Guro-gu, 'Uridongne Dolbomdan' Regular Check-ins to Prevent Solitary Deaths

Year-Round Continuous Activity from January to December... Weekly Check-ins for At-Risk Solitary Death Households
Expanded Age Range for Participation, Focused Management of High-Risk Solitary Death Areas... Building a More Robust Welfare Safety Net

Guro-gu (Mayor Moon Heon-il) has launched the operation of the ‘Uri Dongnae Dolbomdan’ (Our Neighborhood Care Team) to care for households at risk of solitary death, from checking on their well-being to connecting them with welfare services.

Uri Dongnae Dolbomdan is a project where residents who are familiar with the local area identify vulnerable groups or households at risk of solitary death that are in welfare blind spots and carry out ongoing care activities. It started in 2017 and has been dedicating all efforts annually to prevent solitary deaths.

The care team contacts or visits households at risk of solitary death at least once a week to check on their well-being and conducts continuous monitoring, operating a year-round, seamless care system.

While the previous participants in the care team were aged between 40 and 67, from this year, the opportunity has been expanded so that any Guro-gu resident interested in helping neighbors in need can participate regardless of age.

In particular, the care team will be deployed in areas vulnerable to housing insecurity and regions with frequent solitary deaths to intensively manage households at risk. Regular capacity-building training will be provided to enhance the professionalism of care team members.

On the 2nd, basic job training for Uri Dongnae Dolbomdan was held at the Guro-gu Office Creative Hall, covering the role of the care team, characteristics of socially isolated households and the necessity of forming resident networks, methods for monitoring households at risk of solitary death and counseling techniques, and ways to respond to crisis situations.

A Guro-gu official stated, “We will operate Uri Dongnae Dolbomdan year-round to establish a dense welfare safety net,” and added, “We hope that through the care team, warm hands of help will reach neighbors in need.”