Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T20:46:04.765Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Successful ageing among low-income older people in South Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2008

SOONDOOL CHUNG  and
SOO-JUNG PARK
SOONDOOL CHUNG*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
SOO-JUNG PARK
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
*
Address for correspondence: Graduate School of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University, 11-1 Daehyun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-750, Korea. E-mail: sdchung@ewha.ac.kr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate ‘successful ageing’ among low income elderly people in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). A sample of men and women aged 65 or more years who received welfare benefits and social welfare services from senior welfare centres and who had good cognition were identified and recruited by the staff of eight such centres in Seoul, the capital city of the country. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a structured questionnaire using measures and instruments that were selected following a literature review and previous studies of low-income older people. The survey instrument was pre-tested with seven subjects to ensure the comprehensibility of the items, and 220 main interviews were conducted in the respondents' homes and at senior welfare centres during October and November 2006. Factor analysis identified three factors in successful ageing: ‘a positive attitude towards life’, ‘success of adult children’, and ‘relationships with others’. Men reported higher scores on successful ageing than women. It was concluded that the concept of ‘successful ageing’ does apply to low-income elderly people in Korean, although its components have little to do with material or social success as conceived by previous studies of the general elderly population in either western or Asian countries.

Keywords

successful ageinglow-income older peoplecommunity residentsstrengthsSouth Korea
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 28 , Issue 8 , November 2008 , pp. 1061 - 1074
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Administration on Statistics 2006. Welfare and Health Guide for the Elderly in Korea. Republic of Korea, Seoul.Google Scholar
Anon 2007. There is no alternative for later life among Seoul citizen aged 40 and over. Dong-A (daily newspaper, Seoul), 20 November.Google Scholar
Baltes, M. M. and Lang, F. R. 1997. Everyday functioning and successful aging: the impact of resources. Psychology and Aging, 12, 3, 433–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, R. N. 1985. Productive Aging. Springer Publishing Company, New York.Google Scholar
Chang, S., Choi, Y. and Kim, D. 2004. Unequal chance for reaching successful aging: socio-economic difference for older adults. The Gerontologist, 44, 1, 140.Google Scholar
Chapin, R. and Cox, E. O. 2001. Changing the paradigm: strengths-based and empowerment-oriented social work with frail elders. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 36, 3/4, 165–79.Google Scholar
Charbonneau-Lyons, D. L., Mosher-Ashley, P. M. and Standford-Pollock, M. 2002. Opinions of college students and independent-living adults regarding successful aging. Educational Gerontology, 28, 823–33.Google Scholar
Choi, H., Back, G. and Seo, S. 2005. The perception of successful aging among Korean elderly. Journal of the Korea Home Management, 23, 2, 1–10.Google Scholar
Chou, K. L. and Chi, I. 2002. Successful aging among the young-old, and oldest-old Chinese. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 54, 1, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chung, K., Oh, Y., Suck, J., Do, S., Kim, C., Lee, Y. and Kim, H. 2005. The 2004 National Survey of the Life and Welfare Needs of Older People. Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs, Seoul.Google Scholar
Chung, S. 2003. Living arrangement and life satisfaction in the low-income elderly. Journal of the Korea Family Welfare, 11, 59–79.Google Scholar
Chung, S. 2008. Residential status and depression among Korean older people: a comparison between residents of nursing home and those based in the community. Health and Social Care in the Community, 16, 4, 370–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collings, P. 2001. If you got everything, it's good enough: perspectives on successful aging in a Canadian Inuit community. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 16, 2, 155–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crosnoe, R. and Elder, G. H. 2002. Successful adaptation in the later years. Social Psychology Quarterly, 65, 4, 309–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeVellis, R. F. 1991. Scale Development: Theory and Applications. Sage, New York.Google Scholar
Fisher, B. J. 1995. Successful aging, life satisfaction, and generativity in later life. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 41, 3, 239–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, B. J. and Specht, D. K. 1999. Successful aging and creativity in later life. Journal of Aging Studies, 13, 4, 457–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garfein, A. J. and Herzog, A. R. 1995. Robust aging among the young-old, old-old, and oldest-old. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 50B, 2, S77–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guse, L. W. and Masesar, M. A. 1999. Quality of life and successful aging in long-term care: perceptions of residents. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 20, 6, 527–39.Google ScholarPubMed
Hong, S. 1999. Scale development and validity used the item response theory and factor analysis. Paper presented at the 3rd Workshop of Korean Clinical Psychology, Cheju City, Korea, 2–3 July.Google Scholar
