To Enable Dementia Patients to Stay in the Community... Ministry of Health and Welfare Advances Dementia Care

Enhancement of Community Dementia Safety Center Functions
Contest and Support for Outstanding Cases to Expand Dementia Safety Villages

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The government is focusing on policies that enable dementia patients to continue living in their local communities.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 26th that starting this year, it plans to advance Dementia Safety Centers as dementia management hub institutions and diversify care and medical services to promote dementia policies.

Dementia Safety Centers provide integrated dementia services such as dementia prevention, early diagnosis, linkage to health and welfare resources, and education. To enhance the functions of Dementia Safety Centers, the Ministry plans to link the Dementia Safety Integrated System with health checkups (cognitive impairment tests), the next-generation social security information system, and integrate dementia-related information and services.

In the future, Dementia Safety Centers will be advanced from service providers to 'community dementia management hub institutions' that provide customized case management based on linkage among various local resources and systems.

Regarding the medical service demands of dementia patients living in the community, the government plans to respond proactively. This includes developing an operating model called 'Our Neighborhood Dementia Safety Primary Care Physician (tentative name)' and strengthening the dedicated hospital and clinic system by expanding dementia safety hospitals for patients with severe dementia.

Additionally, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will conduct a contest for excellent cases to spread Dementia Safety Villages, selecting 28 cities, counties, and districts, and providing a budget of approximately 1.7 billion KRW along with promotional support.

Dementia Safety Villages are communities established by local governments to improve the quality of life for dementia patients and their families, reduce caregiving burdens, and foster proper understanding of dementia among community members. They were piloted in some local governments for one year starting in 2017 and have been expanded nationwide since 2019. As of last year, a total of 641 villages are in operation.

The main contents of the excellent cases selected in this contest include ▲response to missing dementia patients ▲operation of cognitive programs ▲operation of healing programs ▲provision of family care and counseling.

Gwangmyeong City in Gyeonggi Province, selected as an excellent case, plans to distribute 'smart tags' to dementia patients at risk of wandering and going missing, enabling quick discovery if a disappearance occurs. Namwon City in Jeonbuk Province plans to establish a smart care system within dementia patients' homes through the '25-hour dementia care system' and enable rapid location tracking and follow-up in case of missing persons.

Anyang City in Gyeonggi Province has created 'Our Neighborhood Mind Recharge Station' to prevent psychological issues among families caring for dementia patients by operating group psychological counseling programs and plans to support counseling and resource linkage by analyzing caregiving burdens on families.

Kim Hye-young, head of the Dementia Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "With the aging population and the increasing number of dementia patients, it is more important than ever to create an environment where dementia patients and their families can continue to live in their communities. We will continue to strengthen the functions of Dementia Safety Centers as dementia management hub institutions and actively work to create communities where dementia patients and their families can live with peace of mind through the expansion of Dementia Safety Villages."