Damyang-gun Accelerates 'Hyangchon Welfare' Pledge in 8th Local Government Term

County Governor Lee Byeong-no: "We will create a Damyang without welfare blind spots by building a dense welfare network"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Damyang County is accelerating efforts to realize 'Hyangchon Welfare,' a core pledge of the 8th local government administration.

County Governor Lee Byeongno plans to establish a unique welfare model for Damyang County through the realization of Hyangchon Welfare, a customized pledge considering that about 32% of the county's population is elderly aged 65 or older.

First, the county is expanding the functions of health institutions to build a health promotion service system and is promoting improvements to health institution facilities to provide high-quality healthcare to local residents.

As residents' health demands increase and the prevalence of chronic diseases rises, the diverse roles of health institutions have become more important. Therefore, new construction and renovations of frontline health centers and clinics are underway to effectively serve as guardians of residents' health.

Additionally, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and solitary deaths, the county has expanded the operation of the Elderly Guardians Group, strengthening elderly welfare that residents can directly feel.

The Elderly Guardians Group is a project that connects isolated elderly living alone, who do not receive public services, with volunteers on a one-to-one basis to regularly check on their well-being, monitor COVID-19 prevention guidelines, and carry out activities to prevent solitary deaths.

A pilot project for installing early warning systems in households is also being promoted.

This project aims to resolve information blind spots where residents, isolated due to heavy rain, heatwaves, or winter heating, have difficulty listening to outdoor broadcasts and thus cannot receive various disaster-related information.

Once completed, residents will be able to listen to village broadcasts indoors, and a dense welfare network is expected to be established through continuous monitoring by the Life Safety Center.

Furthermore, the county plans to distribute 955 units of next-generation emergency safety and security service equipment based on information and communication technology (ICT) within the year, linking elderly living alone and severely disabled individuals with the fire station (119) in real time.

The equipment, consisting of response detection sensors (for activity, doors, fire, gas, etc.) and emergency call devices, along with continuous monitoring and inspection, is expected by the county to play a significant role in eliminating welfare blind spots.

Going forward, improvements will be made to provide more detailed health services by village and region, such as building new health centers and mobile health clinics. Additionally, through facility improvements and networking of existing nursing homes, a system will be established to allow residents to enjoy a happy old age without leaving their hometown.

Governor Lee Byeongno said, “We will do our best to complete 'Hyangchon Welfare,' a Damyang-type welfare model for the comfortable old age of our seniors,” and added, “We will create a Damyang without welfare blind spots by building a dense welfare network.”

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