Yeongdeungpo-gu, Becoming a Hub for Senior Welfare

From July this year, the ‘Yeongdeungpo-type Comprehensive Welfare Plan for the Elderly’ will be fully implemented

Visited all 170 senior centers over the past 5 months, focusing on five key support areas reflecting hands-on administration

Various initiatives such as establishing the ‘Yeongdeungpo-type Smart Silver Center’ and promoting Yeongdeungpo-type senior jobs

Cho Ho-kwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor, Communicating On-site at Senior Citizens' Center

Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) has rolled up its sleeves to ensure a happy and prosperous old age for the elderly.

Starting from July this year, the district announced that it will actively promote the ‘Yeongdeungpo-type Comprehensive Welfare Plan for the Elderly’ to support the healthy and happy lives of senior citizens.

The district plans to establish a foundation for healthy leisure facilities for the elderly through systematic operation of senior centers and build a diverse income security system by expanding Yeongdeungpo-type senior jobs.

Since January until May this year, Mayor Choi visited all 170 senior centers in the area to communicate with the elderly through the initiative ‘Warm Companionship with the Elderly.’ Over the past five months, Mayor Choi gathered various opinions from the elderly during these visits and focused on preparing comprehensive improvement measures reflecting their feedback.

Accordingly, in June, the district formulated the ‘Yeongdeungpo-type Comprehensive Welfare Plan for the Elderly,’ which fully embodies the hands-on administration of the past five months. With the vision of ‘Vibrant Old Age, Adding Hope in Yeongdeungpo,’ the plan focuses on five key support areas: ▲expanding senior leisure infrastructure by region ▲creating pleasant and safe resting spaces ▲realizing support for senior center operations ▲strengthening support for leisure and cultural activities ▲linking with community job opportunities.

In particular, the district will establish the ‘Yeongdeungpo-type Smart Silver Center,’ a new concept smart leisure facility for the elderly utilizing IoT and artificial intelligence. Using digital devices, the center will comprehensively promote emotional support, health management, and disease prevention for seniors, as well as provide customized informatization education and programs to bridge the digital divide among the elderly.

Additionally, efforts will be made to enhance fairness in support between public and private senior centers and to reflect inflation rates in operating expenses, including ▲distribution of digital devices to public senior centers ▲expansion of smart apartment senior centers ▲introduction of heating expenses for apartment senior centers ▲support for facility renovation of apartment and private senior centers ▲increase in lunch and holiday operation expenses ▲expansion of lunch helper support ▲support for standing furniture such as dining tables and sofas ▲operation of open and specialized programs.

Furthermore, the district will strengthen senior job projects by focusing on social service jobs with higher wages than public types and expanding private sector jobs. Yeongdeungpo-type senior jobs will also be actively promoted to contribute to stable income security for the elderly.

Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “We have prepared a large-scale comprehensive plan reflecting diverse opinions gathered through on-site communication to ensure a healthy and vibrant old age for the elderly, who are the main contributors to our country’s economic development. Through regional pilot implementation of senior welfare projects, we will strive to expand these benefits nationwide so that all elderly citizens can enjoy them.”

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