Soo Jung Chang

Lived experiences of nursing home residents in Korea.

PURPOSE The goal of the study was to understand the experiences of life among nursing home residents. METHODS Qualitative study was conducted using Colaizzis phenomenological method. The participants were 11 people aged 76-96 years in two nursing homes in Korea. RESULTS Nine themes were identified: giving up on one self, growing apart from familiar relationships, perceiving the monotony of daily life as suffering, feeling anxious about ones future upon observing other residents, being dissatisfied with the lack of consideration for individualized care, developing interpersonal skills for communal life, missing the daily routines of their past lives, feeling optimistic about living in a nursing home, and having a strategy for the remainder of life in the nursing home. CONCLUSION The results of this study confirmed the positive and negative emotions that elderly people typically experience while in nursing homes. Nurses should educate the families of nursing home residents, so that the family can better respect elderly peoples opinions and provide them with adequate support. Furthermore, nurses must not only provide reliable support, resources and serve as advocates, but they must also pay more attention to the environment of the nursing home to make it feel like home to the elderly residents.

Older Adult Residents' Perceptions of Daily Lives in Nursing Homes

Purpose This study aimed to explore older adults’ perceptions of their daily lives in South Korean nursing homes. Design We employed a qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews. Methods We conducted individual, semistructured interviews with 21 older adult residents from five nursing homes in South Korea and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Findings Five themes related to older adults’ perceptions of their daily lives in nursing homes emerged: enhanced comfort, aspiring to maintain physical and cognitive functions as human beings, desire for meaningful interpersonal relationships, feelings of confinement and limited autonomy, and acceptance of and adaptation to life in a facility. These themes indicated the positive and negative aspects of nursing home residence, and facilitators and challenges to enhancing older adult residents’ quality of life (QOL). Conclusions Policy, practice, and research endeavors are required to improve older adult residents’ QOL, such as adequate professional nursing care for physical and psychological comfort and residents’ health and functional status, sufficient activity programs and meaningful relationships, person-centered care to enhance residents’ autonomy, and homelike environments. Clinical Relevance This study demonstrates that healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers should consider nursing home residents’ QOL to examine the quality of care within the setting and facilitate the development of appropriate strategies to improve QOL among this population.Abstract Purpose This study aimed to explore older adults’ perceptions of their daily lives in South Korean nursing homes. Design We employed a qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews. Methods We conducted individual, semistructured interviews with 21 older adult residents from five nursing homes in South Korea and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Findings Five themes related to older adults’ perceptions of their daily lives in nursing homes emerged: enhanced comfort, aspiring to maintain physical and cognitive functions as human beings, desire for meaningful interpersonal relationships, feelings of confinement and limited autonomy, and acceptance of and adaptation to life in a facility. These themes indicated the positive and negative aspects of nursing home residence, and facilitators and challenges to enhancing older adult residents’ quality of life (QOL). Conclusions Policy, practice, and research endeavors are required to improve older adult residents’ QOL, such as adequate professional nursing care for physical and psychological comfort and residents’ health and functional status, sufficient activity programs and meaningful relationships, person‐centered care to enhance residents’ autonomy, and homelike environments. Clinical Relevance This study demonstrates that healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers should consider nursing home residents’ QOL to examine the quality of care within the setting and facilitate the development of appropriate strategies to improve QOL among this population.

Validation of the health literacy scale for diabetes as a criterion-referenced test with standard setting procedures

OBJECTIVE To develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Korean Health Literacy Scale for Diabetes Mellitus (KHLS-DM), and to establish reasonable cutoff scores. METHODS Initially, 299 items were generated to measure diabetes-related words, numeracy, and information utilization. Content validity assessment and preliminary tests were conducted. After exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Rasch analysis, the remaining 65 items were administered to a quota sample of 500 diabetic patients aged 40-74 years. The items were narrowed down to 58 items based on an item fit index. To obtain cutoff scores, Jaegers method and the Bookmark method were employed. RESULTS A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed, and a three-factor model was supported (χ2/df = 3.891, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.04). The overall scores ranged from 0 to 58, and two cutoff points were established. The scale exhibited good internal consistency (Cronbachs α = 0.83). CONCLUSIONS The KHLS-DM is a reliable and valid measure with cutoff points to classify individuals into three groups (adequate, marginal, and inadequate). PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS The standard setting may be useful for researchers to validate health literacy measures in other countries and populations.

Factors Affecting Successful Aging in Rural Elderly People

Abstract This study was done to examine the affecting factors of successful aging to provide basic information for developing intervention program for the rural elderly. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. Data was collected through questionnaire from 208 people with age over 65 residing in an rural community. They were recruited by convenience sampling. Collected data were analyzed by independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearsons correlation coefficients, and multiple regression through SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. Results: Explanatory factors affecting the rural elderlys successful aging were social support, depression, cognitive function, productive activity and Activities of daily living, respectively, and these five factors accounted for 42.1% of the variance in successful aging. Conclusion: The rural elderlys successful aging requires establishment of social support system such as health medical service supply and social activities by being connected with social communities, and for this, this study suggests that there be a necessity of developing customized nursing intervention program.