Seongdong-gu Establishes Home Care Support System to Aid Daily Recovery of Home Treatment Patients... Mapo-gu Obtains WHO Age-Friendly City Certification

[Seoul District News] Seongdong-gu Minimizes Resident Inconvenience and Ensures Safe Treatment with Supplies Support, 24-Hour Dedicated Call Center, On-Site Response, and Oxygen Saturation Meters Installed and Lent at All Community Centers Amid Rising Home Treatment Cases... Jung-gu Identifies 111 High-Risk Single-Person Households in Isolation Survey

A 24-hour call center operates for the general management group of home treatment patients. Since the 28th of last month, 30 professional counselors have been providing administrative support such as resending isolation (release) notification texts and guiding non-face-to-face medical institutions.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) is establishing a seamless support system for home treatment patients to actively support the daily recovery of the rapidly increasing number of home treatment patients due to the rapid spread of Omicron.

First, a supply support fund is provided to the general management group of home treatment patients to support daily necessities for COVID-19 confirmed patients. Seongdong-gu residents registered in Seongdong-gu receive 70,000 KRW per person.

Until now, the supply support fund was provided per household with costs received from the city, but as the number of confirmed cases increased significantly and support became difficult, the district allocated the entire budget on its own and continued support on an individual basis.

Also, unlike the intensive management group, which is separately monitored such as those aged 60 or older or high-risk patients in their 50s with underlying diseases, a dedicated call center operating 24 hours a day was established by unifying the consultation window so that the general management group receiving treatment at home can always receive counseling.

Earlier, the district established a home treatment support TF team consisting of a total of 50 people, including district office staff, Seongdong-gu Urban Management Corporation, and Seongdong Cultural Foundation personnel, operating a 24-hour call center not only for administrative tasks but also to ensure no neglect in managing the general management group, handling treatment-related consultations and daily life complaints.

Since the 28th of last month, through an exclusive contract with ‘KT-CS,’ 30 professional counseling personnel have been deployed to provide higher-level counseling services to residents. General management group home treatment patients can consult anytime 24 hours a day through the dedicated call center.

The call center provides administrative support such as resending isolation (release) notification texts and guides non-face-to-face medical institutions and designated pharmacies within the region to minimize inconveniences that may occur during home treatment. The district plans to continue active communication with home treatment patients and provide continuous management through counseling and guidance until full recovery.

In addition, the district also operates an 'on-site response team' for the general management group of home treatment patients. For single-person households, it handles purchasing daily necessities (such as water), receiving prescribed medicine when there is no guardian, and various daily life complaints of confirmed patients and cohabiting family members.

Last month, there have already been heartwarming cases of the on-site response team, such as accompanying a child with a high fever in a household where the parents living in Oksu-dong were confirmed positive, supporting medical treatment at a children's hospital in another region, and accompanying a child whose both parents were confirmed positive for PCR testing.

Finally, all 17 neighborhood community centers have oxygen saturation meters available for rent or direct delivery to those who cannot leave their homes, actively supporting the treatment and recovery of home treatment patients.

Meanwhile, the district is enhancing convenience for residents by clearly organizing and providing information on the sequential services residents will receive from Seongdong-gu from COVID-19 confirmation to release from isolation, along with necessary contact information at each stage.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, "We will actively support the treatment and recovery of home treatment patients through the operation of the dedicated call center," and added, "We will continue to do our best to minimize residents' inconveniences and help them overcome COVID-19 with peace of mind."

Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) has been certified as an Age-Friendly City by the World Health Organization (WHO) and joined the international network.

An ‘Age-Friendly City’ is a program promoted by WHO since 2006 to effectively respond to the global aging issue and improve the quality of life for the elderly within cities. It means a city where aging is not inconvenient and anyone can participate actively and healthily in society regardless of age.

As of this year, over 1,000 cities in 41 countries worldwide have joined the ‘Age-Friendly City’ network. To be certified, cities must meet WHO’s standards across 84 detailed items in 8 areas including transportation, housing, and social participation. In Korea, 32 cities including Mapo-gu, Dobong-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu in Seoul, and Wanju-gun in Jeollabuk-do are included.

Considering that as of January this year, the elderly population aged 65 or older in the district reached 14.7%, entering an aged society, and the average age of residents is increasing annually, the district made every effort to join the international age-friendly city network to understand aging issues from a global perspective and share diverse policy ideas among cities.

In September 2020, the district established a legal foundation by enacting the ‘Mapo-gu Ordinance on the Creation of an Age-Friendly City’ and, based on a six-month survey conducted according to WHO’s 8-domain guidelines, formulated the ‘Mapo-gu Age-Friendly City 3-Year Action Plan.’

Especially, under the vision of ‘With 100 Years, Age-Friendly Mapo,’ the district plans to create a healthy 100-year age-friendly city that realizes the value of old age (Worthy), offers an interesting and lively life (Interesting), and where children, adults, and the elderly live together (Together).

The district has set four major goals to improve the quality of life for the elderly in the region: a safe and convenient city, a city with intergenerational communication and empathy, a healthy and vibrant city, and a city preparing for the future. It plans to carry out a total of 37 projects over the next three years.

Additionally, the district has been implementing various elderly welfare policies, from expanding non-face-to-face elderly care services by distributing the AI companion robot ‘Mapodong-i’ to 400 seniors facing difficulties in daily life last year, to operating the ‘50+ Happiness Academy’ to support various social participation programs for the baby boomer generation approaching retirement.

A district official said, “With the membership in the international age-friendly city network, Mapo has become a global city preparing for the future,” and added, “Based on this international network, we will strive to create a Mapo where all generations live together and want to live lifelong.”

Jung-gu (Mayor Seo Yang-ho) identified a total of 664 households at risk of solitary death through a survey of single-person households aged middle-aged and above in vulnerable residential areas conducted since October last year.

This survey was conducted to comprehensively understand the housing type, income level, and health status of the subjects and to expand the social safety net by linking welfare services tailored to the needs of the demanders.

Targeting single-person households aged 50 or older living in vulnerable residential areas such as goshiwon (small lodging rooms) and jjokbang (tiny rooms), the survey was conducted both face-to-face and non-face-to-face. The district identified 7 households at high risk of solitary death, 104 at medium risk, and 553 at low risk.

The district immediately matched public benefits and care services to all households classified as risk groups, and for the 7 high-risk households, it provides regular welfare checks and mental health counseling services in connection with Care SOS and the Mental Health Welfare Center.

Additionally, through quarterly reassessment of solitary death risk and continuous monitoring, the district plans to regularly update the database of subjects and build a meticulous management system in cooperation with local community centers and health centers.

As of 2021, there were 13,888 single-person households aged middle-aged and above living in vulnerable residential areas in the region. Among the 1,961 households selected for this survey, about 55% (1,081 households) responded. The most common cause of becoming a single-person household was ‘divorce’ with 402 households (37%), and the most common housing type was ‘goshiwon’ with 401 households (37%).

A district official said, “Based on the survey results, we plan to closely analyze the welfare needs of single-person households and implement effective policies.”

Jung-gu established the ‘Single-Person Household Support Team’ for the first time in Seoul last year to actively respond to the increasing welfare needs of single-person households. In addition, it operates various support projects for single-person households such as an online platform, neighborhood care groups, and safe return scouts.

Mayor Seo Yang-ho said, “Closely understanding the living conditions of single-person households is the first step in building a safety net for them,” and added, “We will expand the community safety net for healthy independent living of single-person households through continuous discovery of welfare blind spots and thorough management systems.”

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