Department of Social Welfare, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Research Institute of Social Welfare, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Omega (Westport). 2020 Dec;82(2):214-229. doi: 10.1177/0030222818807845. Epub 2018 Oct 25.
South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and the most alarming suicide rate is among its elders. This study aims to understand the social, historical, and cultural context of the Korean older adults and examine suicide trends based on that understanding. The results show that the suicide risk increases with age, the male suicide rate outweighs that of females, and the suicide rate decreases with educational attainment. In addition, several suggestions for reducing elderly suicide rate are addressed, including differentiating the existing social services for elders by age and expanding suicide prevention programs beyond schools to communities so that all people in need can access them.
韩国是世界上自杀率最高的国家之一，而老年人的自杀率最为惊人。本研究旨在了解韩国老年人的社会、历史和文化背景，并在此基础上探讨自杀趋势。结果表明，自杀风险随年龄增长而上升，男性自杀率高于女性，且自杀率随教育程度提高而降低。此外，还提出了一些降低老年人自杀率的建议，包括根据年龄对现有的老年人社会服务进行区分，并将预防自杀计划从学校扩展到社区，以便所有有需要的人都能获得这些服务。
