Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Launches Social Care Program "Hospital Companion for Health Vulnerable"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, is promoting social services for citizens who require continuous outpatient treatment but have difficulty receiving family care.

On the 15th, Gwangsan-gu announced that its "Human Ambulance Service for the Safety of the Health-Vulnerable" was selected in the "2021 National Policy Design Support Project" contest conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The National Policy Design Support Project is a "citizen participatory policy model" where citizens directly participate in the policy process to create innovative services.

A total of 23 support projects were selected in this contest, and Gwangsan-gu was the only one included from Gwangju.

The "Human Ambulance Service for the Safety of the Health-Vulnerable" proposed by Gwangsan-gu is a one-stop accompaniment service for health-vulnerable individuals who need frequent hospital visits but have no family to care for them or whose family members find it difficult to accompany them to the hospital.

The starting point was a 2019 resident demand survey conducted by Gwangsan-gu, the first of its kind nationwide, on residents of permanent rental apartments, which revealed that most residents were single-person households with a high rate of hospital use, indicating a need for care and health management services.

With this selection, it is expected that a medical and care system will be established to connect various community resources to improve the quality of life for citizens in an aging society with an increasing number of single-person households.

Gwangsan-gu will form a policy design team consisting of citizens, experts, service designers, and public officials to concretize the policy and establish an implementation system.

In particular, middle-aged and older professionals with experience such as nurses, nursing assistants, and social workers will be utilized as "accompaniment managers" to assist throughout the entire process including vaccinations, health checkups, hospital treatments, and pharmacy use.

The support targets include not only the elderly but also people with disabilities, chronic patients, and children.

After operating the national design team, Gwangsan-gu plans to launch a pilot service in permanent rental apartments in the region around July.

To this end, various institutions and organizations are planning to collaborate. As part of this, a new middle-aged job project using the Gwangsan Citizen Allowance will support 10 professionals including nursing staff.

Together Gwangsan Sharing Culture Foundation will connect resources for mobility support, and the Gwangju Medical Welfare Social Cooperative, launched as the nation’s first public-private alliance, will cooperate in training dedicated personnel and linking care services.

Gwangsan-gu’s plan is to discover and connect necessary social services for the health-vulnerable through this project, assist appropriate hospital use, and develop it into a "one-stop social care system."

Kim Sam-ho, Mayor of Gwangsan-gu, said, "'Human Ambulance Service' is a social service essential for a super-aged society," and added, "We plan to pilot the service in the form of social care by incorporating more policy ideas through the formation of a national design team for tasks that people wish someone would do for them."