Ranked 5th Nationwide with 749 Locations... Facility Improvements and Activity Budget Increase
Tan-yo Village Senior Center Opening in April, City's First BF Certification Initiative
Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province ranks fifth among basic local governments nationwide in the number of senior citizen centers, matching its population of over one million. Currently, there are 749 senior centers registered in the city.
Hwaseong City is significantly strengthening its support policies for senior centers to expand welfare for the elderly amid population aging. In addition to establishing new senior centers, the city is improving facilities for the convenience of senior citizens and preparing various support measures.
Tanyo Village Senior Center, the first senior center in Hwaseong City to pursue 'BF Certification' within the jurisdiction. Construction will be completed this month, and it is scheduled to open in April. [Photo by Hwaseong City]
A representative example is the 'Tanyo Village Senior Center' in Dongtan New City, which completed construction this month and will open in April. This senior center will be equipped with automatic doors for transportation-vulnerable individuals. To ensure no inconvenience in walking for seniors, the entrance has been made level without steps, and specially designed signage has been installed for visibility. It is a 'Hwaseong-style senior center' applying universal design focused on users regardless of gender, age, or disability.
The city is pursuing the first-ever 'BF Certification' for the Tanyo Village Senior Center. The 'BF Certification' is a system that certifies whether an environment is created where children, seniors, and people with disabilities do not experience inconvenience in using facilities.
The city is also pushing forward with the construction of the Jisan Village Senior Center in Dongtan 5-dong, selected as a resident participation budget project, aiming for completion by the end of this year.
Support for various facilities is also expanding. To alleviate discomfort caused by seated lifestyles among elderly people suffering from knee and spinal joint diseases, the city is providing standing dining table sets to senior centers. In the first year of the project last year, standing dining table sets were provided to 250 senior centers, and this year, 165 centers will receive them. The city plans to equip all senior centers in the jurisdiction with standing dining table sets by 2026.
The rental and distribution of health assistive devices to promote the health of senior center users is also expanding. Starting with massage chair rentals in 2019, from this year, high-frequency thermal massagers have been added, allowing senior centers to choose and rent desired health assistive devices. Currently, 96% of senior centers in the city have received support for health assistive devices.
This year, operational budget support has also increased. Since 2022, activity allowances paid to senior center presidents and branch presidents have been raised from 50,000 KRW to 70,000 KRW and from 70,000 KRW to 100,000 KRW, respectively.
Additionally, to prevent dementia and promote healthy leisure activities among seniors, the distribution of 'Hangung' at senior centers will be increased. Hangung is a recreational sport adopted as an official event at the 2023 Hwaseong Citizens’ Unity Sports Festival.
Jung Myung-geun, Mayor of Hwaseong City, stated, "We will continue to discover and implement customized senior center support projects that reflect the diverse needs of senior center users."
Meanwhile, the city has allocated a total budget of 11.6 billion KRW for 17 projects this year to revitalize senior centers, including operational expenses, heating and cooling costs, and grain support.
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