Seongdong-gu Promotes Simplification of Medical Expense Claims for Victims of Stalking Crimes and Others

[Seoul District News] On the 26th, Seongdong-gu, Seongdong Police Station, and Hanyang University Hospital signed a business agreement to establish a crime victim support system, enhancing victim protection and convenience through direct medical expense claims by medical institutions during emergency relief... Seodaemun-gu focuses on discovering vulnerable households and preventing solitary deaths... Seongbuk-gu Dementia Safety Center partners with Seongbuk-gu Pharmacists Association to build a dementia safety network... Jongno-gu to hold the 'Jongno-gu Eoullil Nuril Festival' on the 28th in celebration of Disability Day.

Agreement Ceremony between Seongdong-gu Office, Seongdong Police Station, and Hanyang University Hospital Held on the 26th

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced on the 26th that it has signed a public-private-police cooperation agreement to simplify the medical expense claim procedures for victims of stalking crimes, domestic violence, and sexual violence.

To receive medical expense support for victims of stalking crimes, domestic violence, and sexual violence, victims themselves must obtain documents from the police station and medical institutions respectively and apply directly to the district office. However, elderly victims sometimes face difficulties in applying, and working victims often find it inconvenient to visit in person, resulting in cases where medical expense claims are not made.

Accordingly, Seongdong-gu has promoted an agreement with Seongdong Police Station and Hanyang University Hospital to simplify the procedure so that medical expenses can be claimed directly by the hospital where treatment was received. The purpose of this agreement is for related institutions to establish an organic cooperation system and mutually cooperate to make it easy and convenient for crime victims to receive medical expense support services.

The agreement stipulates that when the police station transfers victims of domestic violence, etc., it will prepare a victim confirmation document and submit it to the medical institution, and the medical institution will submit the medical expense statement and claim form to the district office on behalf of the victim after treatment.

Through this agreement, it is expected that the establishment of a joint cooperation system among related institutions will contribute to victim protection and convenience enhancement by simplifying the medical expense claim procedures for crime victims.

Seongdong-gu is promoting various projects so that socially vulnerable groups such as women, the elderly, and children can live safely and comfortably. Through the project to create women-safe alleys without crime, safe villages have been established across 24 locations in 17 neighborhoods, and a support project for safety items for single-person households has also been promoted. In addition, efforts to enhance community safety through the operation of a living lab for safe school routes and a smart city integrated center have led to the achievement of being designated as a 'Phase 2 Women-Friendly City' from 2022 to 2026.

In June this year, in cooperation with Seongdong Police Station, the 'Emergency Support for Stalking Crime Victim Prevention' project is also being promoted. The safety items for stalking crime victim prevention consist of a smart doorbell that allows real-time monitoring of the front door via mobile phone, home CCTV to check the home situation when going out, and door opening sensors attached to windows and front doors that detect opening and send alerts to smartphones, provided to the recipients to prevent home intrusion and strengthen security in daily living spaces.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “Through this agreement, related institutions will cooperate more closely to establish protection and support systems for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking crimes,” adding, “I hope this will be an opportunity to strengthen the local safety network to ensure the safety of residents along with crime prevention.”

Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Seong-heon) announced on the 27th that it will establish and promote a ‘Comprehensive Plan for Discovering Welfare Blind Spots’ to expand the welfare safety net for socially isolated households and prevent solitary deaths.

This plan consists of 23 projects in three areas: ▲public-private cooperation for discovering at-risk households ▲support for vulnerable care groups ▲promotion of customized welfare policies.

To discover at-risk households through public-private cooperation, the district will strengthen neighbor care activities through community networks such as Our Neighborhood Care Team, honorary social welfare officers, Dong Mabom Council (Community Security Council), and neighborhood leaders.

It will also survey solitary death risk households aged 50 and over to update the status and utilize non-face-to-face IT welfare services (Angel Call, Angel Talk, Angel Chatbot) and the welfare membership system (customized benefit guidance).

