Background: Rural areas in Korea are experiencing both super-aging and depopulation, creating critical gaps in health and social care. Using a citizen participatory approach, we sought to address the care gaps for older adults in rural areas. This study examined the changes in frailty and depressive symptoms observed during a citizen-led intervention. Methods: This study is a single- arm pre–post quasi-experimental design. A 12-week intervention was implemented using local citizens as care providers. Intervention components included identifying and planning individual care needs, providing health education, organizing tailored community activities, and conducting AI-assisted weekly check-up calls to monitor health status. Results: Changes appeared more pronounced among vulnerable subgroups. Older adults with frailty showed an observed decrease in depressive symptoms compared to those with prefrailty or robust status. Conversely, among those with depressive symptoms, frailty levels appeared to increase more slowly than those without depressive symptoms. These patterns are consistent with the previously reported bidirectional associations between frailty and depression and may reflect the tendency for changes in one domain to coincide with changes in the other, rather than indicating a causal influence. Conclusion This citizen-led care intervention showed more noticeable short-term changes among older adults with higher vulnerability, particularly those with frailty or depressive symptoms. These findings indicate potential roles for citizen participation in enhancing social support and supporting ongoing monitoring in rural depopulation areas. The results suggest that citizen participation is a potentially feasible and sustainable approach to care systems in aging, resource-limited communities.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to compare intake of energy nutrients, physical characteristics, and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to protein intake group. METHODS: Subjects were 827 men aged 40-65 years. The results presented were based on data from the 2012-2013 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and analyzed using SPSS. The odds ratio (OR) of metabolic syndrome was assessed according to the protein intake group and intake pattern of protein-rich foods. RESULTS: The mean of protein intake was 73.96 ± 0.71 g. According to level of protein intake, four groups (deficient, normal, excess 1, excess 2) were created and their percentages were 8.3%, 39.6%, 37.1%, and 15.0% respectively. The mean of daily energy intake was 2,312.33 ± 24.08 kcal. It was higher in excess group 2 than in the deficiency group (p < 0.001). Moreover, the intake of all energy nutrients increased significantly with protein intake group (p < 0.001). The main contribution to daily protein included mixed grains (10.96 ± 0.32 g), milled rice (7.14 ± 0.30 g), chicken (3.50 ± 0.21 g), and grilled pork belly (3.04 ± 0.16 g). With regard to physical characteristics, and blood pressure and blood test results, only body mass index increased significantly according to protein intake groups (p < 0.05). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in subjects was 38.5%, and there was no significant correlation with protein intake group. The OR of metabolic syndrome increased with protein intake, and was higher 4.452 times in excess group 2 than in the normal group (p < 0.05). Conversely, the OR of metabolic syndrome according to the frequency of protein-rich food intake did not show a significant correlation. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study can be used as significant supporting data to establish guidelines for protein intake in middle-aged men.
Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Chickens ; Eating ; Energy Intake ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Male ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Red Meat