Community-based Nursing Care for Elders in Korea

초록

Korean society entered the era of an aging society in the year 2000 when the elders aged 65 and over reached 7.1% of the entire population, and it is estimated this proportion will continuously increase. Of the aged population, 99.7% live in communities, and a large number of them need long-term institutionalized care with a high level of caring needs. Morever, the health and welfare policy for the aged in Korea is directed at promoting home and community-based care rather than institution-based caer. Accordingly, the nursing needs of those living in communities would continuously increase in both their amount and kind. Gerontological nursing in Korea is very young, and corresponds to the sociodemographic aging experience of the society. Public health agencies are major providers of nursing services to elderly people in communities. However, their clients are mostly low-income elders with disabilities. The services need to expand further to include middle-income elders. We need to make continuous efforts for developing gerontological nursing manpower to raise the quality of nursing care, and the satisfaction of nurses as well. Nurses should be part of personnel in community-based welfare centers. In particular, those centers caring for elders with CVA and dementia should have a nurse as a regular staff. Nursing interventions for elders, once developed, need to be disseminated to relevant fields. Development of nursing guidelines for nurses working in various settings would be beneficial. Nursing services for family members of elders are rarely provided. Many elders with long-term care needs live in communities with family care because of lack of long-term care facilities, negative attitudes towards institutionalization, and financial difficulties. In order for the government policy, of focusing on community-based care for elders, to succeed, there should be adequate support services for families under a high level of care burden.