The Degree of the Demand for Caring at the End of Life in the Home Life of the Elderly Residing in the Community and the Attitude Regarding the Prior Life-prolonging Medical Treatment Decision

The purpose of this study was to provide a basic practices reference for establishing a home life end of life caring system based on the community in the super-aging era, by confirming the degree of the demand for the caring at the end of the life of the elderly residing in the community as well as the attitude regarding the prior life-prolonging medical treatment decision. Regarding the collection of the data, a questionnaire survey investigation was conducted with a research assistant of 1,310 elderly age 65. Regarding the data collected, by using the SPSS 26.0 program, it was analyzed with descriptive statistics, independent t-test, the one-way ANOVA, and the Pearson correlation coefficient. Regarding the degree of the demand for the caring at the end of life in the home life of the elderly, the mean score for degree of demand was 4.09 that was higher than the middle. Additionally, the support demand for the safety promotion was the highest. The mean score regarding the attitude, in relation to the prior life-prolonging medical treatment decision was 2.98. Also, the two variables showed a positive correlation. Based on the results, regarding the system for the caring at the end of life for the elderly who had been living at home in the future, a caring system that reflects the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual demand in an integral way is needed. Additionally, the education as well as counseling regarding the prior life-prolonging medical treatment decision for guaranteeing the autonomy of the elderly, must be included indispensably.