[Exclusive] Ministry of Health and Welfare to Develop K-SAD Index to Identify Isolated Youth

Development of K-SAD Index by Ministry of Health and Welfare
Enabling Self-Diagnosis of Isolation Level

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has decided to create the ‘K-SAD’ index to identify isolated and reclusive youth and to launch a service that allows all young people to self-assess their level of isolation. Based on the diagnostic results, counseling services and other support to help escape isolation will also be linked. Since the core of the support policy for isolated and reclusive youth is ‘urgent prevention,’ the ministry is planning measures to lower the barriers to access so that young people can easily use the service.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 30th, work is underway to pilot this service starting in July. The K-SAD index is an indicator being developed by the ministry in collaboration with the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to enable young people to objectively measure their level of isolation and depression through self-diagnosis. A ministry official explained, “We are currently considering whether to express the final form as a clear score or to indicate risk levels with colors like a traffic light.”

Youth identified as high-risk through the K-SAD self-diagnosis will be able to receive tailored program support from the Youth Future Centers (tentative name) established in Incheon, Ulsan, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Jeollabuk-do starting in the second half of the year. The Youth Future Centers will be set up in the second half of the year as part of the isolated and reclusive youth measures announced by the ministry last December. Dedicated staff at each center will operate programs that help young people who avoid external activities with basic communication support, playing a role in bringing them back into society. Services from local governments such as Seoul, Daegu, and Gwangju, which have their own isolated and reclusive youth programs, can also be linked.

The ministry is exploring ways to minimize the barriers to using the K-SAD self-diagnosis. A ministry official stated, “We are planning a method that allows young people who want to self-diagnose to do so quickly by entering only minimal information such as their age, without inputting personal information like their resident registration number.” The aim is to remove complicated barriers to service use to encourage more young people to take the diagnosis. For this reason, the service will also be provided free of charge.

Linking Counseling Services Based on Results: "It Is Important to Recognize Isolation Risk on One’s Own"

The ministry is preparing a self-diagnosis service using the K-SAD index because the number of isolated and reclusive youth is steadily increasing. According to a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, as of 2022, an estimated 2.4% of South Korea’s youth population aged 19 to 34 are reclusive loners. This amounts to approximately 244,000 people nationwide. Kim Seong-a, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, said, “To help these individuals escape their situation, there must be a self-diagnosis tool that allows them to check their level of isolation and reclusion,” adding, “An objective scale is necessary to assess whether various policies targeting isolated and reclusive youth are effective before and after implementation.”

The ministry has placed the core of its isolated and reclusive youth policy on ‘urgent prevention.’ According to a survey conducted by the ministry and the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, about 21,000 young people are aware of their condition and recognize the need for external support. While it is unlikely that youth with very severe isolation and reclusion will voluntarily take the online self-diagnosis, support measures should first be sought for those with at least minimal willingness. Research fellow Kim said, “The intention is to first support those who have the will,” adding, “If the project proceeds steadily, it is believed that networks capable of gradually bringing more young people out into society can be accumulated.”