Gwangju Seo-gu Dementia Safety Center Completes 'Sodamsodam Project'

Creating Tile Murals in Senior Centers to Improve Dementia Awareness

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Seo-gu Dementia Safety Center in Gwangju Metropolitan City (District Mayor Seo Daeseok) has completed the 'Sodam Sodam Project,' which creates tile murals at senior centers to improve dementia awareness.

The Sodam Sodam Project is an abbreviation of the 'Project to Create Precious Walls Containing Small but Warm Stories.'

According to Seo-gu on the 12th, tile murals were installed on the exterior walls of three senior centers (Sangmu, Ssanghak, Ihwa) in Sangmu 2-dong, Seo-gu's first dementia-safe village, featuring drawings directly created by students and elderly residents.

By attaching tiles decorated with students' drawings and writings by elderly residents to the old senior center walls, the project aimed to raise community interest in dementia and create a dementia-friendly environment.

The drawings included in the murals were created directly on tiles by about 550 people, including over 100 elderly participants in the dementia prevention program and approximately 450 students from Sangmu Middle School and Hyogwang Middle School last November.

The murals display a variety of artworks, from poems and essays written by elderly residents on themes such as 'My Hometown, Childhood Memories, Unforgettable Moments' to drawings containing messages of support from students for dementia patients, all spread across the old senior center walls.

A student who participated in creating the murals said, "It became an opportunity to think deeply about and understand dementia, which I used to think was a distant issue," adding, "I hope the village will actively take an interest and help together."

An official from Seo-gu stated, "This project not only improved the appearance of the senior center walls but also provided a great opportunity to familiarize many people with dementia," and added, "We will continue to strive to create a dementia-friendly environment."

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