Jungnang-gu Provides Customized Home Visit Services to Care for Elderly Health

Entering the 2nd Year of Myeonmok 4-dong Small Area Health Disparity Reduction Project... Providing Customized Home Visit Health Wellness Services for Seniors Including Exercise Programs and Diet Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) is taking active steps this year to improve the health of senior citizens as it enters the second year of the ‘Small Area Health Disparity Reduction Project’ in Myeonmok 4-dong.

The ‘Small Area Health Disparity Reduction Project,’ a public contest project by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, is a three-year initiative that provides systematic home-visit health services targeting economically vulnerable elderly populations in small areas, strengthening health care linked with the local medical system.

Among Seoul’s autonomous districts, Jungnang-gu is the only participant.

Myeonmok 4-dong, where the elderly population aged 65 and over accounts for 17.8% of the total population, was selected as the project site last year due to overall health indicators such as walking practice rate and stress recognition rate being lower than the district average.

The district will receive a total project budget of 1.2 billion KRW through 2022.

Last year, the district conducted a basic health survey of 700 seniors aged 65 and over in Myeonmok 4-dong. Based on this, starting this year, a care team composed of visiting nurses and others will provide a ‘Customized Home-Visit Health Wellness Service’ to closely manage the health of the elderly.

The care team visits the homes directly to check the health of the seniors and provides customized health management according to their condition. High-quality programs developed by the research team at Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health are prepared, including exercise programs for fall prevention and muscle strengthening, as well as diet management and low-sodium diet practice programs.

Additionally, a smartphone app is provided so that seniors can easily check their own health status.

Furthermore, the local health care system is strengthened through the operation of health leaders who care for the health of neighbors. The 38 health leaders selected this year will undergo capacity-building training and then conduct activities such as wellness check-in calls and monitoring health promotion activities for seniors.

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “We will do our best to provide systematic local health care services, reduce health disparities between regions, and improve the quality of life for residents.”

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