Expanding a Safety Net That Minimizes Interference by Checking In via KakaoTalk Instead of Calls or Visits
Managing Check-in History and Special Circumstances by Analyzing KakaoTalk Read Status and Conversation Content
Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yu Seong-hoon) announced that it will implement the ‘On-gi ON Talk’ project, a KakaoTalk check-in service for socially isolated households, the first of its kind nationwide.
‘On-gi ON Talk’ is the first project in the country to send KakaoTalk or text messages to check on recipients by whether the message has been read. It was designed to minimize interference in the lives of middle-aged and older adults who refuse phone calls, visits, or installed safety nets, and to improve the efficiency of preventing solitary deaths.
The district sends an ‘On-gi Talk’ message once a week to the target recipients, and if the message is not read, a professional counselor makes a phone call. The final receipt status and any special notes are reported to the district office and the local community center the next day, after which the community center continuously checks on the recipients.
Additionally, the messenger and call records are analyzed to manage the recipients’ medical conditions and any special circumstances. KakaoTalk messages are also used to inform residents about district affairs or community center events. A district official stated, “In January this year, we linked the ‘smart safety net’ with a human safety net for all low-income single middle-aged households in the area,” adding, “‘On-gi ON Talk’ will be an efficient check-in service for those who avoid phone calls, visits, and installed safety nets.”
Yu Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “As single-person households increase and we enter a super-aged society, solitary death is no longer an individual problem but a national issue that must be addressed,” and added, “With the safety net ‘On-gi ON Talk,’ which minimizes interference in daily life, we will build a customized welfare safety net for recipients so that residents can live with peace of mind in Geumcheon-gu.”
Since 2018, the district has been promoting the Smart Safety Net project to build a dense safety net and prevent solitary deaths. It operates ‘AI speakers’ that detect emergency keywords and connect to 119 in emergencies, an ‘AI check-in service’ that verifies well-being by analyzing phone call reception and content, and ‘smart plugs’ that detect changes in power consumption and illumination, all as part of the ‘Smart Safety Net’ to prevent solitary deaths.
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