The purpose of this study was to examine influential factors upon senior club participants' desire to work according to the programs of senior club. The purpose of senior club is to promote elderly people's participation in work, increase their qualit...
The purpose of this study was to examine influential factors upon senior club participants' desire to work according to the programs of senior club. The purpose of senior club is to promote elderly people's participation in work, increase their quality of living and satisfaction with life, and make them positioned not as an alienated class but as a social member.
In order to examine the purpose of this study, participants' demographic features, program participation motives and satisfaction-related characteristics were established as independent variables. Participants' demographic features consisted of gender, age, schooling, family type, the standard of living, monthly income, health status, occupation in the past and the period of participation in senior club. The program characteristics consisted of business type, participation motive, the period of business participation, daily working hour, business participation-oriented monthly income, the help of consultation with the person in charge of business and satisfaction with the program of business.
Two senior clubs were sampled out of four of them in Seoul. Study subjects were elderly people who took part in the program of business in Gwanak Senior Club and Jongno Senior Club. The type of business was classified into three: Social enterprise, native business and elderly people employing business. Sampled elderly people were five for the social enterprise, five for the native business and eight for the elderly people employing business. And an in-depth interview with them was carried out.
Influential factors upon the desire to work in Gwanak Senior Club and Jongno Senior Club were the same. As for the social enterprise, influential factors upon the desire to work were business type, participation motive, monthly income, and satisfaction with the program. As for the native business, influential factors upon the desire to work were monthly income and satisfaction with the program. And as for the elderly people employing business, influential factors upon the desire to work were daily working hour and satisfaction with the program. However, the two clubs presented difference in the consultation with the person in charge of business. Only in Gwanak Senior Club's native business and Jongno Senior Club's social enterprise, the consultation with the person in charge of business had influence upon their desire to work.
In order for the senior club project to be dealt not as the meaning of getting out of poverty but as an influential factor upon the long-term development of country, the investigator presented following suggestions for the role of senior club in the promotion of elderly people's participation in work:
First, since the primary aim of senior club is to activate elderly people's working, cultivate native business, make elderly people support themselves, and create economical values, it is necessary for market-type business to take part in actively.
Second, in order to secure elderly people's economy, it is necessary to increase the number of social enterprise.
Third, it is necessary to train participating elderly people. Since participating elderly people must receive continuous and periodical education about specialized knowledge and technology, it is necessary to develop the program of education systematically.
Fourth, by selecting the area that could satisfy the capability and desire of elderly people in physical/psychological/emotional area via consultation, it is necessary to provide elderly people not only the opportunities of periodical consultation for employment, but also the opportunities of enhancing their aptitude and desire to work in the agency of the project participated.
Fifth, it is necessary to promote the participation of senior club and community network. Since it is difficult to establish and operate the agency of project, it is necessary to make community network operated in a self-supporting manner.
Sixth, since ordinary citizens have no knowledge about or evade from successful services or products provided by the business in which elderly people participated, it is necessary to change the perception of the public.
Wages are important for elderly people. But elderly people's pride and sense of accomplishment, acquired from working, have great meaning that cannot be estimated with monetary values. Since welfare budget has limitation, senior clubs and related agencies must cooperate and try to create works for elderly people actively. In this vein, it is necessary to provide unsparing social supports and efforts to the increase of elderly people's participation in society, by establishing the perception that elderly people are helpful for society and by carrying out active public relations.