The "Health Companion Team" consisting of doctors, nurses, and other professionals provides personalized health management services for seniors with chronic illnesses...
Currently, 17 medical institutions are participating, with plans to recruit additional partners this year to further expand the program
Gwanak District in Seoul (District Mayor Park Junhee) will further expand its Senior Health Companion Program this year to support healthy aging for elderly residents.
The Senior Health Companion Program has been in operation since 2018. In particular, in April 2025, Gwanak District established and promulgated an ordinance regarding the operation and support of health companion services for seniors in the district. Starting this year, the program will be managed as an independent district initiative.
This program targets households with elderly individuals who have chronic illnesses and require health management. The "Health Companion Team," consisting of a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, and physical therapist, visits these households to provide personalized health management services.
The Health Companion Team offers "direct services," which include four to five home visits over three months for health consultations, nutrition management, and exercise management. They also provide "linked services," such as home medical services, mental health counseling, and welfare counseling.
To support this, the public health center is expanding agreements with medical institutions in the area. By cooperating with local medical institutions, they identify individuals with chronic illnesses and connect the institutions' "professional medical services" with the public health center's "home visit health management services" to provide customized health management for each individual.
The number of participating medical institutions has increased from 14 last year to 17 currently. The district is promoting the program to medical institutions to identify more chronic disease patients and is also recruiting additional participating institutions so that more residents can benefit from the program.
Additionally, the district is building close relationships with related organizations to identify individuals with chronic diseases through various channels, including the Companion Center (community visiting nurses, Care SOS), local welfare centers, municipal hospitals, and long-term care home medical and home visit centers.
Through the Senior Health Companion Program, the district identified 240 new participants last year alone. By providing personalized health management and linking welfare services, the program achieved overall improvements in various indicators such as hypertension, diabetes, nutritional assessment, and physical function.
Park Junhee, Mayor of Gwanak District, stated, "We will actively promote the Senior Health Companion Program so that elderly residents can properly manage chronic diseases at home, reduce admissions to nursing hospitals and care facilities, and enjoy a healthy old age in their own homes." He added, "We will continue to expand the number of participating medical institutions and strive to improve the health management of seniors in Gwanak District."
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