[Life Act 3 Companies] Long-term Care Service Platform 'ChaCares'

Chacares Launches 'Cha Silver Care' in 2010
Provides Home Care, Home Bathing, and Home Nursing Services
"Feature is Customized Service Provision"

CEO Song Jong-guk of CharCares / Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] "Many elderly people want to prepare for 'well-dying.' We launched 'Cha Silver Care' to fulfill their small wishes."

Established in 2000, 'Cha Cares' is a subsidiary of Cha Hospital and Bio Group, engaged in various businesses including hospital information technology (IT) and management services for special facilities such as medical institutions. In particular, Cha Cares introduced the nursing service 'Cha Silver Care' in 2010 for elderly people who have difficulty with daily life due to senile diseases. Currently, the number of care workers affiliated with Cha Silver Care has grown to over 2,700. CEO Song Jongguk said, "Many elderly people want to receive care at home," adding, "We provide customized services by launching weekend, nighttime, and residential care according to customer demands."

Cha Silver Care offers various services such as home care, home bathing, and home nursing. First, the home care service focuses on helping elderly people live independent daily lives. To this end, care workers support the elderly with physical activities such as meals and washing, as well as emotional activities like companionship. CEO Song said, "The core role of care workers is to meet the basic physiological needs of the elderly."

The home bathing service is for elderly people who have difficulty bathing by themselves. During the bathing process, care workers observe the elderly for bedsores, facial color, and skin color to check for health abnormalities, and if there are wounds on the body, they provide disinfection and treatment services. Additionally, for elderly people who have received long-term care grades, home nurses visit directly to provide home nursing services such as health management, disease management, and physical function management.

Social workers and care workers affiliated with Cha Silver Care all hold national certifications, providing more professional services. CEO Song emphasized the importance of education for them. He said, "The mindset before caring for the elderly is most important," adding, "Education on elderly human rights and abuse prevention must be mandatory so that the elderly are respected as dignified beings and can live a humane old age." Workers affiliated with Cha Silver Care receive separate education related to elderly human rights and elder abuse.

As a result of efforts to guarantee a dignified life for the elderly, Cha Silver Care was selected as the best institution three consecutive times in the National Health Insurance Service's long-term care institution evaluation. CEO Song said, "We regularly monitor whether services are being provided to customers according to manuals on-site and check customer satisfaction," adding, "We also provide proper service direction and quality improvement education to care workers to enhance recipient satisfaction."

Meanwhile, Cha Silver Care is also committed to improving employee welfare. CEO Song said, "We collect suggestions and various opinions through communication channels with care workers," adding, "we manage employee welfare by handling job stress among workers."

CEO Song dreamed of building a nursing home that can provide proper services. He said, "Most nursing homes are not located in urban areas, but now the elderly population aged 65 and over has increased assets compared to before and many want to live in nursing homes with proper services in the city," adding, "If we establish a nursing home, we will create a place that can provide services that satisfy customers."

Below is a Q&A session.

- What prompted Cha Cares to start the long-term care business?

▲ In Korea, the proportion of the elderly population aged 65 and over was about 14% last year, and it is expected to reach 20% of the total population from 2025. Among them, about 10.3% (850,000 people) are long-term care recipients. Elderly people want to live healthy lives at home and end their lives beautifully. However, there are about 850,000 people nationwide who cannot do so. Long-term care facilities used by the elderly include day and night care centers, nursing homes, and home care service facilities. In particular, more than half of these elderly want to be cared for at home and prepare for well-dying. We introduced Cha Silver Care in 2010 for these people.

- Since the situations and health conditions of elderly people vary, how do you match care workers?

▲ Before starting care services, a social worker visits the home to assess the physical condition, diseases, and cognitive status of the client who has physical difficulties. In addition, risk assessments for falls and bedsores are checked through questionnaires. Then, considering the elderly person's health status, independence, living environment, and the desired care worker's expertise, age, and experience, one-on-one customized matching is conducted. Also, one week after the first match, a service satisfaction survey is conducted so that the client or guardian can decide whether to continue receiving the service.

- As the aging problem worsens, long-term care facilities are increasing. What differentiates Cha Cares?

▲ First, we specialize in cognitive rehabilitation programs. We provide related services so that elderly people with mild dementia who cannot visit hospital rehabilitation centers due to cognitive decline can receive cognitive therapy at home, increasing satisfaction. We also make various efforts to secure skilled dementia-specialized care workers who have completed dementia specialist training, which we consider a differentiator. Additionally, we operate a 24-hour hotline so customers can consult comfortably anytime. Furthermore, for customers with financial difficulties, we provide health, medical, and dementia support services in cooperation with the local community.

- How is care worker education conducted?

▲ Care workers receive not only mandatory legal training upon new employment but also five days of in-house theoretical and practical education on elderly human rights, elder abuse, and human rights violations. Existing care workers also undergo re-education at least twice a year based on elderly satisfaction survey results to ensure all elderly clients can use home visit services without inconvenience.

- Are there any institutional improvements needed to enhance the quality of life for the elderly?

▲ Among long-term care insurance services, home care services have the highest satisfaction among the elderly. On the other hand, the quality of simple care home visit services is generally not high. We believe that integrating medical care, nursing, and community-based integrated care so that elderly people can comfortably receive desired services at home aligns with the purpose of long-term care insurance. Based on the frequently mentioned community care, a system should be established where public and private sectors cooperate to provide integrated medical and nursing services.

- What are your future goals?

▲ We practice neighbor-helping volunteer activities such as supporting goods like rice and briquettes once or twice a year and providing beauty services to help the local community. We will continue to prioritize customers as the highest value and aim to realize 'customer satisfaction' through service quality and process improvement activities. We also plan to make various efforts to expand the silver business, including establishing day and night care centers and nursing homes for genuine silver care.