Expansion of Mobile Advance Medical Directive Consultation Centers
Gangdong-gu recently conducted a 'Well-Dying' education program for its employees. Kang Won-nam, director of the 'Happy Death Well-Dying Research Institute,' is giving a lecture on the topic of death. (Photo by Gangdong-gu Office)
Among the 18,359 basic livelihood security recipients living in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, 28.9% (5,305 people) are single-person households aged 65 or older. The number of unclaimed deaths has also increased by 66.6% over the past two years, with more cases of individuals being found dead alone due to prolonged family relationship breakdowns and social isolation, or even when relatives exist, they refuse to claim the body, resulting in an increase in public funerals.
Gangdong-gu aims to guarantee everyone the right to a dignified death by piloting life arrangement services such as advance funeral arrangement intention forms, well-dying education, and advance medical care directives last year, receiving great responses from residents. The “Advance Funeral Arrangement Intention Form” project, which was first implemented nationwide last year, is planned to be expanded to all neighborhoods this year.
The “Advance Funeral Arrangement Intention Form” allows the subject to designate a proxy in advance through the Social Security Information System (Happiness e-um), enabling prompt post-mortem arrangements in case the subject faces a medical emergency or death, according to their wishes.
Starting this year, if the advance funeral arrangement intention form indicates that there are no family members or acquaintances to contact in an emergency, the individual will be classified as a “priority management subject.” The local community center will continuously manage such cases and strengthen the management system by linking with welfare centers in the district to provide care services and conduct focused monitoring.
Additionally, from June to November this year, the district plans to expand the target audience for “Well-dying Education” and the “Visiting Advance Medical Care Directive Counseling Center” to include basic livelihood security recipients, near-poverty groups, and basic pension recipients, operating six times annually by region across all neighborhoods.
The “Well-dying Education” will be conducted in collaboration with Gangdong Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, Seongnae Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, and Seonggajeong Senior Welfare Center this year. The district office staff already received internal training once on the 7th of this month.
The “Advance Medical Care Directive,” which registers in advance the decision to discontinue meaningless life-sustaining treatment, was piloted last year and has been evaluated as an opportunity to improve awareness of dignified death and strengthen the right to self-determination regarding death.
The “Visiting Advance Medical Care Directive Counseling Center,” which will expand its target audience this year, educates about the purpose, effect, and withdrawal procedures at the Gangdong Senior Welfare Center. Counselors from the Gangdong Senior Club handle consultations and applications. The one-stop operation, including registering directives at “Wonderful Life Well-dying,” provides convenience for participants.
District Mayor Lee Soo-hee said, “I hope everyone lives well (Well-being), ages healthily (Well-aging), and concludes their life journey beautifully without meaningless life-sustaining treatment (Well-dying). We will fulfill our social responsibility to ensure that no resident is neglected even in death due to economic difficulties, supporting the healthy life and dignified end of socially vulnerable groups, and do our best for Gangdong-style welfare that covers the entire life cycle.”
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