Sharing Seeds of Hope with Elderly Living Alone Exhausted by COVID-19

Providing Kongnamul Siru and Companion Plants

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) will provide bean sprout trays and companion plants to elderly people living alone in the area.

They have taken action to provide psychological quarantine for elderly people living alone who have become lonely and depressed due to being unable to go out and staying at home during COVID-19. Songpa-gu was selected as a recipient of the Seoul Metropolitan Government Community Chest public-private cooperation project and is carrying out this project.

First, through the bean sprout tray sharing project, bean sprout trays and beans will be provided to 250 elderly people living alone. When elderly people living alone grow bean sprouts, they can harvest bean sprouts once every two weeks. The harvested bean sprouts can be cooked and eaten or shared by delivering them to low-income elderly people living alone or local children's centers.

This not only provides daily activities for elderly people living alone but is also expected to contribute to improving their self-esteem and sense of accomplishment by developing into local sharing activities.

Starting from the 18th, companion plants will be provided to 100 elderly people living alone.

Companion plants help the emotional and psychological stability of elderly people living alone. Taking care of plants can relieve feelings of depression and loneliness. Songpa-gu explained that this also has a great effect in preventing solitary deaths.

In addition to providing companion plants, a horticultural therapist will visit the homes of elderly people living alone. Through this, they will explain plant care methods and conduct horticultural therapy activities.

Songpa-gu added that they will continue to make various efforts to alleviate the depression of elderly people living alone who are in emotional blind spots due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Inquiries can be made at the Elderly Welfare Division of Songpa-gu Office.

Mayor Park Seong-su of Songpa-gu said, “As COVID-19 prolongs, local residents are experiencing many difficulties. We will do our best to solve and take good care of the difficulties faced by vulnerable groups, especially elderly people living alone.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.