Gyeonggi-do to Significantly Expand Home Care Support Services for the Elderly

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is expanding the 'Home Care Support Project for the Elderly' to eliminate blind spots in elderly care.

The province announced on the 18th that starting this year, it will expand the scope of support for home care services, which were previously provided only to elderly people aged 65 or older with a median income of 150% or less and other urgent support recipients in special need, to include preventive welfare.

The expanded service target groups include ▲ elderly people with psychological difficulties such as alcohol dependence, depression, and suicide ▲ elderly people not included in the income criteria but who have experienced sudden accidents or crisis situations ▲ elderly people who have difficulty receiving care due to special circumstances of their legal guardians ▲ elderly people in rural and mountainous areas ▲ elderly people requiring additional services during long-term hospitalization in medical institutions.

The province also provides psychological counseling programs for elderly people experiencing mental and psychological difficulties such as mild cognitive impairment, which is a pre-dementia stage, alcohol dependence, and depression.

A provincial official stated, "Considering the characteristics of Gyeonggi Province this year, we plan to provide services to elderly people in rural and mountainous areas with low service accessibility and those in urgent need of help to prevent any blind spots from occurring."