Seongdong-gu, Full Transition of 17 Welfare Service Projects to Non-Face-to-Face

Real-time Check-ins for Single-Person Households Using Mobile Phones and IoT Devices, Counseling via Video Calls... Strengthening Welfare Services Including Crisis Household Detection through SNS Messengers and Online Leisure Program Courses

A case manager from Seongdong District Office is checking on a client via video call.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) has fully converted the supply method of social welfare services across 17 projects in 6 sectors to contactless Untact (non-face-to-face) services.

The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has caused an emergency in care services for vulnerable groups. As face-to-face services, which involved visiting and checking on individuals directly, have been completely suspended, the welfare service supply method has been reorganized for vulnerable groups who may face crisis situations at any time.

From the most urgent "welfare check" to discovering welfare blind spots, life support, cultural and leisure support, and psychological counseling support, contactless, non-face-to-face services have been introduced across all 6 sectors.

First, for "welfare checks," the "Let's Check Together Welfare Service" using IT technology is being conducted targeting 3,599 single-person households.

If there is no incoming or outgoing call record for a certain period, meaning no calls have been made or the mobile phone is turned off, the local community center and welfare officers are notified in real time to verify the situation. The target groups are middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s with the highest suicide rates and elderly living alone at high risk of solitary death.

In particular, for 247 elderly living alone with mobility difficulties, the "Safety and Health Management Solution for Elderly Living Alone" is being implemented, which monitors movement, temperature, humidity, etc., in real time through IoT devices to check their welfare.

To replace difficult face-to-face counseling or home visits, video conferencing and video calls are being used. Integrated case meetings for vulnerable groups conducted by the district office and local community centers have been changed from face-to-face meetings to video meetings via ZOOM, and welfare checks and service linkage for vulnerable individuals have been replaced by SNS video calls at least once a week.

To discover welfare blind spots, the "KakaoTalk Plus Friend Seongdong Neighbor Watcher" has been launched. It is a system where anyone who encounters a neighbor in difficulty can immediately report via 1:1 chat without visiting the local community center in person, enabling the discovery of neighbors in crisis.

A district official said, "The Welfare Center for the Disabled is conducting welfare checks through its YouTube channel, and comprehensive non-face-to-face service projects are being carried out for all welfare-needing groups, including providing online elderly leisure program lectures and operating online counseling windows for youth."

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, "We are developing and operating various Untact welfare service contents in preparation for the post-COVID-19 era," adding, "We hope to provide some help to residents suffering from COVID-19 and will do our best to ensure that no one is excluded from services."

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