Cheongyang County's Elderly Care-Specialized Welfare Housing Gains Attention as a National Model

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The elderly care-specialized welfare housing and integrated community care linkage system, first introduced nationwide by Cheongyang County in South Chungcheong Province, is gaining attention as an exemplary welfare model for responding to an aging society.

Cheongyang County's innovative policy, which provides both residential stability and customized welfare services to the elderly, has become a benchmark for other local governments, leading to a series of visits from related organizations in recent days.

On April 22, Cheongyang County announced that its elderly welfare housing offers a continuous care environment?such as health management and leisure programs?for seniors who are able to live independently, while providing customized care services and emergency safety assurance services for those in need of assistance, thereby creating a sustainable environment for independent living.

At this facility, public officials and private sector workers collaborate on-site to provide one-stop services including counseling, care linkage, and healthcare support.

Furthermore, a systematic welfare service delivery system has been established through organic cooperation among the administrative support center, social welfare center, integrated home care center, and home medical center.

In particular, the integrated home care center provides day care services for long-term care recipients, while the home medical center offers home health management and community-based rehabilitation services through the public health center's home visit team, thereby substantially improving the quality of life for the elderly.

This integrated welfare environment, which links housing and care, is evaluated as delivering a "double benefit" by enhancing housing stability for vulnerable seniors without homes and providing tailored services for the elderly.

The county's outstanding case is attracting nationwide interest. In February, public officials from Haman County in South Gyeongsang Province visited, followed by staff from the National Health Insurance Service Sejong Branch, Gunsan City Hall in North Jeolla Province, and trainees from the Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health and Welfare in April. On April 24, trainees from the Chungbuk Autonomous Training Institute who are candidates for promotion to grade 5 are also scheduled to visit.

On April 22, as part of the "On-Site Answers" Elderly Welfare Field Study program organized by the Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health and Welfare, 22 public officials and private sector workers from 14 local governments across the country visited Cheongyang County to share integrated care cases and participate in field-oriented training to solve similar issues.

This training program was designed to ensure the successful implementation of the "Medical and Care Integrated Support Pilot Project" promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Cheongyang County participated as an exemplary local government alongside Daedeok District in Daejeon.

A county official stated, "As the medical and care integrated support project will be expanded nationwide starting next year, Cheongyang County will further strengthen its care system to fulfill its role as a leading local government in elderly welfare."

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