屏東縣不同族群獨居長者的健康與生活概況之比較

A Study of the Health and Quality of Life Issues of Elderly People from Different Ethnic Groups in Pingtung County

本研究之主要目的，在於探討與比較原鄉（禮納里區域）及非原鄉地區（九如區域）之社區獨居長者的健康狀態與生活品質，以瞭解不同族群文化與生活區域下的生活樣態。為此，依序採取量化與質性方法，先以問卷收集 55 位社區獨居長者之量化資料，再由其中抽取 9 位深度訪談之對象，以能建構完整的資訊、提出適切的建議。研究結果發現，社區獨居長者普遍認為「動（運動）」以及「互動（鄰里與社區的互動）」能夠使自己保持身體健康並促進心情愉快。然而，受訪者運動之意願較低，係因生理機能退化所致（例如行動不便以及重聽）。此外，不同的族群文化在社區互動與生活品質方面，確實存在差異。因此，基於預防延緩失能的角度，本研究建議應加強運用在地已建置的資源（例如銀髪健身俱樂部、社區關懷據點以及文化健康站等），使不同族群的社區獨居長者能夠在個別的生活區域內維持身心功能，進而提升生活品質。

The main purpose of this research is to discuss and compare the physical status and quality of life between the elderly people living alone in Rinari (an indigenous area) and Jiuru (a non-indigenous area). This work applied questionnaire surveys in the first stage to collect information from 55 respondents in Rinari and Jiuru, and then invited 9 respondents among them for in-depth interviews in the second part so that the researchers may be able to identify the patterns of the ageing population in these two areas and propose suggestions to meet their needs. The findings indicated that, on the one hand, the respondents generally believed that exercise and interaction with family and with neighbors in the community would help them to maintain physical and mental health. On the other hand, those who were unable to exercise regularly, in most of the cases, were due to physiological disabilities that resulted in mobility and hearing problems. In addition, the ways to interact with each other in communities and the level of the quality of life might be closely related to the ethnic groups that the respondents belong to. This study suggests that, in terms of improving the quality of life and preventing worsening health status, the government may have to promote the use of Elderly Fitness Clubs, Community Care Services Centres and Indigenous Cultural Health Stations among the elderly living alone in the local areas where they live.