Hong, H. 2005. The relationship between productive activities and successful aging among the aged. Journal of Welfare for the Aged, 29, 203–35.Google Scholar
Hsu, H. 2007. Exploring elderly people's perspectives on successful ageing in Taiwan. Ageing & Society, 27, 1, 87–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendig, H. 2004. The social sciences and successful aging: issues for Asia-Oceania. Geriatrics and Gerontological International, 4, S5–11.Google Scholar
Kim, M., Shin, K., Choi, H. and Kang, M. 2005. The factor of successful aging types in Korean elderly. Journal of the Korea Gerontological Society, 26, 1, 91–104.Google Scholar
Kirk, A. and Rittner, B. 1993. Old and poor: comparison of female and male meal program participant. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 19, 3/4, 207–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laferriere, R. H. and Hammel-Bissell, B. P. 1994. Successful aging of oldest old women in the northeastern kingdom of Vermont. Journal of Nursing Scholarships, 26, 4, 319–23.Google ScholarPubMed
Laidlaw, K., Power, M. and Quinn, K. 2004. Active aging: a 10-step programme to increase health longevity The Gerontologist, 44, 1, 53–5.Google Scholar
Lassey, W. R. and Lassey, M. L. 2001. Quality of Life for Older People: An International Perspective. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Lee, H. and Lim, J. 2005. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 12.0 Manual. Beopmunsa, Seoul.Google Scholar
Lee, J. and Cho, S. 2007. A Study on the New Direction for Senior Welfare Facilities. Seoul Welfare Foundation, Seoul.Google Scholar
Lee, Y. 2000. Life attitudes and satisfaction on welfare services of the low income elderly. Journal of the Korea Welfare for the Aged, 10, 1, 221–46.Google Scholar
Lim, E. and Lee, K. 2003. Effect of physical ability, depression and social support on quality of life in low income elders living at home. Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing, 5, 1, 38–49.Google Scholar
Lueg, J. E. and Finney, R. Z. 2007. Interpersonal communication in the consumer socialization process: scale development and validation. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 15, 1, 25–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meeks, S. and Murrell, S. A. 2001. Contribution of education to health and life satisfaction in older adults mediated by negative affect. Journal of Aging and Health, 13, 1, 92–119.Google Scholar
Mitchell, B. A. 2002. Successful aging: integrating contemporary ideas, research findings and intervention strategies. Family Relations, 51, 3, 283–90.Google Scholar
Paik, J. and Choi, H. 2005. Successful aging according to Korean elderly: the definition, types and predicting variables. Journal of the Korean Home Management Association, 23, 3, 1–16.Google Scholar
Park, K. and Lee, Y. 2002. A study on perceptions of successful aging in later life. Journal of the Korea Gerontological Society, 22, 3, 53–66.Google Scholar
Phelan, E. A., Anderson, L. A., LaCroix, A. Z. and Larson, E. B. 2004. Older adults' views of ‘successful aging’: how do they compare with researchers' definitions? Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 52, 2, 211–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poindexter, C. C., Valentien, D. and Conway, P. 1999. Essential Skills for Human Services. Brooks/Cole, Belmont, California.Google Scholar
Rowe, J. W. and Kahn, R. L. 1997. Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37, 4, 433–40.Google Scholar
Reker, G. T. 2002. Prospective predictors of successful aging in community-residing and institutionalized Canadian elderly. Aging International, 27, 1, 42–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roobina, O. 1990. Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity. Journal of Advertising, 31, February, 39–52.Google Scholar
Roos, N. P. and Havens, B. 1991. Predictors of successful aging: a twelve-year study of Manitoba elderly. American Journal of Public Health, 81, 1, 63–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryff, C. D. 1989. Beyond Ponce de Leon and life satisfaction; new direction in quest of successful aging. International Journal of Behavior Development, 12, 1, 5–55.Google Scholar
Schulz, R. and Heckhausen, J. 1996. A life span model of successful aging. American Psychologist, 51, 7, 702–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Son, W. and Jung, O. 1999. An ecological approach to study the subjective well-being of the elderly receiving home-based social services. Journal of the Korea Gerontological Society, 19, 1, 83–103.Google Scholar
Sung, H. and Cho, H. 2006. A study of successful aging model: using the component of Rowe and Kahn. Journal of the Korea Gerontological Society, 22, 2, 75–93.Google Scholar
Stevens, J. 1992. Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences. Second edition, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Thompson, B. and Daniel, L. G. 1996. Factor analytic evidence for the construct validity of scores: a historical overview and some guidelines. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 56, 2, 197–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torres, S. 2003. A preliminary test of culturally-relevant theoretical framework for the study of successful aging. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 18, 1, 79–100.Google Scholar
Yoo, G. 2006. Changing views on family diversity in urban Korea. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 37, 1, 59–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Y., Frick, K. and Phelan, E. 2004. A successful aging concept paper: can successful aging and chronic disease coexists in the same individual? The Gerontologist, 44, 1, 142–4.Google Scholar