Nowon-gu, Caring for Vulnerable Children’s Health with Korean Medicine

184 Vulnerable Children Using Child Centers in 16 Regions Participate... 1:1 Matching Between Korean Medicine Clinics and Child Centers... Health Consultations and Herbal Medicine Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is providing traditional Korean medicine health management services for vulnerable children using local children's centers.

This aims to check the physical and psychological health status of vulnerable children who have been left in blind spots due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and to support personalized traditional medicine services to enhance health equity.

A total of 184 children in grades 1 to 4 of elementary school, using 16 children's centers in the area, will participate.

The district matched each children's center with a Korean medicine clinic on a 1:1 basis. When the center staff accompany the child on the scheduled appointment date, the Korean medicine doctor conducts a health consultation including pulse diagnosis. Information on diet and lifestyle according to constitution is provided, and for frail children deemed to need additional herbal medicine, a total of two rounds of herbal prescriptions are supported.

The children's center staff will record the height and weight of participating children to track changes in health status over two years, review the effectiveness of the project, and continuously improve the service through satisfaction surveys for the parents of the target children.

One child from Gongneung District Children's Center who actually participated in the project (currently a first-year middle school female student) reported in a survey that although she had slower growth and frequent fatigue due to lack of basic physical strength compared to peers, after participation her appetite increased and the frequency of catching colds significantly decreased.

The district expects this project to help improve the health of vulnerable children, as traditional Korean medicine has limited coverage under health insurance and can be economically burdensome.

Meanwhile, the district is also conducting a traditional Korean medicine health promotion project for the elderly. Last year, a total of 107 high-risk elderly people aged 60 and over for dementia participated in the project, receiving dementia tests, depression screening, cognitive acupuncture treatment, and herbal prescriptions through nine local Korean medicine clinics.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “We thank the Korean medicine clinics that actively participated in the project,” and added, “We will continue to make efforts to carefully support vulnerable children’s growth and development through various projects so that they do not feel deprived or isolated.”