Gwanak-gu Wins 'Grand Prize' in Ministry of Health and Welfare Regional Welfare Project Evaluation

Honored as the First Recipient in the Newly Established 'Solitary Death Prevention and Management' Evaluation Category
Recognized for Leading Welfare Administration through Community Space Creation and Isolation Prevention Programs

Gwanak-gu, Seoul (Mayor Park Jun-hee) received the grand prize in the “Prevention and Management of Solitary Deaths” category at the 2024 Regional Welfare Project Evaluation hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The Regional Welfare Project Evaluation is conducted annually by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to disseminate excellent welfare administration cases, selecting local governments that have contributed to the development of regional welfare among 17 cities and provinces and 229 cities, counties, and districts nationwide.

In particular, in 2024, as the prevention of solitary deaths emerged as a key issue in welfare policy, the “Prevention and Management of Solitary Deaths” category was newly established, and Gwanak-gu had the honor of being the first grand prize winner.

Last year, the district operated the “Gwanak Life Love TF Team,” which received high praise for establishing a proactive public-private cooperative system for solitary death prevention and strengthening social isolation and solitary death prevention projects.

To facilitate the reintegration of isolated at-risk households into the community, Gwanak-gu piloted the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “Prevention and Management of Solitary Deaths” project by creating and operating the “Neighbor Sarangbang” community space.

Additionally, the district stood out by prioritizing the “Solitary Middle-aged Care Safety Net Formation Project,” a meal and job support program for high-risk middle-aged individuals living alone, funded by its own budget. This project was praised as innovative for focusing on services needed by isolated households by providing both meals and job support. Seoul City plans to benchmark this project and expand it as a district public contest project in 2025 to support vulnerable middle-aged single-person households.

Moreover, the district has consistently implemented various projects such as ▲intensive monitoring of high-risk solitary welfare recipients ▲“Annyeong Salpimi” (a project to strengthen dedicated personnel for discovering high-risk residents and checking on their well-being) ▲Solitary Death Prevention Council ▲Juju Day (a day when residents look after each other) ▲Shintongbangtong Welfare Platform (collaborating with real estate agents to discover at-risk households).

With the grand prize award in the newly established “Prevention and Management of Solitary Deaths” category of the Regional Welfare Project Evaluation this year, inquiries for benchmarking from other local governments continue. The district plans to further strengthen support projects next year for the reintegration of isolated and reclusive youth and middle-aged adults into the community.

A district official said, “This good result is the outcome of years of steady efforts to prevent isolation, loneliness, and solitary deaths,” adding, “We will continue to work hard to create a warm community without loneliness through a robust welfare safety net.”

Mayor Park Jun-hee stated, “Next year, we will strive to create a warm and inclusive city, Gwanak, with a more tightly knit welfare safety net through enhanced welfare services such as social isolation prevention projects and organic cooperation between the public and private sectors.”

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