노인의 주거권에 대한 규범적 의미의 재탐색 - 건강보장의 관점에서 -

Abstract

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in housing as health care space for elderly with the aging and the expansion of smart home health care services. Meanwhile, Korea’s elderly housing policy had been focused only on housing-supply and there was no serious normative attempt to understand the housing welfare issues and health care for the elderly together in connection. Although 「Framework Act on Housing」 established in 2015 declared the right to adequate housing and enacted mandatory minimum housing standard, the right still needs to be guaranteed in reality. This article approaches the issue of the elderly’s the to adequate housing in aging society in terms of “healthy life of the elderly in residential,” and emphasizes that the elderly’s right to adequate housing should be strengthened in terms of health security, considering the characteristics of the elderly, their lifestyle, and social environment changes, etc. In fact, we could understand that “adequacy of residential” as the content of the right to adequate housing already includes some elements related to health security, with reference to the international norms such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and national housing regulations. In addition, the medical function of house as well as some original functions like protecting the elderly from physical threats is being strengthened pursuant to the social change and house is being reborn as a space for medical services as well as elderly care services. Searching for the overall meaning of the elderly’s right to adequate housing for healthy life from international norms and UN Principles for Older Persons principles, we can draw three conclusions about the right ; First, the elderly should be protected properly according to their physical and mental state within their own house. Second, the elderly should be able to access to medical services as well as being protected from diseases in their own house. Third, the elderly should be able to receive appropriate care in their own house as their physical functions get decreased, and be respected for their self-determination and dignity even when using an elderly care facility. But current regulations regarding elderly housing do not contain substantial content about the health security except for some standards for safety and convenience. The state should secure the minimum right to housing, and improve the level of right gradually taking the quality of the elderly’s right to adequate housing into consideration. Furthermore, I look forward that the minimum housing standard and derived housing standard could able to function meaningfully for elderly’s health security.