Jeonnam Naju City Achieves National 1st Place in Government Joint Evaluation for Dementia Management Rate

Naju City in Jeollanam-do has firmly established itself as a local government leading the care for healthy aging of seniors in the 100-year era by achieving the best nationwide performance in the dementia management category of the government joint evaluation.

According to Naju City on the 7th, the city was confirmed to have ranked first nationwide in the ‘dementia management rate’ performance among 256 dementia safety centers across the country in the 2023 nationwide local government joint evaluation hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety last year.

The dementia management rate is calculated and evaluated by summing the ‘dementia patient registration rate,’ ‘dementia patient service utilization rate,’ and ‘caregiver service utilization rate’ against the dementia prevalence rate, as part of the national agenda to strengthen jobs, health, and care systems in the 100-year era.

The city achieved a dementia patient registration rate of 109.9%, a dementia patient service utilization rate of 99.4%, and a caregiver service utilization rate of 69.6%, ranking first nationwide with an overwhelming total score of 95.5%.

As of 2023, the number of registered dementia patients was 3,730, an increase of 109.9% (335 people) compared to the estimated 3,395 dementia patients in the previous year.

Among them, 3,720 patients used the services of the Public Health Center’s Dementia Safety Center, and there were 3,652 cases of patient case management and resource linkage, achieving a dementia patient service utilization rate of 99.4% at the Dementia Safety Center.

The achievement of the nationwide first place in dementia management rate is analyzed to be due to Naju City’s policy of the ‘Naju-type 3-year dementia census survey’ which has been a key focus since last year.

The goal is to proactively prevent and discover high-risk dementia groups in the blind spots of care through early dementia screening of residents aged 60 and over for three years until 2025, and to provide customized dementia management services for patients and their families.

In the first year of the survey, the city completed 15,232 early screenings, exceeding the initial target of 12,000.

The screening targets are citizens aged 60 and over, and the service is provided free of charge by visiting the Dementia Safety Center, public health branch offices, or clinics directly.

For residents who have difficulty moving or visiting, staff from the Public Health Center’s Dementia Safety Center provide close administrative services by visiting village senior centers and target households directly, receiving great responses.

Based on the screening results, the Dementia Safety Center conducts additional tests if necessary and connects customized services for each target, such as support for examination fees, treatment management fees, care supplies, and issuing identification tags.

Along with the dementia census survey, designating 180 100-year safe senior centers for integrated dementia care and operating cognitive enhancement programs by 100-year care managers are also significant strengths in building a dense dementia safety net.

For dementia consultation and screening inquiries, contact the Naju City Public Health Center Dementia Safety Center.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae of Naju said, “Following the commendation from the Minister of Health and Welfare for being selected as an excellent dementia program institution in 2023, achieving first place nationwide in the government joint evaluation dementia management rate has proven our administrative capability to establish an integrated dementia care system in preparation for the aging society. We will continue to do our best to ensure that seniors can live healthy old age without worries about dementia through proactive prevention and timely treatment.”

Naju = Kim Yukbong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy bless4ya@asiae.co.kr

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