A pilot project aimed at providing customized welfare services to early-stage dementia patients and enabling professional management through linkage with the pilot project for integrated elderly medical and nursing care support will be implemented until the end of the year.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 29th that from next month, the Dementia Safety Centers will conduct the "Pilot Project to Strengthen Customized Case Management Functions for Dementia Patients" to solidify case management, including early prevention before dementia severity worsens and linkage to welfare resources, as key institutions for dementia management within local communities.
Customized case management for dementia patients refers to a series of activities that directly provide necessary dementia support services or connect and refer various external community resources in response to the individual and complex needs and problems of dementia patients in physical, psychological, social, and environmental aspects.
The pilot project will be operated on a trial basis from July to December this year at 18 Dementia Safety Centers in 14 cities, counties, and districts nationwide. The target local governments include Seo-gu and Buk-gu in Gwangju, Daedeok-gu and Yuseong-gu in Daejeon, Bucheon-si and Ansan-si in Gyeonggi, Jincheon-gun in Chungbuk, Cheonan-si in Chungnam, Jeonju-si in Jeonbuk, Yeosu-si in Jeonnam, Uiseong-gun in Gyeongbuk, Gimhae-si in Gyeongnam, Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul, and Yeonsu-gu in Incheon. In particular, plans are underway to establish a linkage system with the pilot project for integrated elderly medical and nursing care support.
Through this pilot project, a dedicated team called the "Case Management Team" will be operated to intensively intervene in issues related to physical, psychological, social, and environmental needs and support the management of dementia patients' dementia status. The selection criteria will also be improved to select subjects based on the presence or absence of dementia, residential area, and reflect the need for intervention and individual circumstances. Additional points will be awarded to early-stage dementia patients and those aged 75 or older, which is expected to strengthen support for elderly early-stage dementia patients.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Central Dementia Center plan to form an expert advisory group to ensure the pilot project is implemented effectively, continuously gather opinions on improving and supplementing the customized case management operation model, and expand the operation to Dementia Safety Centers nationwide next year.
Yeom Min-seop, Director of Elderly Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "Through this pilot project, even users of other services such as long-term care will receive professional case management at Dementia Safety Centers if they are early-stage dementia patients diagnosed within one year or patients discharged from medical institutions requiring dementia management, in connection with the pilot project for integrated elderly medical and care support." He added, "We plan to prepare the final manual by supplementing the manual based on issues discovered and improvements needed during the pilot project operation until the end of the year and expand the operation next year."
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