초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The purpose of this study is to explore life of the after menopause experiences by Korean old people who have lived through tough and transitional era of Korean history. There is a growing need of nursing for old-aged people as the average life span of human being is rapidly extending. There has been research on the crisis of middle-aged women or the menopause in middle-aged, but few research has been done on the life of the after menopause by old-aged women. Therefore, the present study investigates the life of old-aged people in the urban area by using ethnographical method such as in-depth interviews with informants and researcher's participant observation. The number of informants involved in this study was 14 and the data collection period was from October of 2000 to February of 2001. The results of this study show that the menopause was not taken seriously because of the unsecure sociocultural context and poor-stricken family background in their life during Japanese colony and post-Korean war era. However, as the time passed by, the menopause meant quite different to them as a part of the aging process. For instance, old-aged people experienced a strong feeling of loss of womanhood, an ambivalent attitude toward their life, and have had an unhappy marriage as a result of habitual sexual relationship. They further experienced sorrow and extreme loneliness by their loss of their partner. Nevertheless, these women were trying to take their current situation as it is through economic independence, positive thinking, social participation, and alternative sexual satisfaction. The study also revealed that aging after menopause can be fully understood considering the physical, mental, and subjective contexts experienced by old-aged people. Also, they has been adjust on life difficult as the varieties a way. The implication is that in approaching the clinical or community nursing care for old-aged people, we should consider their life and context surrounding them and access the menopause with medical approach to understand the aging process, not as a simple matter but as a complicated process.
