Korea is rapidly changing the whole country into a super-aged society. As the elderly population grows dramatically, the local financial burden increases and care resources and manpower become scarce. In particular, in the case of provinces, the occur...
Korea is rapidly changing the whole country into a super-aged society. As the elderly population grows dramatically, the local financial burden increases and care resources and manpower become scarce. In particular, in the case of provinces, the occurrence of caring blind spots or caring gaps becomes severe. Therefore, this study aims to present a strengthening regional care capacity model by stage in super-aged society for building a local care system for super-aged societies.
To this end, the research is conducted in four stages.
First, after grasping the current status of aging in Korea using statistical data, the stages of a super-aged society are subdivided.
Second, through the analysis of previous studies such as capacity strengthening, integrated care, region, and community, the basis for research is established, and the criteria and elements for strengthening regional care capacity in super-aged societies are derived.
Third, business items for each capacity building factor are derived through analysis of policy cases of regional integrated care.
Fourth, through a survey of experts in the fields of welfare, medical care, and housing, the criteria and factors for strengthening regional care capacity at each stage of a super-aged society are selected.
The research results derived by synthesizing research contents such as previous studies, expert surveys, and policy case studies are as follows.
First, as a result of analyzing the trend of increasing the proportion of the elderly population in Korea, the super-aged society is subdivided into three stages. If the ratio of the elderly population is 20∼34%, it is subdivided into the first stage of a super-aged society, if it is 35∼49%, it is subdivided into the second stage of a super-aged society, and if it is 50% or more, it is subdivided into the third stage of a super-aged society.
Second, through the analysis of previous studies, five criteria and 15 elements for strengthening regional care capacity in super-aged societies are presented. The five criteria are 'strengthening individual capabilities', 'strengthening community capabilities', 'strengthening organizational capabilities', 'strengthening regional values', and 'strengthening institutional values'. Looking at the elements of each criteria, 'strengthening individual capacity' is divided into three elements: 'physical activity ability', 'cognitive/discriminatory ability', and 'social relationship formation'. ‘Strengthening community capabilities' is divided into 'regional participation capacity', 'regional resource expertise', and 'regional resource network'. 'Strengthening organizational capabilities' is presented as three elements: 'training professional manpower', 'regional-institutional linkage and cooperation system', and 'regional resource discovery and case management system'. ‘Strengthening regional values' is divided into four elements: 'social care value', 'training and supporting regional economic organizations', 'dedicated department and job standardization', and 'monitoring and evaluation system'. In addition, 'strengthening institutional values' is presented as two elements: 'establishing a legal and institutional basis' and 'procedural democratization and participatory governance'.
Third, 33 project items for each strengthening regional care capacity element are presented by analyzing the project contents of 13 regions corresponding to the elderly and convergence types among the community integrated care leading projects.
Fourth, by analyzing the results of the expert survey, it present important rankings of the criteria and elements for strengthening regional care capacity at each stage of the super-aged society.
The pre-super-aged society stage is investigated in the order of 'strengthening individual capabilities', 'strengthening community capabilities', 'strengthening organizational capabilities', 'strengthening regional values', and 'strengthening institutional values'. ‘Strengthening individual capabilities’ is 'physical activity ability', 'cognitive/discriminatory ability', and 'social relationship formation' in order. 'Strengthening community capabilities' is in the order of 'regional resource expertise' and 'regional participation capacity' (='regional resource network'). 'Strengthening organizational capabilities' is in the order of 'training professional manpower', 'regional-institutional linkage and cooperation system', and 'local resource discovery and case management system'. 'Strengthening regional value' is in the order of 'social care value', 'training and supporting regional economic organizations', 'monitoring and evaluation system', and 'dedicated department and job standardization'. ‘Strengthening institutional values' is the order of 'procedural democratization and participatory governance', and 'establishing a legal and institutional basis'.
The first stage of super-aged society is in the order of 'strengthening institutional values', 'strengthening community capabilities', 'strengthening organizational capabilities', 'strengthening regional values', and 'strengthening individual capabilities'. ’Strengthening institutional values' is in the order of 'establishing a legal and institutional basis' and 'procedural democratization and participatory governance'. 'Strengthening community capabilities' is in the order of 'regional resource expertise', 'regional resource network', and 'regional participation capacity'. 'Strengthening organizational capabilities' is in the order of 'training professional manpower', 'regional-institutional linkage and cooperation system', and 'discovery of regional resources and case management system'. 'Strengthening regional values' is in the order of 'training and supporting local economic organizations', 'dedicated department and job standardization', 'monitoring and evaluation system', and 'social care value'. 'Strengthening individual capabilities' is in the order of 'physical activity ability', 'cognitive/discriminatory ability', and 'social relationship formation'.
The second stage of super-aged society is in the order of 'strengthening institutional values', 'strengthening community capabilities', 'strengthening organizational capabilities', 'strengthening regional values', and 'strengthening individual capabilities'. 'Strengthening institutional values' is in the order of is the same as the first stage of a super-aged society. 'Strengthening community capabilities' is in the order of 'regional resource expertise', 'regional participation capacity', and 'regional resource network'. 'Strengthening organizational capabilities' is in the order of 'regional-institutional linkage and cooperation system', 'regional resource discovery and case management system', and 'training professional manpower'. 'Strengthening regional values' is in the order of 'dedicated department and job standardization', 'training and supporting regional economic organizations', 'social care value', and 'monitoring and evaluation system'. 'Strengthening individual capabilities' is in the order of 'cognitive/discriminatory ability', 'physical activity ability', and 'social relationship formation'.
The 3rd stage of super-aged society is in the order of 'strengthening institutional values', 'strengthening community capabilities(='strengthening regional values', 'strengthening organizational capabilities', and 'strengthening individual capabilities'. 'Strengthening institutional values' is the same as in the first and second stages of a super-aged society. 'Strengthening community capabilities’ is in the order of 'regional resource expertise'(='regional resource network') and 'regional participation capacity'. ‘Strengthening regional values' is in the order of 'dedicated department and job standardization', 'monitoring and evaluation system', 'social care value', and 'training and supporting regional economic organizations'. 'Strengthening organizational capabilities' is in the order of 'regional-institutional linkage cooperation system', 'training professional manpower', and 'regional resource discovery and case management system'. 'Strengthening individual capabilities' is the same as in the second stage of a super-aged society.
By synthesizing the above research contents, this study presents a step-by-step strengthening regional care capacity model for a super-aged society.