The purpose of this study was to identify the differences of older adults' perceptions of foodservice quality attributes of current offerings in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) in terms of their lifestyles (length of residency, special diet, housing option, travel frequency, dine out frequency), dining frequency, and demographics in the dining room of CCRCs. The survey was administered to residents in three CCRCs. Data was analyzed for 140 surveys using t-test, ANOVA, and factor analysis. This study found female older adults perceived the following attributes were more important than male ones: presentation of food, color and garnish, texture of vegetables, taste and flavor of food, and respectful attitude of serving staff. Older adults who have a special diet perceived the seasoning and bite sized pieces were more important than those who have a general diet. Also, there were significant differences between frequent visitors and occasional visitors in the dining room of CCRCs. By knowing the differences by residents' demographics and residential characteristics, the foodservice manager can establish strategies to increase the dining frequency of residents in the dining rooms of CCRCs.
Adult* ; Demography ; Diet ; Female ; Housing ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Life Style* ; Male ; Retirement* ; Seasons ; Vegetables

Purpose: This qualitative study aimed to explore the lived and true meaning of experiences of middle-aged patients with complex regional pain syndrome. Methods: The participants were 10 men and women aged 40 to 60 years who received outpatient treatment at a university hospital, could communicate, and agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected through individual interviews using open and semi-structured questions from September 2019 to July 2021 and were analyzed using the content analysis method suggested by Hsieh and Shannon (2005). Results: As a result of this study, 42 summarized semantic units related to life experience, 15 subthemes, and seven themes were derived. The seven themes were “pressed by severe pain,” “frustrated because I cannot be part of the community,” “distressed because people do not recognize my disease,” “sad about conflicts with family,” “unmotivated because of desperate life,” “appreciating for support,” and “putting oneself together and living daily life.” Conclusion The vivid experiences of the participants derived in this study are the basic data for developing treatment guidelines. In the future, we propose a study on life and family care experiences according to the developmental characteristics of the life cycle of patients with complex regional pain syndrome and develop and apply programs to support patients and their families.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting fruit consumption behavior by application of the Theory of Planned Behavior. In addition, this study examined the moderating effect of a fruit eating habit. METHODS: A total of 734 consumers who have ever purchased fruit participated in this study. RESULTS: Results of this study showed that attitudes toward fruit intake, social norms, and perceived behavioral control had significant impacts on the level of fruit intake. Fruit eating habit that showed high correlation with eating behavior was also included in the model identifying factors having an influence on fruit intake. Attitudes toward fruit intake, social norms, and perceived behavioral control had a positive influence on intention to intake fruit. Fruit eating habits played a moderating role in the relationships between intention to intake fruit and real fruit intake. CONCLUSION: Increasing positive attitudes toward fruit intake, social norms, and perceived behavioral control would be helpful in increasing the amount of fruit intake.
Eating ; Feeding Behavior ; Fruit* ; Intention*

The elderly population in Korea is rapidly growing. As the population ages, meals become a greater concern, as physical and psychological health problems are directly affected by dietary life, especially for the lower-income elderly. Although the government provides support through a free congregate meal service, there is a lack of systematic management of this meal service. This study investigates the experience of the elderly, especially the symbolic meaning and issues regarding the congregate meal service in their dietary life, to establish strategies for improving congregate meal services. Qualitative data was collected from ten elderly receivers of meal services through in-depth interviews and data was analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological research methods. Overall, 90 significant statements, 13 formulated meanings, and five theme clusters were deduced. The five theme clusters for the importance of meal services to the elderly included the followings: "a real meal", "enjoyment of living", "maintenance of regular life", "place for social life" and "meal of silence". We found that the elderly regarded the congregate free meal service not only as meals to appreciate but also as a form of social life. Furthermore, the elderly did not typically express any complaints regarding congregate meal services because they are free. The results showed that it might be difficult to evaluate the quality of meal services based on the opinions of the service receivers. This study suggests it is necessary to develop multilateral evaluation methods to reflect the needs of the elderly and to improve the congregate meal services at elderly welfare centers.
Aged ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals

The purpose of this study was to investigate food sanitation status in elderly welfare facilities and assess the performance of food sanitation practices. Twenty elderly welfare facilities out of 85 located in Seoul with a capacity of fewer than 50 persons participated. The food sanitation status of worktable, kitchen utensils (knives, cutting boards, ladles, spoons), and tableware and bowls were examined by ATP bioluminescence. The results found that the ATP value of knife was the highest. Those of ladles appeared relatively higher than others. Meanwhile, the tableware and bowls, although washed everyday after meals, had the lowest ATP value. This study also conducted a survey on the food sanitation practices of 32 cooking employees in the 20 facilities. Fifty-six percent were in their 40s, and 53% had graduated from high school. More than half (66%) of them had no certification of cooking. Half of the respondents had worked for at least 5 years in food service facilities, and had received food sanitation training. Among them, 31% said they applied food sanitation training while working, and 47% responded the training was very helpful. The foodservice employees demonstrated good food sanitation practices. The results show that food sanitation performance of the workers significantly differed according to their age, education level, total work experience in food service facilities, chef certification, and prior food sanitation experience.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Aged ; Certification ; Cooking ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Food Services ; Humans ; Meals ; Sanitation

