Bucheon City Launches Nation's First AI Voice-Based Cognitive Health Screening... "Early Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment"

Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 12th that it will be the first in the nation to actively implement an artificial intelligence (AI) voice-based cognitive health screening using the 'Onmaeum AI Welfare Call' system.

The Onmaeum AI Welfare Call is a service in which an AI call bot contacts welfare benefit recipients, such as basic livelihood security recipients and those in the near-poor category, to promptly and accurately inform them of customized welfare benefits.

The AI call cognitive health screening targets 3,000 elderly individuals aged 65 or older from vulnerable groups. For home-based medical benefit recipients with limited mobility, in-person visits will be conducted in parallel to increase the screening rate and reduce blind spots.

Bucheon City Hall

The first screening uses a shortened format based on AI voice analysis technology, in which voice responses to three questions are analyzed within four minutes to assess cognitive health. This approach streamlines the previously complicated dementia screening process, allowing seniors to easily and conveniently undergo the test at home.

Seniors identified as high-risk in the screening will undergo a second, standard-format test based on a mobile app. If they are found to be high-risk in both the first and second screenings, they will be promptly connected to cognitive health services at the public health center’s Dementia Safety Center.

For example, one senior who was hospitalized for a fracture in January of this year and discharged in April was unable to undergo a follow-up dementia screening due to mobility issues. However, after recently being classified as high-risk in the AI call’s shortened test and subsequently diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in the standard test, the individual has now begun treatment. Seniors who wish to participate in the AI call cognitive health screening can apply by visiting the administrative welfare center in their residential district.

A Bucheon City official stated, "The Onmaeum AI Welfare Call cognitive health screening is a case of digital inclusive welfare that even seniors with mobility difficulties can participate in," adding, "We will continue to strengthen proactive health management by linking AI technology with welfare services so that seniors can enjoy a healthy old age."

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