Preventing Solitary Deaths with Smart Care Services

Seoul Gangseo-gu Launches 'Smart Plug Support Project' to Prevent Solitary Deaths...Real-Time Alerts to Welfare Planners by Monitoring Power Usage and Light Level Changes

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) is promoting the ‘Smart Plug Support Project’ to prevent solitary deaths among middle-aged single-person households.

Although solitary deaths, once mainly considered an issue for the elderly, have recently been occurring among middle-aged individuals as well, most care services are provided primarily for seniors aged 65 and older, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made on-site care difficult.

Accordingly, the district decided to provide non-face-to-face care services using the Internet of Things device ‘smart plug,’ tailored to the familiarity of middle-aged people with smart devices.

The smart plug, similar in shape to a power strip, connects the power supply and electrical outlets of various devices to measure and analyze power consumption and changes in brightness in real time.

By connecting frequently used devices such as TVs in middle-aged single-person households to the smart plug, if usage patterns deviate from the norm, an immediate alarm is sent to the welfare planner’s mobile phone in the respective neighborhood.

Upon receiving the alarm, the welfare planner can check on the individual’s well-being via phone or visit, thereby preventing emergencies in advance.

The smart plug is easy to install and maintain, allows monitoring without causing any inconvenience to the user, and has the advantage of being less likely to be rejected.

The district plans to install smart plugs and implement the service for 140 middle-aged single-person households at risk of solitary death within this month.

The target households will be selected based on recommendations from neighborhood welfare planners, prioritizing those in need of installation among middle-aged single-person households at risk of solitary death.

Through this service, the district expects not only to prevent solitary deaths among middle-aged single-person households but also to reduce the workload of care staff, thereby improving administrative efficiency.

Mayor Noh Hyun-song said, “As the proportion of single-person households rapidly increases, solitary death has emerged as a serious social issue. We will create a happy welfare and health city in Gangseo by strengthening care services and discovering and providing various projects utilizing smart technology.”

For more details, please contact the Welfare Policy Division of Gangseo-gu Office.

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