Furthermore, a ‘Direct Text Reporting Center to the Mayor’ and a ‘District Website At-Risk Household Reporting Window’ will be opened, and regional customized surveys will be conducted using big data on crisis information from the Social Security Information System (Happiness e-um).

For these projects, a ‘Task Force for Intensive Discovery of Welfare Blind Spots’ will be formed and operated through cooperation between public and private institutions.

For the discovered ‘support for vulnerable care groups,’ a stable protection system will be established by linking public resources (welfare benefits, Care SOS Center, Food Bank, Seoul-type Emergency Welfare, integrated case management), and monitoring such as welfare checks will be strengthened. Post-management of solitary deaths, including organizing belongings and supporting public funerals, will also be undertaken.

‘Promotion of customized welfare policies’ will be continuously pursued through meetings and education to train experts in discovering welfare blind spots, placing informational materials in stores, and including welfare counseling contact information and promotional phrases in various notices and reports.

Lee Seong-heon, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, stated, “We will devote ourselves to providing meticulous and substantial support to at-risk households by strengthening the public-private cooperation system.”

Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) Dementia Safety Center (Director Yoo Seung-ho) signed a business agreement with the Seongbuk-gu Pharmaceutical Association (President Choi Myung-sook) on the 20th to establish a community dementia safety network.

The Seongbuk-gu Dementia Safety Center is conducting a project to create a dementia-friendly environment so that dementia patients and their families can live safely in the community by designating dementia-safe villages. Through this business agreement, starting with 20 pharmacies in Wolgok 1 and 2-dong, designated as dementia-safe villages in 2022, about 200 pharmacies in Seongbuk-gu will be designated as ‘Dementia Safe Pharmacies.’

A Dementia Safe Pharmacy refers to a good pharmacy where pharmacists and all members complete dementia partner education and actively participate in creating a dementia-friendly environment by providing dementia-related services such as medication guidance for dementia patients, screening and counseling for early detection of dementia to residents visiting the pharmacy.

An official from the Seongbuk-gu Dementia Safety Center said, “We will actively expand dementia safe pharmacies to make Seongbuk-gu a place where families with dementia can feel safe, and support expanding their role in the community as dementia safe pharmacies through continuous dementia patient response education and distribution of promotional materials to designated franchise stores.”

Meanwhile, any business operator willing to participate in improving dementia awareness and establishing a safety network in the community can apply to become a dementia safe franchise store. Detailed guidance is available by contacting the Seongbuk-gu Dementia Safety Center.

2019 Eoullurim Festival

Jongno-gu (Mayor Jung Moon-heon) will hold the 42nd Disabled Persons Day commemorative ‘Jongno-gu Eoullil Nurim Festival’ at Marronnier Park in Daehangno on the 28th.

The event is a place for people with and without disabilities to understand and communicate with each other, hosted by Jongno-gu and organized by the Jongno-gu Disabled Persons Association Federation (President Park Jae-han) and Jongno Disabled Welfare Center (Director Kim Eun-young).

The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. with performances by disabled persons including flamenco, saxophone, piano, harmonica, and classical guitar, followed by the reading of the Disabled Persons Human Rights Declaration, an award ceremony for 12 meritorious persons, commemorative speeches, and congratulatory speeches.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Nurimadang (side events) will operate 16 experience booths run by disability welfare facilities and related organizations, including massage experience, visual and tactile experiences, keyring making, coffee and hotteok sharing, mobile braille block experience, brain lesion experience, mental health checkups, and stress measurement.

Jongno-gu has prepared a stamp tour event to encourage participation from passing citizens, offering souvenirs to those who visit four or more booths.

Additionally, with support from KT, under the theme ‘Warm Technology for the Disabled,’ demonstrations of communication apps for people with and without disabilities (MaeumTalk), smart home experiences, and AI robot guidance will be showcased.

Mayor Jung Moon-heon said, “I hope this will be a meaningful time for people with and without disabilities to unite and learn to understand each other,” adding, “We will strive to improve the rights of disabled persons and make Jongno a good place to live regardless of disability.”

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