Living arrangements, housing related preferences, informal support, and the use of formal services among community resident Korean elderly persons

摘要

In all, 102 Korean elderly persons aged 60 and over living in New York State were interviewing by telephone. Four groups were identified by their living arrangements: living only with spouse(39), living only with children (22), living with children and spouse (20) and living alone (17). Those who lived with children as well as their spouse were younger, had migrated to the United States more recently, and were least satisfied with their living arrangements. Those who lived only with their children or alone tended to be poor elderly widows whereas those who lived only with their spouses were younger, more educated, migrated to the United States earlier and were more acculturated.;Whereas most respondents were satisfied with their living arrangements, the least satisfied were those living with children, whether only with children or with spouse and children. Those living with spouse and children were the only group that preferred a different living arrangement: one-half preferred to live only with their spouse. Those living alone were particularly interested in senior housing (58.8%). There were no differences in use of amount of informal or formal supports by living arrangements. There were many differences, however, between those who lived in ethnically homogeneous and heterogeneous communities. Those in homogeneous communities, like in New York City, were older, poorer, had immigrated more recently, were more likely to rent than to own their home, and used more informal and formal supports.;Even if there were to be demands for formal services such as home care service, meal delivery program, and senior transportation, these services were rarely available for the Korean elderly persons. Among the respondents, the degrees of utilization of formal services are determined by their incomes, English language skills, living arrangements, ADLs/IADLs, informal supports, and place of residences. Implications and strategies are discussed for developing effective informal and formal support networks, as well as implementing social service interventions for the neglected Korean elderly population.