• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.95-104
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• 2014

Today, the number of the elderly living alone without any family members is on a sharp rise, and those aged people living alone are making these social issues such as solitary death, depression and suicide more popular. In order to resolve the issues, some of the local governments have been supporting the elderly living alone in common houses that would be used by senior citizens only. This study became interested in this 'carnation house' which has been carried out targeting the elderly living alone in Gyeonggi-do, and selected elementary universal design factors that should be applied to general residential environments of the aged people and analyzed the factors. As a case study, this research investigated four carnation houses as research subjects and came up with these following ideas about how to make improvements. First, the study found out that all the entrances did not have raised letters and that UD has not been satisfactorily applied to both the thresholds and the effective widths, and that is considered something to be fixed. Second, in case of regular rooms and living rooms, none of the rooms failed to have safety doorknobs which should have been installed and plus, thresholds and stepped pulleys need to be removed, Third, it goes the same with the kitchens, and the thresholds should be eliminated while cabinets are secured. In addition, furniture that understands the elderly's measurements should be used. Fourth, in terms of restrooms, they should be designed to be spacious enough not to cause anyone in wheelchairs inconvenience, and the study suggests that the effective widths should be widened and that both the safety doorknobs and the emergency calls must be installed. Basically, after the test on the UD adaptability, the study concluded that the application rates in connection with the adaptability were low which led the study to assume that such result has been gained due to the lack of installation standards in relation to the common living facilities of the elderly. The study now argues that purposes of buildings should be first clarified and then, these detailed space planning guidelines that deal with general characteristics of the aged people should be established.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2020

Purpose: This study investigated awareness of dying well, as well as attitudes and preferences toward advance directives (ADs), among elderly individuals who lived alone. Methods: The participants were 173 elderly people living alone. Data were collected from July 2019 to September 2019 using questionnaires on perceptions of dying well, awareness of advance directives, and general characteristics. Results: The majority of participants (68.2%) stated that they had never heard of advance directives. The information they requested to include in their advance directives mostly involved decisions on pain treatment, such as the use of analgesic drugs in the final stages of a terminal disease. Perceptions of dying well were statistically significantly different according to age and education. Conclusion: This study discussed the attitudes and preferences of elderly living alone regarding advance directives to provide basic resources for the systematic and active use of advance directives.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of an arthritis self-management program on elderly women living alone in the community. Methods: This study recruited 36 individuals, who participated in the program once a week for six weeks at two community centers. The program consisted of muscle strengthening and flexibility exercises, health education on muscles and joints, and joint dance for aerobic exercise. The data collected were analyzed using the paired t-test and Wilcoxon rank test. Results: After six weeks, participants showed significant improvements in pain (t=3.03, p=.005), difficulties in activities of daily living (t=2.77, p=.010), health-related quality of life (t=-2.63, p=.014), flexibility of right shoulder (z=-2.42, p=.015), and balance (right leg, t=-2.63, p=.036; left leg, z=-2.36, p=.018). Conclusion: The results showed that the arthritis self-management program effectively improved outcomes for elderly women living alone. Thus, this program could be incorporated into various programs for elderly people living alone.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.310-321
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of the elderly's health statuses, health behavior, and social relations on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) according to their family types. Methods: The subjects of this study were 1000 elderly persons (298 living alone, 420 living with their spouses, and 282 living with their family)living in C city in Gangwon Province. Data were collected through structured questionnaires from July 20 to September 30, 2015. The SPSS/WIN program was used for data analysis. Results: The HRQoL of the elderly living alone was much lower than the other groups. The most influential factors on the HRQoL include self-rated health and depressive symptoms in all three groups. Social activities and skipping meals were associated with the HRQoL of the elderly living alone and living with their spouses, while marital status, number of chronic disease, and instrumental activities of daily living were associated with the HRQoL of the elderly living with their family. Conclusion: Nurses should take into account family types when designing interventions for improving the HRQoL of the elderly.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 2023

