Seongbuk-gu Dolbom SOS Center 1st Anniversary... Reliable Family with Over 2,500 Customized Care Services

Elderly Vaccination Escort Support Service, Temporary Home Meal Support, Disinfection and Quarantine, Another Reliable Family for Residents in Need... Seongbuk-gu Establishes 'Care Support Team' Reflecting Urgent Social Care Needs

Since its launch on August 3, 2020, the Seongbuk Care SOS Center has provided over 2,500 customized care services to residents in urgent need of care over the past year, becoming a reliable support for vulnerable groups.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) Care SOS Center has marked its first anniversary.

Since starting services on August 3rd last year, the Seongbuk Care SOS Center has provided over 2,500 customized care services for residents in urgent need of care over the past year, becoming a reliable support not only for the general public but also for vulnerable groups.

Reflecting the urgent social care needs due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the surge in care demand, and the weakening of family care functions, Seongbuk-gu quickly established a Care Support Team to respond to the diverse welfare needs of its residents.

With the full-scale vaccination rollout, the accompaniment support service for elderly vaccination was especially popular. Self-employed and working children, who had to take a day off from work to accompany their parents for vaccination, responded positively, and the elderly who completed vaccination safely without burdening their children praised Seongbuk-gu as another filial son or daughter.

Temporary home care and meal support services for elderly living alone without family to care for them have also received positive responses. By addressing the meals and daily issues of vulnerable elderly in place of welfare centers or free meal services that were suspended due to COVID-19, the care gap was eliminated. Additionally, residential convenience services such as disinfection and quarantine for housing-vulnerable households have also received high praise.

A Seongbuk-gu official stated, “This is a customized care service provided by the public for residents who have difficulty living independently or who face temporary crisis situations such as illness or accidents and have nowhere to turn for help, requiring urgent care,” adding, “Since the service has been very helpful and well-received by residents, we plan to expand the ‘Dong-level Care SOS Centers’ to all 20 neighborhood community service centers by November this year.”

Seongbuk-gu residents who need to use the Seongbuk Care SOS service can apply at their local neighborhood community service center. Basic livelihood security recipients, lower-income groups, and residents with median income below 85% can use the service free of charge within an annual usage limit of 1.58 million KRW. Depending on the COVID-19 situation, the service is temporarily supported for residents with median income below 100%, and other residents can use the service at their own expense.

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, “The role of the Care SOS Center is significant in providing more detailed and integrated customized care services to promote the health and welfare of residents,” and added, “By expanding the Dong-level Care SOS Centers to all 20 neighborhood community service centers, we will improve service accessibility so that any Seongbuk resident can quickly and conveniently receive public care in emergency situations, and we will strive to establish an integrated care foundation.”

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