026, in ten years from now, Korea is expected to enter into a super aged society. By facing this social phenomenon, analyzing the elderlies and preparing measures are needed among society. In the transportation field, the traffic accidents which are related to the elderly pedestrians have drastically increased so that R&D projects and policy supplementations are introduced. However very few base studies on which focused on the behavior, capability, impact factors analysis of for elderly pedestrians are conducted. To determine the walking capability, this study divided the walking capability into 3 three categories - general, health and exercise. It carries out the comprehensive survey targeting 52 elderlies with the average age of 72.6 years and this survey is made up of total 12 factors in the 3 three categories. This survey also is conducted with various measuring devices and methods such as interview, National Fitness Award, SPBB, Cybex and the like for. From the 12 detailed factors, the general factors such as age, physical shape and so forth have little impact on the walking speed. However the factors that have the greatest impact on the walking speed are extensor muscle on lower limbs in the health factors and balance, coordination, and SPPB in the exercise factors. With these results, this study develops the independent walking model which can measure the walking capability of the elderly people. The developed model is expected to be utilized as the base study for elderly's walking patterns in the transportation field by examining the walking capability of the older people.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.462-474
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• 2018

The development of bio-sensing technology made it easy to collect various biometric information that was only available in large medical devices. The miniaturization of sensors makes it simple to carry out various health checkups that It did in person to the hospital by improving the portability of diagnostic devices. It is able to combine sensors into portable devices such as Smartphones, apply advanced Internet of Things (IOT) technology, and create new form factors for medical devices such as ultra-small modules that can be inserted or attached to their bodies. The results can be checked immediately through portable information devices such as smart phones. Although commercialization is still slow in Korea, new technologies are being applied in various ways in countries such as the United States that have granted remote medical services. Medical demand, supply and cost in South Korea are growing ahead of a super-aged society. Under these circumstances, attention is focusing on whether smart healthcare, a new concept, can complement the existing medical system. This study identifies the technology trends associated with smart health care and categorizes various healthcare products in the UX design aspects. In addition, the UX design approach and guidelines for applying smart healthcare technologies to the elderly, the intended users, are presented. This research will provide a reference to a new social issue, the UX-design approach to solving the problems of the aged society.

• Proceeding of Spring/Autumn Annual Conference of KHA
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.369-374
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• 2008

In the 21st century, universal design has started to expand as new design value system for the diversity and various need of user: a new design that can reflects the welfare of the society. In addition, the percentage of population over 65 years old has been rising rapidly in Korea, and we are expected to reach 'aged society' with 14.3% of elderly population in 2018. In rural districts, population of the elderly has already reached 'super-aged society' with over 20%. With the rapid increase of the number of the elderly, the need for social service system is rising. For the independent living of the elderly, the dwelling space that supports their lifestyle is the most important factor. In advanced countries, they have proposed the housing for the elderly to keep living in their house, improvement of housing quality that fits the changing various needs of them. Until now, however, the most housing condition that the elderly has lived is poor living environment as below housing standards, especially housing in rural districts is very poor. The purpose of this study was to extract issue of housing in the rural districts in terms of universal design concept and reflecting the cultural and living characteristics of rural districts. With this, additionally, this study make understood about the necessity and important of universal design housing to reflect the characteristics of rural districts. For this study, data were collected from field survey and interview. The major results showed the following. 1) There were very various type of housing in rural districts. Spatial composition and shape was not related to living behavior and cultural characteristics of rural district. 2) The most new constructed housing was similar to urban housing type. It means that housing with respect to living culture of users in rural district must be developed. 3) In rural housing, they all had outdoor building (included storehouse, bathroom/toilet, kitchenet, etc.) relating to a series of work behavior. However, living environment was not to meet needs and characteristics of users.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.323-331
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• 2015

21st Century is getting into Super aging society worldwide basis. Among those population, silver(aged) generation users' physical condition, such as sight, hearing and body, is getting older, especially sight ability which processes 80% of input data, it requires us studying new smartphone GUI designs convergence for the elderly. In light of this social phenomenon, this study suggests smartphone GUI designs convergence guideline for the silver generation through the research of text, icon which are basic elements of smartphone GUI with proper visual attributes. I had inferred UX designs, expert group and evaluation categories from existing papers, related books and designed some displays for the survey. I also offered this guideline with the deep survey of 101 people over 65 years old.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.57 no.10
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• pp.579-587
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• 2019

Korea became an aged society as of 2018, and will have plunged into a super-aged society by 2025. For the dental treatment of elderly patients, their general conditions are to be considered to make appropriate treatment plans and strategies, based on advanced knowledge of geriatric dentistry and clinical experience. In this study, the social demand for geriatric dental specialists for the treatment of the elderly of Korea is investigated by looking at their general health conditions, ADL (Activities of Daily Living), and IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living), along with the review of the advanced training programs of geriatric dentistry in other countries.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.102-107
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• 2022

