Jungnang-gu Installs 'Smart Plugs' in 100 Middle-Aged Single-Person Households to Prevent Solitary Deaths

Support Project for 'Smart Plugs' to Prevent Solitary Deaths Among Socially Isolated Single-Person Households to Fully Launch from January Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi) will select about 100 middle-aged and elderly single-person households at high risk of solitary death and implement a ‘Smart Plug’ support project starting next month to prevent solitary deaths.

The district announced that it will carry out the ‘Smart Plug’ project to improve the difficulty of checking on socially isolated households through visits and contact due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and to care for the safety of households at risk of solitary death by establishing a safety net using smart technology.

In particular, the smart plug is designed in the form of a multi-tap, making installation easy, and measures the power consumption of frequently used home appliances such as TVs and computers. If there is no change for a certain period, it sends a risk signal to welfare planners, which is expected to greatly help prevent solitary deaths among single-person households.

Also, through the connected smart plug, welfare planners conduct real-time monitoring and can immediately check on the well-being of the subjects by phone or home visits, enabling preemptive response to any potential solitary death risk situations.

Ryu Gyeong-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “Amid the crisis where social relationships of households at risk of solitary death are becoming more isolated due to COVID-19, this ‘Smart Plug’ support project will be a great help in expanding the safety net,” and added, “We will continue to make efforts in various ways to prevent solitary deaths.”

The district plans to select about 100 single-person households at risk of solitary death for this smart plug support project and install a total of 200 smart plugs, two per household, by December.

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