Gyeonggi-do Expands Elderly Disabled Shelters to 20 Locations This Year

Poster for the Installation of 20 Senior Disabled Shelters in Gyeonggi-do This Year

Gyeonggi Province will establish 20 "Senior Disabled Persons' Shelters" within the year, providing cultural activities and health management programs for elderly disabled individuals.

On the 25th, Gyeonggi Province announced that after requesting the Ministry of Health and Welfare in December last year to create a new social security system for senior disabled persons' shelters, it received notification of "consultation completed" on the 22nd.

The senior disabled persons' shelters are facilities aimed at disabled individuals aged 65 and older (or 50 and older if necessary), supporting ▲health (yoga, gateball, health counseling, etc.) ▲social participation (horticultural therapy, laughter therapy, smartphone education, etc.) ▲case management (human rights education, high-risk group management, and external linkage, etc.) while playing a role in preventing various social issues arising from the aging of disabled persons.

Unlike disability welfare centers or social welfare facilities mainly composed of programs unsuitable for the characteristics of elderly disabled persons, these shelters provide programs considering the specific characteristics of disability types.

Since 2019, eight shelters have been operating in the province in locations such as Yongin, Bucheon, Namyangju, Pyeongtaek, Hanam, Osan, Anseong, and Uiwang. However, these were supported through private organizations using provincial social welfare funds.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province will invest 1.26 billion KRW this year (378 million KRW from the provincial budget, 882 million KRW from city and county budgets) to convert the support method to a city and county subsidy project to revitalize the shelters.

Gyeonggi Province plans to expand the shelters to all 31 cities and counties.

Kim Neungsik, Director of the Provincial Welfare Bureau, stated, "There are not enough places where elderly disabled persons can comfortably enjoy leisure time, leading to depression caused by social isolation. We will continue to strive to guarantee the basic rights of disabled persons and eliminate inconveniences and discrimination caused by disabilities by providing opportunities to enjoy various cultural and leisure activities in the local community."

Meanwhile, as of the end of last year, among the 580,000 registered disabled persons in the province, 280,000 (48.9%) are elderly aged 65 and older.

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