Councilor Park Mijeong: "'Integrated Care' Effective in Preventing Solitary Deaths"

20% Decrease in Solitary Deaths Since Implementation... Expectations for 'Season 2'

Park Mi-jung, Gwangju City Council Member

There is a claim that the globally recognized ‘Gwangju-Daum Integrated Care’ is also showing remarkable results in preventing solitary deaths.

Park Mijeong, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party, Dong-gu 2), stated during the administrative audit of the Gwangju Welfare and Health Bureau on the 4th, “The occurrence of solitary deaths in the Gwangju area decreased by nearly 20% last year compared to the previous year, when integrated care was initiated,” adding, “It appears that the implementation of integrated care is also effective in preventing solitary deaths.”

‘Gwangju-Daum Integrated Care’ is actively implementing a mandatory visitation system to prevent blind spots in welfare services. It has actively identified individuals who were previously excluded from existing care and supported 11,454 cases of specialized care services across seven major areas.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s ‘2024 Solitary Death Survey,’ the number of solitary deaths in the Gwangju area was 113 in 2019, 118 in 2020, 111 in 2021, 117 in 2022, and 94 in 2023, showing a significant decrease last year when integrated care was implemented.

Accordingly, the average annual growth rate (%) of solitary deaths over five years from 2019 to 2023 was △ Daegu 14.9 △ Ulsan 14.4 △ Busan 3.1 △ Incheon 2.3 △ Seoul 1.5 △ Daejeon -2.1 △ Gwangju -4.5 △ Sejong -7.7, with Gwangju ranking second nationwide in reduction rate among metropolitan cities and special cities.

Councilor Park emphasized, “People at high risk of solitary death commonly experience social isolation and live lonely lives due to deteriorated social networks,” adding, “Face-to-face contact between people and attention using advanced technology are absolutely necessary.”

She also added, “From this year, the five autonomous districts’ specialized projects have been incorporated into the Gwangju-Daum Integrated Care service,” and “We look forward to Gwangju-Daum Integrated Care Season 2, which protects people and restores social networks.”

Meanwhile, ‘Gwangju-Daum Integrated Care’ is designed to realize universal welfare based on the ‘Gwangju City Integrated Care Support Ordinance,’ which Councilor Park spearheaded.