200 Senior Citizens in Yongsan-gu Receive Companion Plants

To Prevent Depression and Provide Emotional Stability for Seniors Living Alone Aged 65+, Grandparent-Grandchild Households, and Elderly Couples

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) will provide companion plants to 200 elderly people starting this month.

This is to offer horticultural therapy services to elderly individuals with limited outdoor activities due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), aiming to prevent depression and provide emotional stability.

The recipients are low-income elderly residents aged 65 or older living in the district. Based on recommendations from related organizations, 200 households were selected, including elderly living alone, grandparent-grandchild households, and elderly couples interested in companion plants.

The plants provided are two types: rubber tree and Kalanchoe (shrub plants). These plants grow well indoors and have excellent air-purifying abilities. Recipients were allowed to choose the plant they preferred.

Along with this, the district provides horticultural therapy services to prevent depression and solitary deaths. When delivering companion plants, a horticultural therapist visits the household to conduct horticultural psychological counseling services such as ▲talking to the companion plant ▲giving it a nickname ▲taking photos.

Additionally, quarterly phone-based horticultural therapy services will continue to check the condition of the companion plants and inquire about the elderly’s well-being. Notably, assistant personnel for horticultural therapy counseling were hired from trainees at the Yongsan Women's Human Resources Development Center, contributing to job creation for women with career interruptions.

The companion plant distribution project is part of the basic plan to revitalize urban agriculture. This year, the district is focusing administrative efforts on improving the urban environment by creating and managing urban agriculture spaces and restoring ecosystems to build an ecological city.

Besides this, the district is also working on creating rooftop gardens (multi-use facilities), school gardens (ecological education sites within schools), healing gardens (social welfare facilities), and eco-friendly box gardens (for local residents).

Mayor Seong Jang-hyun said, “Elderly people with limited activity due to COVID-19 feel even lonelier during Family Month. We will carefully support them so that they can overcome depression and regain vitality in life through companion plants.”

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