Why Did Dongdaemun-gu Civil Complaints Officers Check Their Mental Health?

Dongdaemun-gu Lowers Barriers to Face-to-Face Counseling, Providing Consultation Services Without Time and Space Constraints Through Smartphone Application

Efforts to Protect Public Officials from Malicious Complaints Include Introduction of Wearable Cameras, Mock Drills, and Deployment of Security Guards

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) operates the ‘Psychological Counseling Center in Your Hand,’ which allows civil complaint officers, who are at the forefront of public administration, to receive counseling anytime and anywhere to care for their mental health.

Starting this year, a digital psychological care method is introduced to lower the barriers to face-to-face counseling. Through the smartphone application ‘Mind Cafe - Psychological Counseling & Mind Healing Platform,’ users can immediately request help from experts without restrictions of time and space whenever counseling or coaching is needed.

Additionally, to promote the ‘Psychological Counseling Center in Your Hand’ project, the district held a stress measurement event on the 24th of last month at the employee lounge ‘Sswimteurak’ on the basement first floor of the district office, receiving enthusiastic responses from employees.

According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, illegal acts against civil complaint officers, such as verbal abuse, assault, and property damage, increased sharply by 33% over three years, from 34,484 cases in 2018 to 40,679 cases in 2020.

To protect civil complaint officers from malicious complainants, the district introduced 33 wearable cameras last year and distributed them to complaint offices and community service centers. It also conducts mock drills for handling special complaints and deploys security guards within the comprehensive complaint office.

Furthermore, since 2020, the district has operated psychological counseling programs to heal the wounded minds of civil complaint officers caused by emotional labor stress, interpersonal difficulties, and anxiety from work fatigue during the complaint handling process.

In 2020, financial support at the level of actual expenses was provided to employees who received psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment, but applications were very low due to barriers to entry and concerns about personal information exposure. To improve this, from 2021, the district introduced a professional company’s psychological counseling EAP (Employee Assistance Program) to monitor employees’ mental health.

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “The mental health of civil complaint officers must be sound to provide sincere services to residents. Dongdaemun-gu has received the highest rating for six consecutive years in the comprehensive civil complaint service evaluation, and we will carefully care for the mental health of civil complaint officers so that they can continue to deliver happiness and inspiration to residents through excellent service.”