"Rice is Most Important"... The Key to Elderly Housing Welfare is 'Three Meals a Day' [Senior House]

[17]Bap-i Jungheondi

The Biggest Challenge Elderly Face Daily Is 'Bap' (Meals)
Meals Are Most Important to Prevent Disease and Dementia
Balanced Diets Are Impossible

Elderly Welfare Housing Provides Quality Meals
Most Elderly Need Elderly Welfare Housing for a Healthy Old Age
Elderly Welfare Housing Needed for the Middle Class

Interview with Moon Seongtaek, CEO of 'Gongppa TV', an Elderly Housing YouTube Channel with 230,000 Subscribers

On the 24th, residents were having a meal at a restaurant in Yongin Spring County Xi, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

The daily challenge for elderly people is preparing three meals a day. As they age, it becomes harder to go grocery shopping or cook in the kitchen. As a result, it is common for the same side dishes to appear at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For seniors aged 75 and older who require care, it is practically impossible to prepare a nutritionally balanced meal on their own.

Moon Seong-taek, CEO of 'Gongppa (Gongbuhaeseo Ppareuge Nanuneun) TV,' a YouTube channel specializing in senior housing with over 200,000 subscribers, said on the 25th of last month, "Whether it’s senior welfare housing or within apartment complexes, if many places provide high-quality meals to the elderly, more than half of the senior housing issues can be considered resolved."

Moon, a former Oriental medicine doctor, explained, "A balanced diet is directly linked to the health of elderly people. It delays the time they need to enter nursing facilities and has a decisive impact on the onset of dementia."

Moon Seong-taek, CEO of Gongppa TV. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

- What made you think that 'meals' are the most important factor in senior housing issues?

▲ I practiced Oriental medicine for over 20 years and met many patients, mostly ranging from their 50s to 90s. When I asked them, "How do you manage your meals?" many struggled not only to consume a balanced diet but even to eat three meals on time each day. Without proper meals, dementia can develop faster, and health deteriorates, leading to earlier admission to nursing facilities. In senior welfare housing, nutritionists design meal plans considering residents’ illnesses and tastes. For middle-class seniors to live their later years healthily, they need to receive such meals. This is why many senior housing facilities for the middle class need to be built.

- What is the approximate cost level of senior welfare housing for the middle class?

▲ After visiting senior welfare housing facilities nationwide and comparing prices, I found that a deposit between 100 million and 300 million KRW and a monthly living cost of about 1.5 to 2.5 million KRW would be affordable for the middle class. The monthly living cost includes meals. Compared to eating out or cooking at home every time, living in senior welfare housing ensures better nutrition and reduces meal expenses. Interviews with residents reveal that their living expenses after moving in are lower than before.

- Why aren’t more senior welfare housing facilities that provide meals for the elderly being built in Korea?

▲ In the metropolitan area, where hospitals are nearby and transportation is convenient, land prices are too high to build senior welfare housing even if there is demand. Government subsidies are necessary. The government should supply public land in the metropolitan area for long-term leases of 50 to 100 years. Private companies would consider building senior housing for the middle class if they could secure well-located land on long-term leases.

Currently, project financing (PF) loan interest rates are so high that developers cannot even consider building. To address this, the government could consider establishing a construction fund for senior welfare housing, using pension funds to invest in private companies and sharing the returns. Most importantly, the government must provide proactive benefits to private companies building senior welfare housing. The rapid increase in senior housing for the middle class in Japan was due to subsidies, tax benefits, and loan support. They created an environment where even developers without ample capital could build.

On the 24th, a nutritionist is bringing a meal to an elderly person with mobility difficulties at a restaurant in Yongin Spring County Xi, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

- The government announced senior housing policies two months ago, including changing laws to allow sick seniors to move into senior welfare housing. What do you think about this?

▲ Currently, Korean senior welfare housing is designed only for those who can live independently. The problem is that once people move in, they tend to stay for 10 or 20 years without leaving. As a result, many facilities have an average resident age over 80. Over time, these places become spaces where only sick people lie down. Senior welfare housing is meant for seniors who can walk independently and want to maintain their health as much as possible. If sick seniors move in, they cannot enjoy common facilities like gyms or movie theaters. Paying management fees without using these facilities is wasteful.

To provide efficient senior housing welfare services, 'housing' and 'medical care' must be operated separately. Mixing sick and healthy seniors will crush the nascent senior welfare housing industry. We should also consider further segmenting senior housing types. For seniors who are not yet in need of nursing homes but find it difficult to live alone, creating an intermediate stage called 'Care Silver Town' between senior welfare housing and nursing homes could be a solution.

- How can senior welfare housing be operated stably?

▲ Even now, there are many complaints from sick seniors asking, "Why can’t I move in?" If the law is changed to allow sick seniors to move in, lawsuits could arise. This risk would make it difficult for developers, and then who would want to operate senior welfare housing? Ultimately, the supply of senior welfare housing would shrink further.

When seniors become older and immobile, they inevitably need to move to nursing homes or hospitals. However, most seniors remain healthy, and society should strive to delay the time they need to move to such facilities as much as possible. To do this, many senior welfare housing facilities must be built where middle-class seniors can live in their late old age without heavy financial burdens and, most importantly, receive nutritionally balanced meals.