Hamyang-gun Establishes Safety Network to Prevent Missing Dementia Elderly

Activation of Community Safety Net Establishment for Private Sector Including Self-Employed

Recruitment Announcement for Dementia Lighthouse Keeper

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The Dementia Safety Center in Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam announced that from the 17th to December 31st, it will continuously recruit 'Dementia Lighthouse Keepers' throughout the year to establish a community safety net to prevent missing elderly dementia patients, by broadcasting promotional videos on major city billboards such as Dongmun Intersection.

A Dementia Lighthouse Keeper is a designated public office or private business, excluding public institutions conducting search activities when a missing person occurs, that receives text messages containing information about the missing person, monitors the area around the business, and normally watches for elderly dementia patients wandering nearby, temporarily shelters them, promptly reports, and hands them over to the police and guardians.

Additionally, since there are limitations in finding missing persons through follow-up actions by public institutions such as the police, fire stations, and health centers alone, active participation from the private sector helps prevent elderly dementia patients from going missing.

This project guarantees the life and safety of elderly dementia patients through prompt discovery immediately after they go missing. Currently, about 600 Dementia Lighthouse Keepers participate in Hamyang-gun, including shops near the market, taxis, and beauty salons.

Besides this, the Hamyang-gun Public Health Center Dementia Safety Center also provides free support for high-risk groups of wandering and missing elderly dementia patients through ▶pre-registration of fingerprints ▶distribution of identification tags ▶wandering detection devices.