Why Did Yangcheon-gu Expand Our Neighborhood Care Team by 38 Members?

Focusing on preventing solitary deaths through monitoring activities of about 17,000 cases annually

Selected 38 members of Our Neighborhood Care Team and deployed them across 16 neighborhoods to eliminate welfare blind spots and prevent solitary deaths

Moved the operation start date from April to January to establish a dense welfare safety net with no care gaps throughout the year

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] A woman in her 90s living alone in Sinwol-dong, Yangcheon-gu. She urgently needed treatment after fracturing her ribs in a fall, but due to her advanced age and severe pain, it was impossible for her to go to the hospital alone. The one who helped the distressed elderly woman, who had nowhere to complain, was none other than Yangcheon-gu’s Our Neighborhood Care Team. Care team member Woo, who is familiar with the local situation, learned of the elderly woman’s difficulties and immediately connected her with the welfare planner’s accompaniment visit service so she could receive treatment.

The care team did not stop there; judging that the elderly woman had difficulty preparing meals due to her discomfort, they also linked her to meal support from the Yangcheon-gu Care SOS Center, easing her worries about meals.

Last year, the district deployed 35 care team members and focused on preventing solitary deaths through active monitoring of a total of 17,738 cases (6,964 visits and 10,774 phone consultations).

‘Yangcheon-gu Our Neighborhood Care Team,’ where residents who know the neighborhood well directly discover vulnerable groups and welfare blind spots, check on them, and connect necessary resources, has been highly praised for realizing seamless care and has drawn great support from the community.

Encouraged by this response, Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Lee Gi-jae) will expand the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Team’ to 38 members this year, fully deploying them to 16 neighborhood community centers (excluding Mok 5-dong and Sinjeong 6-dong, which are apartment-dense areas) to begin full-scale activities.

In particular, starting this year, the district has advanced the operation start date from April to January to accelerate the creation of a dense welfare safety net with no care gaps throughout the year. Care team members continuously check on the welfare needs and well-being of at-risk households and vulnerable groups in blind spots through phone calls and visits at least once a week.

Additionally, on the 10th, the district plans to conduct training to enhance the professionalism and capabilities of care team members, sharing detailed conversation techniques by type and methods for handling unexpected situations.

Lee Gi-jae, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, said, “Since Our Neighborhood Care Team is a close-contact care project where residents directly look after residents, I hope that anyone who knows of neighbors in difficulty will inform the care team at any time. We will continue to carefully manage this based on a solid public-private cooperation system to ensure that no residents are left isolated.”