The United Nations (UN) defined a post-aged society or a super-aged society as that when the proportion of the population aged 65 and above accounts for more than 20% of the total population [1]. The elderly population is expected to be bigger than the population of children under five years within a decade, and to double by 2040 to eventually reach as much as two billion individuals by 2050, by which time it will represent more than 20% of the world’s population [2]. The population belonging to WHO’s South-East Asia region is also ageing rapidly; for instance, the proportion of people aged 60 or above was 9.8% in 2017, and is expected to increase to 13.7% by 2030 and to 20.3% by 2050 [3]. Between 2019 and 2050, 9 out of the 10 countries with the largest percentage-point increase in the share of older persons in the world will be in East and South-East Asia. The largest increase is foreseen in the Republic of Korea (23%), followed by Singapore (20.9%) and Taiwan Province of China (19.9%) [1]. In the case of South Korea, among the elderly, the very old (above 80 years) are also the fastest-growing population, a fact that is creating new challenges. A combination of increased life expectancy and reduced fertility is increasing the absolute number of old persons, even as it is boosting their relative share of the population. South Korea has already entered an aged society, as the proportion of its population aged 65 and older exceeded 14% in 2018, and is projected to reach 20.3% by 2025, at which time it is expected to enter a super-aged society worldwide [4]. However, unlike countries that have long prepared for an elderly society, including Japan (with a 27.3% elderly population) and Switzerland (with a 23.4% elderly population), Korea has entered an elderly society at an unprecedented rate. Thus, the related social and economic problems that it is experiencing are very serious [5, 6]. This trend is not unique to Korea, however; the increase in the aged population in every corner of the world has led to social and health problems that include various forms of violence perpetrated against older adults.
The human rights of older persons is a topic that has been neglected for a long time. In at least some countries, it is a dimension that is being increasingly considered, but often haphazardly. The human rights of the elderly were first mentioned in the UN's “Declaration of the Rights of the Elderly” in 1948. The said Declaration focused on 10 social rights of the elderly: the right to receive assistance, to work, to food, to clothing, to shelter, to care for their physical and mental health, to leisure, to safety, to security, and to respect [7]. Also, in 1991, the UN enacted the “United Nations Principles for Older Persons” and presented 18 specific principles that governments should consider in each of the five areas of independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment, and dignity [8]. Internationally, however, the debate on the predicament of senior citizens in terms of rights is only beginning. For example, it was only in 2009 that the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee recommended a study on the “need to protect the human rights of the older person in the context of a human rights framework” [9]. Rim and Yun [10] emphasized the importance of not only the perception of the elderly of human rights violations against them but also the perception of their caregivers of such violations. Kim and Yoon further pointed out that the perception of human rights violations against the elderly is lacking and that human rights violations against the elderly have diverse and complex causes such as individual, family, and social situations. In Korea in 2016, there were 6,811 reports of elder abuse, the most serious form of human rights violation, of which 40.1% was psychological abuse, 31.3% was physical abuse, 11.4% was neglect by others, 7.7% was negligence of self, 7.2% was financial abuse, 1.3% was sexual abuse, and 1.0% was abandonment [11]. These figures suggest that there is an urgent need for institutional arrangements at the national and social levels to guarantee the protection of the human rights of the elderly. The research of Kim et al. [12] found that lack of awareness of human rights and abuse of the elderly are highly related. In another research, Kim et al. [13] found that the higher the awareness of human rights is, the lower the abuse is. As such, awareness of the human rights of the elderly is a very important part of the life of a healthy elderly person.
The oldest old people are often described as a frail and multimorbid group [14]. For the individual, frailty increases vulnerability due to diminished strength, endurance, and physiological function [15]. Frail individuals have a higher risk of developing poor oral health due to limitations in their ability to perform self-care and difficulties in visiting dental health care clinics [16]. Their reduced capacity for self-care may be due to mental and physical disability and various chronic diseases [17].
Good oral health is important for older people’s wellbeing and quality of life, and is essential for healthy ageing [18]. However, there is insufficient knowledge about how older people view their oral health and oral care [19]. Oral health in Europe has improved, which has led to an increased number of older people retaining their natural teeth throughout their life [21]. In Sweden, approximately 60% of people aged 80–89 years have 20 or more teeth [22]. Koistinen et al. found that 85% of the older people from 36 Swedish STC units were satisfied with their oral health, even though clinical assessments by registered dental hygienists showed that 77% of these individuals had oral problems such as coating and food debris [20].
In order to become a suitable dental hygienist in this aging era, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the elderly through various experiences with them and to know the importance of human rights of the elderly. Also, based on these experiences, dental hygienists should strive to promote oral health that can improve the human rights and quality of life of the elderly. Accordingly, the dental hygienist intends to provide basic data to enhance the importance of oral health of the elderly by verifying their relevance to human rights violations of the elderly according to their experiences related to the elderly.