Research Reports
Health Status of the Rural Elderly and Policy Issues
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AuthorCho, Mihyoung
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Publication Date2013.12.30
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Original
Background of Research
This study is designed to investigate the health status of the rural elderly and how they are caring for themselves for health promotion and suggest potential solutions for frail elderly people based on the collaboration between health and welfare services. Health promotion for frail elderly people is to slow the pace of them falling into the state of requiring medical needs and long-term care services. To enhance the effectiveness of the health-related services for the frail elderly people, the healthcare sector and social welfare sector should build a cooperative system. In rural areas where aging has been more rapid, the importance of health-caring for the elderly is being magnified, and services for frail elderly people are urgently necessary.
Method of Research
This study conducted the literature review, survey, case study, focus group interview, secondary analysis of existing raw data, and researches commissioned. In order to identify the health status of the rural elderly, raw data from the “Community Health Survey” of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used for the analysis of 2010. Also, in a survey on the health status of rural frail elderly people, a target population of 628 persons were surveyed for 3 weeks from August of 2013.
Research Results and Implications
For better policies related with the rural elderly's health status, the health sector and social welfare sector need to be linked together with the aim of supporting their healthy life. Although the prevalence rate of disease of the former was lower than that of the latter, the quality of life perceived by the rural elderly was lower than that by the urban elderly. The rural elderly had to work for a living, although they felt burdened. Their prevalence rate of arthritis was higher due to farm working and the inconvenient housing environment. The elderly who could conduct the eight actions of IADL(Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) by themselves amounted to 45.9 percent. The male aged had needs for indoor activities, while the female aged had needs for outdoor activities. Furthermore, many elderly people thought that not skipping meals and walking or taking moderate exercise were more helpful for maintaining health than working out or participating in physical activities. Social services for the rural elderly have to be designed based on an understanding of their rural life, considering their sociological characteristics, their state of disease prevalence and health status, etc.
To develop health enhancement policy for the rural frail elderly people, the Ministry of Health & Welfare and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Korea need to share the role. And the social service delivery system should be developed based on the community in collaboration with the central government and local government, and connecting the health sector and social welfare sector is also needed. For rural areas, the role of primary health care posts needs to be strengthened and repositioned, and transportation service, public meals service, and bathing facilities need to be expanded. When administering inhome services to eliminate blind spots in elderly care, the local community's efforts to reflect local characteristics need to go side by side.
Researchers: Mihyoung Cho, Dae-Shik Park, Yong-Woog Choi
Research Period: 2013. 1 〜 2013. 12
E-mail address: mihyoung@krei.re.kr
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