Naju City Selects '100-Year Care Managers'... Dispatched to Senior Centers

In Naju City, Jeollanam-do, which shines as the national leader in dementia management rate in the 2023 government-local government joint evaluation, elderly dementia care management is conducted not in nursing facilities or hospitals but at village senior centers.

According to Naju City on the 14th, since last year, the city has been actively promoting the ‘Naju-type Dementia Integrated Care Service of the 8th Local Government’ through differentiated policies such as a three-year plan for a full dementia survey, operation of 100-Year Safe Senior Centers, and distribution of smartwatches for elderly biometric health signals.

Naju City held the launch ceremony for the '100-Year Care Manager' on the 13th at the City Hall Ihwa Room.
[Photo by Naju City]

The city especially received great responses by designating and operating 180 village senior centers with a high resident ratio of those aged 60 and over as 100-Year Safe Senior Centers, aiming to realize a ‘healthy city without dementia worries until 100 years old.’

This policy focuses on helping high-risk groups and dementia patients overcome dementia by forming social relationships in the places they have lived all their lives, receiving support from neighbors, and gaining emotional stability, rather than relying on medical institutions or facilities.

Qualified and competent 100-Year Care Managers, who have received systematic training, are dispatched to these senior centers.

The care managers visit the senior centers weekly to provide various cognitive enhancement programs that help with proactive dementia prevention, symptom alleviation, and treatment support.

After a pilot operation last year, the city plans to expand the scope of activities in earnest from this year and strengthen care capabilities and service professionalism through systematic education.

In January this year, the city selected a total of 39 care managers (32 reappointed, 7 new) holding qualifications related to elderly care and welfare through an open recruitment, and held a launch ceremony on the 13th at the Ihwa Hall of the city hall.

The care managers circulate weekly among the 180 Safe Senior Centers, providing various cognitive enhancement programs such as art, music, and cognitive play.

Not only patients but also their families and neighbors participate in the programs, bringing vitality to the village senior centers that were usually quiet.

The managers also conduct monthly home visits and emotional support activities, including medication management and health consultations through 1:1 matching with patients, companionship, and phone check-ins.

According to the Dementia Safety Center of Naju City Public Health Center, results from cognitive screening tests (CIST), subjective memory decline questionnaires (SMCQ), and shortened geriatric depression scales (SGDS-K) conducted before and after the cognitive enhancement programs last year showed significant improvements in subjective memory decline and elderly depression among participating seniors.

In particular, over 90% of all participants responded that their ability to perform daily living activities had positively changed, confirming the effectiveness of the policy.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said at the launch ceremony, “While dementia prevention is a priority, it is truly important to treat and manage it so that symptoms do not progress further and can improve after onset,” adding, “I hope each care manager will do their best as workers creating a dementia-worry-free Naju, with a sense of mission to protect the health of the elderly, the families of patients, and the happiness of the local community.”

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

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