A Study on the Types and Characteristics of the Leisure Facilities Utilization in Urban Elderly: Focusing on the Elderly Utilizing Leisure Facilities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze types of leisure facility utilization of the urban elderly, and to investigate characteristics of each type of leisure facility utilization. We used the ‘2014 Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Persons’ and latent class analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were conducted on a total of 2,244 urban-dwelling older people who had used leisure facilities at least once. As a result, we identified four types of leisure facility utilization: senior center type (50.0%), community center type (35.2%), public leisure facility type (10.4%), and private leisure facility type (4.4%). Also, demographic characteristic (with excluding income), health characteristic, and social participation characteristic are significantly different among types. Older people who were the lower age, the higher education level, the unemployed people, and the participation in a learning activity are more likely to belong to three types (community center, public and private leisure facility) compared to senior center type. Old adults who were male and have no spouses were more likely to belong to the types of community center and public leisure facility, rather than senior center type. Moreover, those who had higher income and participated in fellowship activity were more likely to belong to the type of private leisure facility compared to senior center type. In addition, the elderly without any physical disability were more likely to belong to community center type rather than senior center type. Based on these results, the political implications in the infrastructure perspective were suggested to enhance better leisure life for the elderly.