Proper

Abstract

South Korea has been experiencing an aging society and increases in single households. It was discussed that the economic hardship and breakdown of family might be critical factors to form weak social affiliation among members of our society while social safety net was not well established for the socially disadvantaged population. It created high risk groups facing danger of extreme social isolation and lack of social care when needed. With the growth of elderly single households and long-term recession, new phenomenon of dying alone occurred but still was not fully understood its reality. It was serious concern that current public data did not provide information regarding cases of dying alone. Moreover, we still did not have the exact definition of dying alone cases. This study was designed to provide concrete information and better understanding for dying alone cases by examining media reports. Content analysis method was employed for this study. This study included media reports about dying alone cases from 2007 to 2014. The age of dying alone cases varied from thirty to eighty. Two third was male. Findings from this study demonstrated that chronic illness, social isolation, out of contact with family members, poverty, unemployed status were main features among dying alone cases. Bases on the findings, prevention strategies were addressed.