Abstract

Death is the critical moment of life. All elderly are faced with death. Therefore, the elderly's notion of death must be include in holistic care for the elderly. The purpose of this study was to understand the elderly's notion of death. The research questions were "What is the elderly's notion of death?", and "What is the embedded meaning of the elderly's notion of death?". This study was conducted using an ethnographic approch. The fieldwork for this study was done from July 1996 to July 1998 on an island in Chonbuk province. Data were collected by indepth interviews and participant observation. The result of this study is as follows The elderly's notion of death was founded on 'Being a ancestor god', 'Evaluation of one's own life', 'Be sujected to the evil(BuJung : the taboo of uncleanness)' 'Being a ancestor god' means the notion of death leading to eternal life. It means a relationship to this world, So, it is required for all descendants, especialy the son. Also, they thought that the Spirit is greater importance mote thait the body, and that the spirit is embedded in bone. And so, the spirit is delivered to descendants through a propitious site for grave(MoungDang). It is thought toa change in the fortune of the descendants(Balbok). 'Evaluation of ons's own life' means that life was evaluated personally and socially throughout the dy ing process. This means reflection on an individual's life and interpersonal relationship's, and appearance social aspects of the individual death. 'BuJung(be subjected to the evil)' emerged as fear about death, and pursuit of the cause of death, Most of the causes were attributed to supernatural entities. It contributed to the inspiration of a cornmunity identity. The elderly's notion of death was the present world oriented and actualized. This study contributed to the nurse's understanding of the Korean elderly's notion of death. Implications for nursing practice, education, and research were discussed. Further research at other settings and using other research methods were recommended.