Successful Aging and the Influencing Factors in the Korean Elderly: Focused on Family Support

PURPOSE: This research was conducted to examine the successful aging and identify factors influencing successful aging in the Korean elderly. METHODS: The subjects were 4,507 elders and data were collected from the 4th Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing in 2012. The data were analyzed using frequencies, weighted percentage, chi2 test, and logistic regression. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that 19.6% of the participants were categorized to successful aging. The domains of the absence of disease and disability and maintaining physical and mental functioning showed a high rate of achievement, while the domain of active engagement with life showed a low rate of achievement compared to others. Successful aging was influenced by gender, age, subjective economic status, subjective health status, and family support, particularly spouse's support. CONCLUSION: Intervention programs to increase the prevalence of successful aging are required. Especially programs for strengthening spouse's support and enhancing subjective health status are required.

The Comparison of Health Behaviors, Use of Health Services, and Health Expenditures among Diabetic Patients according to the Practice of Exercise

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the use of health services and health expenditures between non-exercise and exercise groups of diabetic patients and among three groups divided according to exercise intensity. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Korean Health Panel Survey of 2011. The participants of this study were 864 diabetic patients who did exercise (walk, moderate exercise, or vigorous exercise) or not. Data were subsequently analyzed using the SPSS 21 Program. RESULTS: The exercise group showed higher percentages of medication compliance, non-smokers, and regular diet than the non-exercise group. The hospitalization percentage, the number of outpatient hospital visits, and health expenditures were higher in the non-exercise group than in the exercise group. There was no difference among the three groups divided according to exercise intensity in the use of health services and health expenditures. CONCLUSION: These results show that exercise is a way to reduce diabetic patients' use of health services and their health expenditures.

Conditions of Workplace Violence Experience among Workers in the Distribution Industry

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explore violence experienced by workers in the distribution industry. METHODS: The research subjects were 236 workers from 2 department stores and 1 large scale discount store located in Daejeon City, Korea. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, chi2-test, and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: 72.9% of the research subjects experienced verbal violence, and 9.3% of the respondents experienced physical violence during last year. 17.8% of the respondents reported that they had experience of sexual harassment at their workplaces. The variables which affected verbal violence included working departments and stress level, whereas the variable that affected physical violence was educational level of workers. The variables that affected experience of sexual harassment turned out to be gender as well as the duration of work at the current workplaces. CONCLUSION: The findings from this research revealed that many of the workers engaged in the distribution industry were exposed to workplace violence. For the reduction of risk of workplace violence for these workers, it is required to develop and execute programs including violence related policies and education about workplace violence.

An Exploratory Study of Factors associated with the Health Behavior of Working Elderly with Chronic Diseases

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify the health behaviors of working elderly Koreans aged 65 over and examined the socio-demographic and disease-related factors by health behaviors. METHODS: This study used data obtained from the 2nd basic survey of the 2008 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. We selected 381 working elderly having one or more of the diseases hypertension, diabetes, heart disease or cerebrovascular disease. RESULTS: 78.9% out of the subjects have hypertension, 31.2% have diabetes, 12.3% have heart disease, and 6.3% have cerebrovascular disease. Compared to the health behaviors of the general elderly, the rate of the practice of regular exercise among the subjects was lower, but the smoking and drinking rate were higher. The significant variables associated with health behavior practice rates were gender, type of work, subjective health status and chronic diseases. CONCLUSION: The type of work of the elderly with chronic diseases was significantly associated with health behaviors. Consequently, this study found that continuous care programs for the working elderly with chronic diseases should be developed and provided as an occupational health service when the jobs are offered to them.

The Coping Process of Chief Executive Nurses(CENs) Who Had Experienced Unexpected Dismissal / 산업간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the coping process of chief Executive Nurses(CENs) Who Had Experienced Unexpected Dismissal.The research question was "would you tell me about your experience of sudden dismissal?" METHOD: The methodology of collecting and analyzing data used in this study followed the ground theory of Strauss and Corbin (1998). Data were collected through in-depth interviews with open-ended questions about the subjects' coping experiences, which were audio-taped and transcribed. The survey was conducted between April and May, 2007. The subjects of this study were 5 CENs. RESULT: The results of the study are as follows. Core category of This Study was "Battling unsupported against the overwhelming reality." The participants had to face the most unexpected reality of being laid off. Their emotional/psychological response were betrayal, powerlessness, lonesomeness, sorrow, and hopelessness. They felt like a general who is facing overwhelming enemy in a war. The coping process was found to have four stages: shocked stage, resisting stage, negotiating stage and reflecting and transcending stage. CONCLUSION: The result of this study suggested that ceaseless exertion and cooperation at organizational and individual levels are needed to establish stable status and power of nursing departments and CENs in hospitals.

The Effect of Occupational Health Service for the Aged Workers in Small Workplaces / 산업간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of occupational health service(OHS) for the aged workers in small workplace. METHOD: A single group of pretest-posttest design was used. 608 aged workers of 253 small workplace who had one out of 4 risk factors were randomly selected. The OHS consisted of education, medical checkup, and counseling. Also information was provided by a visiting nurse 4-5 times every 4-5 weeks from March to November, 2009. The data were collected by interview, self report, and monitored by a nurse. RESULTS: The OHS led to significant reduction of the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures of 6.46mmHg and 5.22mmHg, each respectively. The mean total cholesterol, glucose, and BMI were also reduced significantly by 6.35mg/dL, 5.91mg/dL, and 0.31kg/m2. And stages of health behavioral change were moved from 1,2,3 stages to 4,5 stages significantly. CONCLUSION: The OHS showed an effective intervention to improve the aged workers' health in the small workplaces. Therefore, The OHS by visiting a nurse can be a good strategy to extend to small & medium-sized companies having no in-site health manager.