Factors Affecting Perceived Health of Elders in Welfare Centers for Senior Citizens

Park, Jung Hee; Yom, Young Hee; Lee, Kyu Eun

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was done to identify the relationship of life satisfaction, family support, physical health and demographic characteristics to perceived health, and to identify factors affecting perceived health of elderly participating in programs in welfare centers for senior citizens. METHOD: The research design for this study was a descriptive survey design using a convenience sampling. Data collection was done using self-questionnaire with 211 elders from 2 welfare centers for senior citizens located in Seoul. ANOVA, t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients and hierachical multiple regression with the SPSS Win 12.0 Program were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
The mean score for degree of perceived health was 3.27+/-0.91. Perceived health had a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction (r= .362, p< .001), family support (r= .403, p< .001), physical health (r= .424, p< .001). The explained variance for perceived health was 37.9%. Among the variables, physical health (beta= .175, p= .014), life satisfaction (beta= .208, p= .002), and family support (beta= .277, p< .001) significantly predicted the degree of perceived health.
CONCLUSION
Findings of this study provide a comprehensive understanding of perceived health and related factors for elders in Korea. However, further study with a larger random sample from various living environment is necessary.