Various Non-Face-to-Face Programs to Prevent COVID-19 Spread Receive High Praise, Gangseo-gu the Only District Awarded Top Prize Among Seoul Autonomous Districts
[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced that the Gangseo-gu Dementia Safety Center (Director Jeong Ji-hyang) was the only district in Seoul to receive the Grand Prize at the ‘2020 Dementia Safety Center Best Practice Competition’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Central Dementia Center.
This competition, held for the first time this year, was organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Central Dementia Center to discover, share, and spread excellent dementia-related cases. A total of 180 centers nationwide participated across six categories of dementia safety centers, and 18 centers (one grand prize, one excellence award, and one encouragement award per category) were selected as winners.
The Gangseo-gu Dementia Safety Center participated with the case of ‘Dementia E-Care Service in the COVID-19 Era’ and was selected as the grand prize winner in the dementia prevention and cognitive enhancement category, receiving the Grand Prize (Minister of Health and Welfare Award).
The ‘Dementia E-Care Service in the COVID-19 Era’ is a case of operating various non-face-to-face programs to protect the safety and health of the elderly in response to the spread of COVID-19.
After the spread of COVID-19, the Gangseo-gu Dementia Safety Center quickly developed non-face-to-face programs and provided uninterrupted dementia prevention services despite closures due to social distancing.
In particular, online dementia prevention programs that elderly people can easily follow at home, such as the ‘Brain Strong Memory Enhancement’ online lecture using YouTube, ‘Memory Filling Good (9 o’clock) Morning’ using the Kakao channel, and ‘Memory Filling zoom’ using the video conferencing platform Zoom, received high evaluations at this competition.
These online programs were selected in May by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as ‘Active Administrative Cases Utilizing ICT Technology’ and were shared with 256 dementia safety centers across cities, counties, and districts nationwide.
Since November, the center has been producing and broadcasting short clips titled ‘Protecting Brain Health with Haldambi,’ continuously expanding various non-face-to-face services for dementia patients and their families during the COVID-19 era.
The short clip series consists of 11 episodes and features elderly Mr. Ji Byung-su, known as ‘Haldambi (Grandfather + Son Dam-bi),’ who gained attention for dancing the Son Dam-bi dance on the National Singing Contest. He provides cognitive, exercise, and nutrition programs that elderly people can participate in without textbooks.
The brain health project ‘Protecting Brain Health with Haldambi’ can be viewed on the Gangseo-gu Dementia Safety Center website and YouTube channel.
Jo Sun-ok, Director of the Health Management Division, said, “The need for non-face-to-face services is increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will actively support various non-face-to-face programs to fill the gap in dementia care so that elderly people at high risk of dementia can overcome this period healthily.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