Purpose: This study sought to identify factors affecting the health-related quality of life (HINT-8) of female seniors aged 65 years or older living alone after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Raw data from the eighth third year (2021) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was used, and the total number of subjects was 379. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 program, employing complex sample frequency and percentages, t-tests, analyses of variance, and regression analyses, while a post-hoc test (Bonferroni correction) was performed to determine differences in health-related quality of life. Results: The results of the study showed that the study subjects' health-related quality of life differed significantly depending on activity restrictions, number of walking days, age at menopause, perceived stress, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and subjective health. Most of the influencing factors were emotional factors such as perceived stress level, generalized anxiety disorder, and subjective health status carrying an explanatory power of 46%. Conclusion: The results of this study can be used as basic data to establish intervention strategies based on factors that affect the health-related quality of life for female seniors living alone.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.29-38
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to examine the spouse effects on depressive symptom and suicidal thinking among the elderly aged 65 and over in Korea. The subjects selected from the database of the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES IV) conducted by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2009. Those who were female, older, lower educated, or poorer were more likely to live alone than their counterparts respectively. The elderly living alone experienced depressive symptom as 2.0 times(OR=2.004, 95% CI=1.433, 2.803) as, and suicidal thinking as 1.6 times(OR=1.567, 95% CI=1.111, 2.211) as the elderly couples did, adjusting for socio-economic factor, health status factors, and health behaviors factors. As for the male subgroup, the elderly living alone experienced depressive symptom as 4.0 times(OR=3.997, 95% CI=2.066, 7.732) as, and suicidal thinking as 3.2 times(OR=3.181, 95% CI=1.535, 6.592) as the elderly couples did. On the other hands, there was no significant difference in depressive symptoms and suicidal thinking between the female elderly living alone and couples. The authors suggested policy interventions to promote the mental health of the male elderly living alone.

• 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.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of telephone intervention on the reduction of depression after the intervention for the elderly living alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. A one-group pretest and posttest design was used to examine changes in depression level following telephone intervention a once a week for 10 weeks. The subjects of this study were older adults aged 65 registered with 3 social welfare institutions in Wonju, and a total of 114 elderly completed a questionnaire before and after the intervention. Telephone intervention was provided by 56 nursing student volunteers, and each student was in charge of 2-3 elderly people. The depression score decreased from 6.59±3.74 before the intervention to 5.01±3.34 after the intervention (t=4.959, p<.001). Study findings suggest that telephone intervention is effective as an emotional support for the elderly living alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research is needed to expand the scope of various subjects and regions, including the elderly not living alone.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.242-253
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with physical activity in older adults living alone. Methods: This is cross-sectional, correlational study used secondary data from the 2019 Community Health Survey. The participants were 19,134 older adults aged 65 years or older and living alone. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the 𝜒² test, and linear regression with the SPSS/WIN 27.0 program. Results: The participants' average amount of physical activity was 1,359.32 MET-min/week; 50.7% were inactive, 38.6% were minimally active, and 10.7% were health-promoting active. Demographic factors that predicted physical activity were gender, age, education level and monthly income, whereas health behavior factors included subjective health status and high risk drinking (R²=.055, p<.001). Psychological factors were sleeping time, stress, depression and fear of falling, and social factors included social contact with neighbors or friends, and participation in social or leisure activites(R²=.070, p<.001). Conclusion: It is important to determine the level of physical activity in older adults living alone. Demographic characteristics, health behaviors, psychological factors, and social factors should be considered in the development of specific and integrated nursing interventions to increase physical activity in older adults.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.43-60
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Pansori creative therapy focusing on a vocal sound on the self-efficacy of older adults living alone. Participants were 6 aged people who were living alone and who attended S Welfare Center for aged people. Pansori creative programs were provided twice a week for 6 weeks. The program consisted of 5 stages that had 50 minutes for each section. Quantitative data were collected from a pre-and post-self-efficacy scale (Park, Gyung-min, 1994) in order to confirm the changes in self-efficacy of the participants. Results showed statistical significance in self-efficacy scores (p < .05). In addition, positive verbal comments on decreased performance anxiety were found from participants during interviews conducted after the completion of Pansori creative program.