Seoul City Establishes First 'Emergency and On-Demand Care Facility Exclusively for Severe Brain Lesion Disabled' to Alleviate Family Care Burden

24-Hour Access for Severe Brain Lesion Disabled... Creating a Comfortable and Pleasant Space Like a Hotel

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 18th that it will open the 'Emergency and On-Demand Short-Term Residential Care Facility for Persons with Severe Brain Lesions (Hanareum),' available 24 hours a day, on the 20th to alleviate the caregiving burden on families of persons with disabilities.

Hanareum, Seoul's first 'Emergency and On-Demand Care Facility exclusively for Persons with Severe Brain Lesions,' is located within the Woosungwon residential facility for persons with disabilities in Godeok-dong, Gangdong-gu, and operates 24 hours a day with a capacity of 10 people.

This newly opened facility operates 24 hours a day and is expected to reduce the burden on families of persons with severe brain lesions in situations where caregiving gaps occur, such as treatment and hospitalization, family events, raising non-disabled siblings, caregiver business trips and rest, and the urgent absence of caregiving personnel (activity support workers).

To establish the facility, Seoul conducted an academic research project last year titled 'Development of an Emergency and On-Demand Care Facility Model exclusively for Persons with Severe Brain Lesions.' Among the models proposed in the study, the residential facility utilization type was applied, installing the facility by utilizing idle spaces within the residential facility created by deinstitutionalization.

Hanareum is available for persons aged 6 to under 65 with severe brain lesions who require emergency or on-demand care, allowing each individual to use the facility for up to 15 days per visit and up to 30 days annually. Facility users receive daily caregiving support such as meals, personal hygiene, and physical care, along with professional medical services including daily health checks, prescribed medication management and administration, and pressure ulcer care provided by assigned professional nurses.

Hanareum will operate under a 'pre-registration system' until the end of this year and plans to improve facility operations through experience programs (daytime experience, overnight experience). Kim Sang-han, Director of Welfare Policy at Seoul City, stated, “The Emergency and On-Demand Short-Term Residential Care Facility for Persons with Severe Brain Lesions is a dedicated facility that can be used when caregiving personnel are absent,” adding, “We will continue to make our best efforts to discover and support various policies for persons with brain lesions.”

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