Health care of the aged in Korea

Korea's population is now aging very rapidly, but the country has not yet shifted its priorities nor instituted programs to meet the needs of an aging population. While the death rate has already achieved low modern levels, there are still traces of malnutrition and other debilitative conditions among the elderly and ill health is generally believed to be an inevitable accompaniment of old age. This leads to resignation and stoicism rather than active steps to deal with the growing problems. Furthermore, care of the aged is still viewed as a private matter to be handled by the person's family and the state plays a very minor role. Medical practice is largely private with physicians drawing their financial support chiefly from fees of their patients. Only one-fourth of the elderly population is presently served to any significant degree by modern medical practitioners. The basic reason for the general lack of skilled care is economic, although folk medicine still plays a role. Only civil servants are covered by any type of health insurance and only 9% of the elderly receive any health care as social welfare recipients. Ninety-five percent of the elderly live in families, three-forths of them with children and financially dependent upon the children. Bedfast patients are cared for by spouses or daughters-in-law. But fundamental changes are under way in the structure of families which make home care of incapacitated members impractical and burdensome. Female employment outside of the home is now standard practice; young people have migrated from rural areas and many are residentially seperated from their aging parents; the nuclear family is the preferred and expected form, leaving many aged isolated and unprotected. Furthermore, recent equalization of inheritance rights has relieved the eldest son of full responsibilities for his parent's welfare. It is clear that the nuclear family of the future will not be able to bear the burdens of health care of the burgeoning aged population without major increases in support and programs supplied by the community and state.