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of sustainability management in institutional foodservice on store image and behavioral intention (revisit intention, word of mouth, willingness to pay a premium). METHODS: Based on a total of 371 samples obtained from the empirical research, this study reviewed the reliability and fitness of the model. RESULTS: According to results of exploratory factor analysis, sustainability management derived three factors, economic value, socially responsible, and environmentally sound. The structural equation modeling showed that social responsibility in sustainability management had a significant positive effect on store image and behavioral intention. In addition, customer's perceived store image in foodservice had a significant positive effect on behavioral intention. The relationship between sustainability management and behavioral intention was found to be a partially significant effect. CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed the importance of sustainability management of foodservice to improve store image and behavioral intention.
Empirical Research ; Intention* ; Mouth ; Social Responsibility

This study examined the current status of foodservice management in elderly welfare facilities and evaluated food service workers' food safety practices and knowledge. For this, the directors of 20 elderly welfare facilities (each with fewer than 50 residents) located in Seoul were interviewed and a survey of 40 foodservice workers was conducted to determine their food safety knowledge and practices. The facilities accommodated an average of 28 residents. All the facilities were self-operated and approximately 62% were dependent on payments by residents. Only 15% had a dietitian in charge of menu planning, food purchasing, and food safety management. Approximately 50% had their facility managers take responsibilities for menu planning and food safety management. Most of the facilities provided food safety training within their own facility and sanitized their utensils, cutting boards, and dishcloths on a daily basis. A limited number of foodservice workers, insufficient training programs, and budget constraints were some of the major barriers to food safety management. Their average score on food safety practices was 1.62, and that on food safety knowledge was 17.6 out of 19 points. These results indicate that the foodservice workers had good food safety knowledge and appropriate food safety practices. There was a significant correlation only between food safety practices related to receiving and storing food products and knowledge of personal hygiene.
Aged ; Budgets ; Fees and Charges ; Food Safety ; Food Services ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Menu Planning

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the factors related to Korean physicians' trust in the government. METHODS: We used structured questionnaires that were composed of multidimensional scales for each of the various categories. RESULTS: The recognition levels of trust of the government by Korean physicians were not high, and they ranged from 3.6 to 4.8 for ten scales. The factors related to trust in the government were categorized into seven factors on the basis of a factor analysis. On the regression analysis, a positive relationship was found between "the individual propensity to trust" and trust in the government, while a negative relationship was found between "the recognition level regarding the government as an authoritarian power" and trust in the government. "Confidence about participation in the policy process" as internal efficacy and "belief in governmental ability and motivation toward public demand" as external efficacy also showed a strong positive relationship with trust in the government. CONCLUSIONS: From these results, we can draw the conclusion that making efforts to improve the recognition level of trust in the government among physicians is an important policy task. To increase the trust level, participation of physicians in the policy process in various ways and open communication between the physicians'associations and the government should be facilitated.
Adult ; *Attitude of Health Personnel ; Female ; *Government ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Physicians ; Policy Making ; Republic of Korea ; Societies, Medical ; *Trust

The purpose of this study was to identify job frequency and the training needs of dieticians in elderly health care facilities. This study consisted of dieticians working in elderly health care facilities with a capacity of over 50 elderly. Survey questionnaires were distributed to 190 dieticians through the mail and 106 dieticians (55.8%) participated in this study. The results of the survey showed that dieticians in elderly health care facilities frequently performed the following job: work management, safety and sanitation management, purchase management, human resource management, finance management, nutrition management, and marketing management. The job frequency in safety and sanitation management (p<0.05) and nutrition management (p<0.01) areas were significantly different by the number of dieticians. Safety and sanitation management and menu management were considered job areas that needed further training and education. Dieticians in elderly health care facilities responded that the following jobs should require not only training but are also frequently performed: safety and sanitation management, menu management, work management, and human resource management. Thus, based on the results of this study, continuous training programs in these fields should be offered to satisfy the needs of dieticians.
Aged ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Marketing ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Safety Management ; Sanitation

Food is an essential component of good health and a high quality of life. This is especially true for the elderly, where health and quality of life can vary due to eating issues. This study attempts to measure the satisfaction with food-related life in the elderly of South Korea, while examining differences in social support, depression, isolation, and life satisfaction based on the level of satisfaction with food-related life. Data collection was conducted using one-on-one surveys from December 2011 to January 2012. A total of 390 elderly (aged 65 and over) who live in Korea participated in this study. The results showed that the satisfaction with food-related life was high (3.52 out of 5). The elderly who had company during a meal or a meal preparer showed a higher satisfaction with their food-related life. Social support was high (5.32 out of 7) and the feelings of isolation were low (3.85 out of 5). The average satisfaction with life was 4.42 out of 7, indicating a fair satisfaction with life, while the average depression score was relatively low (8.77 out of 26). In general, the elderly with a higher satisfaction with food-related life had a higher social support and overall satisfaction with their life. On the other hand, the elderly with a lower satisfaction with food-related life generally reported higher levels of depression and isolation. A positive correlation was observed between satisfaction with food-related life, social support, and satisfaction of life, while a negative correlation was found between satisfaction with food-related life, isolation, and depression. The results of this study indicate that managing the satisfaction with food-related life is an important component of mental health in the elderly.
Aged ; Data Collection ; Depression ; Eating ; Hand ; Humans ; Korea ; Meals ; Mental Health ; Quality of Life ; Republic of Korea ; Social Isolation