Rural Korea has been becoming heavily aged societies from the end of 20th century due to the massive depopulation of young generation and extension of the average span of human beings. Although rural communities in Korea had been traditionally based on closely webbed social relations, almost all of community self-help organizations disappeared in recent time with very strong urbanization trend. However, almost all rural villages in Korea have the village seniors' union -'NO-IN-HOE' in Korean speaking- of which members usually use, operate and maintain community facilities in terms of voluntary base. Using these facilities, most of public/common/private services and community activities have been being served or provided. So, the purpose of this study is to investigate the usage tendency of community facilities and needs of the rural elderly and to propose the improvement strategies for their optimum usage. For this purpose, data was gathered both from community (107 villages) and individual level surveys(881 older people). The statistical method used for data analysis was descriptive statistics. The major findings were as follows : It was found that the dominant family type of the rural elderly was elderly-only household (75%) with very limited economic capability. There are 2~3 common community facilities with village including the seniors' center -'KYOUNG-RO-DANG' in Korean speaking. Many of the elderly (74%) use the center once or twice per week. There are several rooms in the center, like as kitchen bathroom and health room, of which usage frequency differs respectively. Many rural elderly want assistance from out-of-village for good maintenance and free use of these facilities.

동양꽃꽂이의 기본형에는 直立型, 傾斜型, 橫型 및 垂型이 있으며, 이는 제 1주지의 경사정도에 따라 기본형이 정해지는데 기본방향(각도)을 중심으로 나무의 생김새에 따라 주지가 전후좌우로 약간의 변동(± 15o)이 있을 수 있다. 그리고 변형에는 연화형, 부화형, 복합형, 분리형 및 평면형을 들 수 있다. 서양꽃꽂이의 기본형은 구성모양에 따라 직선구성, 곡선구성, 사방구성 및 mass구성으로 분류할 수 있다.

As the proportion of the elderly population in rural area is growing rapidly, the quality of life of the rural elderly is becoming a major concern. According to Rowe and Kahn(1997), active and productive engagement in society is a central component of successful aging. Yet, the effect of various social support network on psychological well-being of the rural elderly is not well known. This study is an attempt to empirically examine the connection between social support network and psychological well-being of the rural elderly. For this purpose, community welfare specialists gathered data from 1033 rural elderly in 32 villages, using structured questionnaires. The statistical methods used for the data analysis were descriptive statistics, cross tables, ANOVA and hierarchical regression analysis using spss wins 10.0 program. The major findings of this study are as follows: The majority of rural elderly have social support networks composed of more than one person and the mean number of their social support network was ten persons. The elderly who keep frequent contact with many adult children and friend/neighbor are happier than the elderly who keep contact with fewer number of children and friends. The size of the network of relatives significantly affects the level of loneliness of the elderly. Theoretical and practical implications of this study for the improvement of the quality of life of the rural elderly is discussed.