Gwanak-gu Achieves Honor as an Excellent Autonomous District in the 'National Mind Investment Support Project'

Awarded the Minister of Health and Welfare Prize (Encouragement Award)... 67 Outstanding Autonomous Districts Selected Among 299 Local Governments Nationwide
Starting July, Professional Psychological Counseling Services Based on Dialogue Provided for Residents with Emotional Difficulties

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) has achieved the great honor of being selected as an excellent local government (Encouragement Award) in the '2024 National Mind Investment Support Project Evaluation' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The 'National Mind Investment Support Project' is a program launched in July this year that provides professional psychological counseling services based on conversation to residents experiencing emotional difficulties such as depression and anxiety, aiming to ▲early detection of mental illness ▲care for residents' mental health ▲and suicide prevention.

This evaluation comprehensively assessed the operation performance and work efforts of the Mind Investment Support Project across 299 local governments nationwide to select outstanding institutions.

The evaluation indicators included ▲service application rate (relative to population) ▲participation rate of low-income groups (relative to total applicants) ▲number of registered service providers and personnel (relative to population) ▲service utilization rate ▲and whether a dedicated project organization and personnel management were in place.

A total of 67 excellent local governments were finally selected, among which Gwanak-gu was honored with the Encouragement Award.

The district received high marks for actively promoting the service to mentally vulnerable groups (such as single-person households and high-risk depression groups) to increase the service application rate, as well as for establishing a dedicated project organization and appropriately managing personnel.

The district visited various institutions within the area, including ▲mental medical institutions ▲schools ▲Youth Center ▲public health centers ▲and mental health welfare centers, requesting cooperation so that residents experiencing emotional difficulties could use counseling services, and also promoted the project to users to increase participation rates.

As a result, 745 residents used psychological counseling services this year, receiving great response.

Additionally, by forming a dedicated project organization and managing personnel, the district monitored the process from service application to utilization to ensure no inconvenience, receiving favorable evaluations in service utilization (providing 2,645 psychological counseling services).

Residents wishing to receive psychological counseling can apply by bringing a referral form or a doctor's opinion (diagnosis) to their local community service center or apply online via Bokjiro.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “I hope that many people suffering from depression, anxiety, and feelings of isolation will have the opportunity to receive professional psychological counseling, look into their own minds, and heal their wounds by themselves,” and added, “We will continue to prepare various programs for mental health to ensure the happiness and safety of our residents.”

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