Starting This Month, 100-320 Hours per Month of 'Additional Activity Support Service' Established... Apply at Local Community Centers
Support Established to Ensure Life and Health Rights of Elderly Disabled Amid Ongoing Care Gaps Despite Government Subsidies
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 7th that it will allocate city funds to provide additional support for the ‘Disabled Activity Support Service’ for elderly disabled individuals aged 65 and older who experience gaps in care time. Starting this month, applicants can apply at their local community service center, and depending on the eligibility, they can use an additional 100 to 320 hours per month.
The ‘Disabled Activity Support Service’ is a care service where activity support workers visit homes to assist with daily activities such as household chores, mobility, and bathing. For severely disabled individuals with mobility difficulties, this is an essential service directly linked to survival. However, once they turn 65, the ‘Long-term Care Insurance Act’ applies, limiting them to a maximum of 4 hours per day of ‘home visit care service,’ the same as non-disabled persons.
To address this gap in the system, the amended Disabled Activity Support Act, which compensates for the existing activity support service hours, has been in effect since January of this year, but it remains insufficient for elderly severely disabled individuals. Before turning 65, they could receive up to 830 hours per month (up to 24 hours per day) of activity support service, but after turning 65, even with government compensation, the maximum is reduced to 480 hours.
This project was promoted to guarantee the right to life and health of elderly disabled individuals who still experience care gaps despite government compensation. This year, 900 million KRW of city funds will be invested to support all 33 eligible individuals. The plan is to continue supporting eligible individuals annually.
This year’s support targets are 19 severely disabled elderly living alone who turn 65 between 2020 and 2021, and 14 elderly disabled individuals aged 65 and older who have been discharged from Seoul’s residential facilities for the disabled. With the aging trend of the disabled population, the number of eligible individuals is expected to continue expanding.
Severely disabled elderly living alone who turn 65 will receive an additional 100 to 200 hours per month (3 to 7 hours per day). When combined with existing elderly long-term care benefits and government compensation (72 to 480 hours per month), they can receive an average of 18.2 hours and up to 22.6 hours of activity support service per day. Activity support services for elderly disabled individuals aged 65 and older discharged from residential facilities for the disabled will also be implemented for the first time nationwide. Seoul will support 120 to 320 hours per month (4 to 11 hours per day) of activity support service.
Applications can be made by visiting the local community service center with simple documents. Proxy applications are also possible. The service is integrated with the activity support voucher program, allowing convenient use through the existing ‘National Happiness Card.’
Meanwhile, last June, Seoul was the first nationwide to pilot the activity support project for severely disabled elderly individuals turning 65, raising awareness and interest in related systems. In December of the same year, it was evaluated that this led to the amendment of the Disabled Activity Support Act and the implementation of the government’s compensation pilot project.
Kim Seon-soon, Director of Welfare Policy, said, “Severely disabled individuals need more activity support services as they age to maintain daily life, but elderly disabled individuals have suffered greatly due to the discontinuation of these services. Seoul will do its best not only with this project but also by continuously proposing system improvements for elderly disabled care services to the government so that elderly disabled individuals can maintain their daily lives without worry.”
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