Availability of recreation, sports, and physical fitness opportunities for elderly people in South Korea

Abstract The purpose of this study was to survey the medical and social service directors in the city of Taejon, South Korea, in order to document their perceptions with regard to the availability of recreation, sports, and physical fitness opportunities for elderly people. Medical and social service directors (N=21) representing all medical and social service directors in Taejon, South Korea were selected as the survey sample. For this study, the survey instrument contains three factors: recreation, sports, and physical fitness. Descriptive analysis revealed that there was a limited number of recreation, sports, and physical fitness opportunities offered at the four different medical and social service institutions for elderly citizens of Taejon. This finding supports that the lack of available active recreation, sports, and physical fitness opportunities may lead to a general disengagement perspective and a forced branching or pseudo-bifurcation in the older years of Taejon's senior citizens, rather than a physical bifurcation based on choice.