South Korea will soon be a super-aged society, as more than 20.6% of its population will be 65 years and older by 2025. As of 2022, 17.5% of the total population in South Korea is 65 years and older, which exceeds the set threshold for an aged society, where more than 14% of the population is 65 years and older. The proportion of older subway construction workers has increased. Aging workers and their work stress negatively impact their workability. A previous study demonstrated that the stress index measured using the uBioMacpa measurement device (Macpa stress index) had a significant correlation with work stress in South Korea. The device tests vascular health and measures stress levels via Macpa signal analysis. In this study, the pulse waves of subway construction workers were measured using uBioMacpa to identify their stress levels. The stress levels were analyzed by age, years of service, job position, employment type, and work type. Herein, these statistics could not be easily represented by a normal distribution; therefore, the Kruskal-Wallis test, a nonparametric statistical method, was used for the analysis of data. The results showed that age, job position, employment type, and working type affected the Macpa stress index and the stress levels of workers increased with age. In terms of job position, technical engineers were more stressed than other workers because of their poor working environment. In terms of employment type, daily-wage workers were more stressed than other workers. In terms of working type, tunneling, waterproofing, and construction scored the highest Macpa stress indexes without any significant difference, whereas earthworks scored the lowest. Based on the analysis of Macpa stress index, safety and health management plans were proposed to reduce the stress levels of workers. Moreover, a manual for efficient stress management must be developed for subway construction workers.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.165-173
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• 2022

Purpose : This study was conducted to apply a 12-week resistance exercise program to obese elderly people with sarcopenia and verify the risk factors of sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome as well as the effects of this program on improving muscle function, and thus to serve as basic data for preventing and improving sarcopenia. Methods : Forty elderly people aged 65 or older were recruited and underwent dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Based on the criteria of appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM/Height²: less than 5.4 kg/m²) and body fat percentage (at least 30 % for women and 25 % for men), 18 obese elderly people with sarcopenia were finally selected after excluding 22 elderly people who did not meet the criteria. Variables related to sarcopenia, metabolic syndrome, and muscle function were measured before the 12-week resistance exercise program. Results : The 12-week resistance exercise program significantly increased the bone density and muscle mass and decreased the fat mass and fat percentage in obese elderly with sarcopenia. The 12-week resistance exercise program significantly increased the HDL-C and decreased the LDL-C and waist circumference in obese elderly people with sarcopenia (p<.05). The 12-week resistance exercise program significantly increase grip strength, static balance, and 6-minute walking in obese elderly people with sarcopenia (p<.05). Conclusion : Accordingly, resistance exercise is considered a way to reduce the exorbitant medical expenses of patients who are bedridden for long and improve the lowered quality of individuals in a super-aged society.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2012

As of November 1st 2010, 59% of overall residences in Korea are apartments with 8,185,000 households and when including the multi-unit houses, 71.0% of the overall residences are multifamily houses. The apartments have become the most universal form of residence in Korea and its' relative weight will continuously increase in the future. Meanwhile, Korea has turned into aging society in 2000 and will turn into the super-aged society by 2026 to display the world's fastest speed for aging. Majority of the elderly will spend their declining years in apartments. To understand the residence consciousness and its' properties for unit housing of the elderly residing in apartments, the present study obtained the following results through surveying the 541 nationwide samples. First, the elderly most prefer the mid and high levels(6-9th floors, or 10-15th floors) of apartments. Second, the elderly couples most prefer areas of $85m^2$ while single elderly most prefer $60m^2$. Third, the elderly feel the most inconveniences in bathrooms and showers. Fourth, safety accidents in dwelling of the elderly have no significant correlation with age, gender or their possessed diseases. Fifth, the elderly displayed high satisfaction for their bedrooms. Sixth, there were less tendencies for elderly to feel lack of storage spaces or conduct remodeling. As a result of the analysis, all apartment houses of Korea must support the physical aging of residents and prevent safety accidents in houses to enable Korean aging in place.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.30-39
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• 2014

Korean society is running fast toward a super aging society. This means that new solutions for new problems of aged people are needed. An important area to prove is the aging-friendly neighborhood environments supporting casual contacts and meetings of old residents. This study attempts to suggest neighborhood design indicators which support casual contacts and meetings of old residents. The subjects were 24 professionals who had studied on housing environment for the elderly. They answered through the on-line questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of items which evaluate the appropriateness of classification of neighborhood area and the indicators of each area using 5-points Likert scale. Also open questions asking adding or eliminating areas or indicator and other opinions were included. On the basis of these answers, the aging-friendly neighborhood design indicators supporting contacts and meetings of old residents was developed. They are consisted of 7 areas in neighborhood and 60 indicators. Those areas were semi-public residential area, commercial area, cultural & educational area, health & medical area, park & green area, walkway, and public traffic facilities. This would be used to design the neighborhood environments that are aging-friendly and facilitating casual contacts and meetings of all residents, especially old residents.