Suwon City Launches Task Force to Prevent Solitary Deaths... First Meeting on the 8th

On the 8th, Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province formed a task force to prevent solitary deaths and held its first meeting.

The city of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province is actively taking steps to prevent and manage solitary deaths by forming a 'Solitary Death Prevention Task Force.'

On the 8th, Suwon held an operation meeting for the Solitary Death Prevention Task Force at the city hall situation room, chaired by Kim Hyun-soo, the first vice mayor, to discuss interdepartmental collaboration plans for promoting solitary death prevention projects.

The Solitary Death Prevention Task Force, led by Kim In-bae, Director of the Welfare and Women’s Affairs Bureau, consists of 11 departments including the Care Policy Division and Welfare Policy Division, as well as health centers from 4 districts. The support team includes social welfare divisions from 4 districts, 44 dong administrative welfare centers, welfare centers, and mental health support centers.

The task force will implement 4 strategies and 45 tasks across 19 departments: ▲identifying individuals at risk of solitary death and assessing risk levels ▲strengthening connections to alleviate social isolation ▲linking and supporting services across life cycles ▲establishing a foundation for solitary death prevention and management policies.

Key initiatives include identifying high-risk groups for solitary death using human safety nets, creating community spaces that promote connections among local residents, integrated care support tailored to life stages, emotional and employment support for at-risk youth, and improving laws, systems, and awareness for solitary death prevention.

Meanwhile, in February, the Suwon City Policy Research Institute conducted a survey on loneliness and social isolation among 1,305 citizen panelists. The results showed that vulnerable groups to social isolation were men, the elderly, and single-person households. Among respondents, 39.2% reported feeling lonely, and 6.2% were socially isolated.

Based on the survey results, Suwon will operate a '2024 Solitary Death Prevention Pilot Project.'

Kim Hyun-soo, Suwon’s first vice mayor, stated, "Social isolation and solitary death are not individual problems but social issues," adding, "To carry out systematic and sustainable solitary death prevention activities, the projects of each department must be organically and closely linked."