"I Want to Live Now"... Songpa-gu Holds Solitary Death Prevention Achievement Sharing Meeting

Held at Songpa Book Museum on November 14... Over 150 Attendees, Keynote Lecture and Talk Concert
This Year, 40 Projects Implemented... Sharing Best Practices and Development Plans for Solitary Death Prevention
‘Dongne Sarangbang’ Users Send Thank You Letters... Expanding Welfare Accessibility Next Year

"I once had extreme thoughts due to loneliness and financial hardship, but now I want to live."

Mr. Park (54), a middle-aged single-person household, was able to overcome his crisis by receiving five customized services including medical care, health, and housing through support from Songpa-gu while struggling with financial difficulties caused by job loss and divorce.

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) held a "Lonely Death Prevention Project Performance Sharing Meeting" at the Songpa Book Museum on the 14th, sharing cases like Mr. Park who found hope in life with the help of the district.

This sharing meeting was an opportunity to share the achievements of the "Lonely Death Prevention and Socially Isolated Household Support Measures" established by the district in August last year and to seek ways to improve them.

About 150 people including welfare experts, related facility workers, and residents attended, where Professor Kim Man-kwon of Kyung Hee University gave a keynote lecture on social isolation, followed by a talk concert sharing field practice cases.

Jung Su-jin, a welfare worker at Machon Comprehensive Social Welfare Center who participated in the talk concert, said, "The newly established 'Neighborhood Love Room' this year is providing practical help to isolated households," adding, "Middle-aged men who used to wander the neighborhood or drink because they had nowhere to go and nothing to do are now creating a 'healthy loneliness culture' through various activities at the Neighborhood Love Room," reporting the changes on site.

A middle-aged man using the Machon Neighborhood Love Room expressed his gratitude in a letter. In the letter, he wrote, "People pretend to be strong but feel frustrated, lonely, and depressed. (Omitted) Not anymore. In this neighborhood, there are welfare workers, friends, and mothers," sharing his thoughts.

This year, the district has steadily promoted 40 projects to discover and support socially isolated households. These included ▲a full survey of basic livelihood security single-person households (8,984 households) ▲discovery of high-risk groups for lonely death through welfare registered mail projects ▲the nation’s first GIS-based online visiting welfare map, Songpa Smart Welfare Map ▲health drink check-in services for middle-aged single-person households (150 households) ▲and safe care services for isolated and reclusive youth (20 households), all provided in a customized manner.

Based on the opinions gathered at this performance sharing meeting, the district plans to improve welfare accessibility next year. It will expand the policy targets from loneliness prevention to re-isolation prevention and promote the establishment of a public welfare platform in Songpa-gu.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, "There have been many achievements in the lonely death prevention project this year through on-site efforts and passion," and added, "We will continue to expand related projects based on public-private cooperation to ensure that no resident is left alone in loneliness and hardship, providing meticulous support."