Citation

Kim JW, Jung HY, Won DY, Shin YS, Noh JH, Kang TI. Omega (Westport) 2018; ePub(ePub): 30222818807845.

Affiliation

Choong Hyun Community Welfare Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Sage Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0030222818807845

PMID

30360680

Abstract

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.

Language: en

Keywords

Korean tradition; Suicide; educational attainment; elderly suicide in South Korea; suicide trend