Jongno-gu Improves Quality of Life for Disabled People Using 'Smart Technology'

Smart Home Devices Distributed and Monitored for Disabled Households with Hand Use ... Conducted to Support Independent Living of Disabled People at Home as Part of Community-Based Rehabilitation Project

Jeong Munheon, Mayor of Jongno District

There is good news for homebound people with disabilities who had to ask their families to turn the lights on and off due to their disabilities.

Jongno-gu (District Mayor Jeong Munheon) has been making headlines since August for promoting the "Internet of Things (IoT) Smart Home Environment Improvement Project" utilizing smart technology.

This project focuses on installing IoT smart home devices in households with severely disabled individuals and monitoring their use.

As part of the community-based rehabilitation project, Jongno-gu Public Health Center and the Seoul Northern Regional Disabled Health Care Center have joined forces to support the independent living and improve the quality of life of homebound people with disabilities.

The target beneficiaries are severely disabled residents in the area who have limited mobility but can use their hands.

Accordingly, experts have visited each household since August to conduct housing environment assessments and hand function evaluations, completing the installation and user training of a total of 27 various smart home devices such as ‘smart lighting,’ ‘door locks,’ and ‘blinds.’ This month, they checked for user inconveniences through monitoring.

Among the project participants, Mr. Lee OO, who had a smart switch installed at home to control the room lighting via smartphone, said, “Because of my physical difficulties, I couldn’t turn the lights on and off by myself, but thanks to the smart switch, I can do it on my own now, and I am very happy. I hope more smart home devices considerate of people with mobility impairments will be distributed in the future.”

District Mayor Jeong Munheon emphasized, “We plan to expand support projects to build customized smart homes according to disability types,” adding, “We will work evenly to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, provide convenience, and raise awareness, creating a community environment where everyone can live happily regardless of disability.”

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