Dedicated Senior Information Hotline to Launch on April 21
Expanded Care with Hospital Accompaniment Service and Participation in Sponsorship Programs
Starting this year, Ulsan City is expanding its support for elderly individuals in need of care through the 'Senior Care Support Platform' project.
The Senior Care Support Platform project is funded by the city and provides a variety of services, including daily living assistance, to elderly people who have difficulty with everyday tasks or are in welfare blind spots.
The project targets recipients of long-term care benefits, basic livelihood security recipients, and seniors recognized as needing care by the elderly affairs departments of each district and county.
The project operates by directly supporting registered seniors at each platform based on their needs, or by linking with relevant agencies such as administrative welfare centers, public health centers, volunteer centers, and community chests.
The project is divided into economic, physical, mental, and social crisis management services. A total of 51 staff members are working across 17 platforms (3 in Jung-gu, 6 in Nam-gu, 2 in Dong-gu, 1 in Buk-gu, and 5 in Ulju-gun).
Specifically, economic crisis management includes improving residential environments, providing meal support for undernourished seniors, and offering sponsorship and matching services. Physical crisis management offers hospital accompaniment services, management of chronic geriatric diseases, and personalized nutrition management. Mental crisis management involves depression treatment and counseling referrals, alcohol dependency treatment, and safety checks. Social crisis management includes support for birthdays and holidays, experiential activities such as outings, and emergency disaster support.
The main components of the project are daily living support for seniors, residential environment improvement, and sponsorship and matching programs. Notably, three new initiatives are being launched this month.
First, starting April 21, a dedicated one-stop comprehensive information hotline for seniors will be established to address their inquiries.
Second, a hospital accompaniment service will be operated to assist with transportation to hospitals and clinics within the city. (This is limited to registered platform users who are basic livelihood security recipients or classified as low-income.)
Third, in collaboration with honorary social welfare officials, efforts will be made to identify seniors in welfare blind spots who are in need of care.
In addition, the 17 platforms are working to expand care services by applying for sponsorship programs with organizations such as the Community Chest of Korea.
An official from Ulsan City stated, "Starting this year, we have reorganized the existing 'Home-Based Senior Support Service Project' into the 'Senior Care Support Platform' to provide tailored services to seniors in need of care," adding, "We will continue to do our utmost to eliminate blind spots in elderly care."
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