Integrated Analysis between Older Adults’ Experiences of Frailty and Korean News Media’s Frailty Discourse
- 1Biomedical Research Institute, Gyeongsang National University Hospital Jinju Korea
- 2Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Jinju Korea
Abstract
Objectives: This study compared older adults’ frailty perceptions with Korean news media’s social discourse on frailty, examining the resulting implications for community-based frailty policies in super-aged regions.
Methods: Using a mixed-methods design, the study conducted focus group interviews in June 2026 with nine community-dwelling adults aged 70–78 years, and the data were analyzed thematically. Quantitatively, 369 frailty-related news articles published from 2023 to June 2026 were analyzed using Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling. Text mining was conducted according to the actors represented, including health institutions, community-based organizations, and others. Qualitative and quantitative findings were subsequently compared and integrated.
Results: Older adults viewed frailty as a multidimensional, mutually reinforcing trajectory encompassing physical, cognitive, psychological, and social decline and perceived social isolation and loneliness as major drivers of frailty. News coverage involving health institutions primarily focused on sarcopenia prevention, protein and nutritional management, and disease monitoring, whereas community-oriented coverage more frequently addressed everyday support, including meal programs at senior centers. Both datasets emphasized physical function, exercise and nutrition, social isolation, and community-based prevention. Particularly, the news coverage emphasized systems and technologies, whereas older adults were increasingly concerned about independence, cognitive function, motivation, social participation, and becoming a burden on their families.
Conclusions: Frailty should be communicated as a condition that is preventable, delayable, and potentially improvable. Community-based programs should integrate functional assessments alongside multidomain interventions addressing physical activity, nutrition, cognitive and psychological health, and social participation.
Related
- Vulnerability in older adults in Primary Health Care: challenges associated with frailty and functionality
- The Interplay Between Defeatist Beliefs and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults: The Psychology of Frailty in Later Life
- Depressive symptoms are associated with the incidence of frailty in older adults with cardiometabolic diseases: Interaction between depression and diabetes
- Clinical sub-phenotypes of co-occurring metabolic syndrome and pre-frailty and their associated factors in older adults: findings from Whitehall II study
- Perceived parents’ relationship quality and young adults’ dating experiences
BibTeX
@article{seo2026integrated,
title = {{Integrated Analysis between Older Adults’ Experiences of Frailty and Korean News Media’s Frailty Discourse}},
author = {Sung-Hyo Seo and Gyeong-Ye Lee and Ki-Soo Park},
journal = {Public health weekly report},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.56786/phwr.2026.19.41suppl.2},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13725138},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Integrated Analysis between Older Adults’ Experiences of Frailty and Korean News Media’s Frailty Discourse
AU - Sung-Hyo Seo
AU - Gyeong-Ye Lee
AU - Ki-Soo Park
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Public health weekly report
DO - 10.56786/phwr.2026.19.41suppl.2
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13725138
AB - Objectives: This study compared older adults’ frailty perceptions with Korean news media’s social discourse on frailty, examining the resulting implications for community-based frailty policies in super-aged regions. Methods: Using a mixed-methods design, the study conducted focus group interviews in June 2026 with nine community-dwelling adults aged 70–78 years, and the data were analyzed thematically. Quantitatively, 369 frailty-related news articles published from 2023 to June 2026 were analyzed using Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling. Text mining was conducted according to the actors represented, including health institutions, community-based organizations, and others. Qualitative and quantitative findings were subsequently compared and integrated. Results: Older adults viewed frailty as a multidimensional, mutually reinforcing trajectory encompassing physical, cognitive, psychological, and social decline and perceived social isolation and loneliness as major drivers of frailty. News coverage involving health institutions primarily focused on sarcopenia prevention, protein and nutritional management, and disease monitoring, whereas community-oriented coverage more frequently addressed everyday support, including meal programs at senior centers. Both datasets emphasized physical function, exercise and nutrition, social isolation, and community-based prevention. Particularly, the news coverage emphasized systems and technologies, whereas older adults were increasingly concerned about independence, cognitive function, motivation, social participation, and becoming a burden on their families. Conclusions: Frailty should be communicated as a condition that is preventable, delayable, and potentially improvable. Community-based programs should integrate functional assessments alongside multidomain interventions addressing physical activity, nutrition, cognitive and psychological health, and social participation.
SN - 3092-491X
SN - 2586-0860
ER -