Songpa-gu Checks on the Well-being of Middle-aged and Elderly Living Alone Through Health Drink Delivery

83% of Solitary Deaths Are Middle-Aged and Older... March 8 HY (Korea Yakult) Signs Business Agreement
→ 196 Delivery Workers to Deliver Fermented Milk and Check on 150 Single Middle-Aged and Older Households Three Times a Week

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced that from March until the end of the year, it will partner with HY (Korea Yakult) to deliver health drinks to middle-aged and elderly households living alone in the area and detect signs of crisis as part of a new project to prevent solitary deaths.

From 2018 to 2023, over five years, the rate of solitary deaths among middle-aged people in their 50s and 60s surveyed by Songpa-gu accounted for 83% of all solitary deaths. In particular, most of them are unemployed without economic activity, highlighting the need for continuous monitoring to identify welfare blind spots.

Accordingly, in response to the socially significant issue of solitary deaths among the middle-aged, the district will pilot the “Middle-aged Single-person Household Health Drink Check-in Project” this year. On the 8th, Songpa-gu and HY Co., Ltd. Gangnam Branch signed a business agreement for public-private cooperation to check on 150 high-risk solitary death households by delivering health drinks in person.

A total of 196 HY managers (delivery workers) will deliver fermented milk three times a week, a meal kit sponsored by HY once a month, and welfare information leaflets, confirming the safety and health of the recipients. If signs of crisis or unusual circumstances occur, such as uncollected yogurt, they will immediately notify the local community center or report it through the district’s hotline, “Songpa Hope Talk.”

To promote the project, the district has proactively secured external resources such as subsidies and sponsorships and plans to evenly select beneficiaries from 10 neighborhoods, including Macheon-dong, where there are many single-person households aged 50 to 64 receiving basic living benefits. Social welfare officers in each neighborhood will select households requiring regular check-ins by considering health status, household type, and social networks through a “Solitary Death Risk Checklist.”

Meanwhile, to listen to voices from the field, the district will hold biannual meetings gathering HY managers and conduct a satisfaction survey for beneficiaries at the end of the year to review areas for improvement, ensuring thorough project management.

Additionally, this year the district will implement 40 detailed projects across four areas to prevent solitary deaths and address social isolation. New initiatives include milk delivery for seniors based on a public-private cooperation system and welfare registered mail services for those suspected to be in crisis. Reflecting the district’s characteristic that half of single-person households are aged 20 to 39, customized support measures for youth single-person households will be provided in areas such as economy, psychology, and legal assistance.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “As lonely deaths emerge as a serious social issue, our district formed a consultative body with 10 resident contact institutions last year and has proactively responded to prevent solitary deaths in the community through communication. This year, we will continue to build a closer public-private cooperation system to create an inclusive city where no one from children to seniors is left out and everyone is warmly cared for.”

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