Incheon City Identifies High-Risk Groups for Solitary Deaths... Provides Tailored Support by Life Cycle

Incheon City will strengthen tailored support for different life stages such as youth, middle-aged, and elderly by identifying new high-risk groups to prevent solitary deaths.

On the 8th, the city announced that it has prepared and will implement an action plan to detect individuals at risk of solitary death early and prevent such deaths through counseling, treatment, and service linkage.

The action plan includes four main strategies: ▲identification and management of solitary death risk groups ▲strengthening networks to alleviate social isolation ▲linkage and support of services by life cycle ▲enhancement of prevention and management systems, encompassing 74 detailed projects.

To discover new high-risk groups, the city will conduct surveys and investigations on reclusive individuals this year, and use the solitary death risk group standard checklist developed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to survey the actual conditions of solitary deaths, then select and manage the risk groups accordingly.

In particular, the city plans to utilize local networks to detect socially isolated households early. It will newly support the activation project budget for the Eup, Myeon, and Dong community security councils to promote various activities suited to local conditions, such as delivering health drinks and side dishes.

A health drink delivery manager is visiting a single-person household, delivering drinks and checking on their well-being.
[Photo provided by Yeonsu-gu, Incheon]

New projects aimed at alleviating social isolation will also be launched based on the human and material resources of comprehensive social welfare centers. Using local hub spaces, the city will implement a 'Visiting Welfare Pilot Special Project' to support relationship networks among residents, and from July, pilot projects for solitary death prevention and management will be conducted, including welfare checks, support for improving living environments, and formation of community spaces and social networks.

The city will also expand the target groups for solitary death prevention and link and support services tailored to life stages such as youth, middle-aged, and elderly.

For youth, support will be provided for mental health management through the Youth Mental Health Voucher and Youth Mental Health Center, job competency enhancement, and youth challenge support projects to boost job-seeking motivation. The independence allowance for youth preparing for self-reliance will be increased from 400,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW per month, and the eligibility criteria for the Youth Tomorrow Savings Account will be relaxed from a monthly earned or business income cap of 2 million KRW to 2.2 million KRW or less.

For the middle-aged group, which accounts for the highest proportion (71.1%) of solitary deaths, health management, employment support, lifelong education, and community activities will be strengthened using health centers and other facilities. Daily care services that provide home care, housekeeping services, meal and nutrition management, and hospital accompaniment will be expanded from 2 districts (pilot projects) to 9 counties and districts to help reduce the burden of daily life.

[Graphic] Elderly Living Alone

Based on survey results showing that the most difficult issues for elderly high-risk groups are health problems (30.4%), cleaning and laundry (11.5%), and accompaniment for outings (8.4%), the city will provide 'Elderly Customized Care Services' to 15,574 individuals to assist their daily lives.

The 'Customized Integrated Care Special Project' linking medical care, health management, and caregiving (including nutrition porridge support, home medical visits, medication guidance, fall prevention and treatment, etc.) will be expanded from 8 districts to 10 districts, and the elderly job allowance will be increased from 20,000 KRW to 40,000 KRW per month.

An official from Incheon City said, "The city will act as a connecting link for citizens experiencing social isolation," and added, "We ask for the public’s keen interest and cooperation in identifying solitary death risk groups."

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