"Care That Changes My Life"
Yangsan City in South Gyeongsang Province (Mayor: Na Dongyeon) is accelerating the establishment of a community care infrastructure to ensure that citizens who have difficulty living alone can continue to live healthily in their own homes.
This is a proactive measure to prepare for the full implementation of the "Act on Integrated Support for Community Care Including Medical and Nursing Services," which is scheduled to take effect in March 2026, by establishing a system for integrated community care in advance.
◆ Definition of Community-Based Integrated Care (Community Care)
This refers to a community-led social service that integrates and connects essential services such as housing, health and medical care, nursing, and daily care so that residents in need of care can live healthily in their own communities (homes).
Since the first half of the year, the city has been building a care infrastructure as part of the Gyeongnam-type integrated care project. Starting with the establishment of a detailed implementation plan early this year, the city has secured project funding, selected organizations to carry out care projects through public recruitment, and set up care support centers?the first step in the care delivery system?in all towns and townships.
In particular, the city plans to establish the institutional foundation for community care by enacting an ordinance on integrated care in the second half of the year. The city will also develop community welfare plans, discover new care projects and link services, and promote cooperation between public and private organizations.
The city is also preparing to set up a dedicated organization to serve as the control tower. This organization will be responsible for comprehensive care management, including formulating annual care area plans, developing and linking services using local resources, securing project funding, collaborating with local organizations, and supporting care support centers.
The city has designated "Yangsan Usan" as the brand name for Yangsan-style integrated care, reaffirming its commitment to serve as both a "parasol" and an "umbrella" for all citizens in need of care. The city will not limit care recipients to seniors and people with disabilities but will also include children, single-person households, and socially isolated households?essentially, all vulnerable groups in need of care. The city plans to build a comprehensive and robust integrated care safety net in areas such as housing support, health and medical care, daily care, and local service linkage.
To achieve this, the city has identified the following core initiatives: ▲ strengthening the identification of care blind spots ▲ discovering and promoting gap-filling care projects ▲ establishing a public-private cooperation network.
◆ Strengthening the Identification of Care Blind Spots
The city has completed the installation of care support centers?the first step in the care delivery system?in all 13 towns and townships. These centers identify individuals in need of care and conduct on-site visits and needs assessments to develop individualized support plans.
Fundamentally, the city plans to train care activists using the human safety net at the town and township level to actively identify and support care blind spots?residents who are struggling with daily life alone and remain hidden in the community. The city will also work to identify eligible individuals through various means, such as signing agreements with local medical institutions and the National Health Insurance Service and utilizing the public medical network system to obtain information on discharged patients.
◆ Discovering and Promoting Gap-Filling Care Projects
In addition to existing national care services, the city will launch 10 new gap-filling care projects utilizing local resources to strengthen the substance of integrated care. The city plans to maximize the use of local resources by cooperating with relevant organizations in the region to implement care projects.
▲ Housing care includes the installation of temporary care-safe homes for discharged patients and others, as well as improvements to the living environment such as repairs and cleaning (Clean Bus, housing improvements for households suspected of hoarding). ▲ Health management includes home visits for discharged patients and others, visiting pharmacy support, and the Ddoktti Bus. ▲ Daily life care includes meal delivery, taxi transportation support, laundry support, daily necessities support, and outreach services to isolated areas.
The city completed the selection of project implementation agencies for gap-filling care in the first half of the year. Through these agencies, the city will select and train care managers to fill gaps in existing care services in each area and ensure the sustainability of these services.
◆ Establishing a Public-Private Cooperation Network
To facilitate the smooth implementation of community-based integrated care and strengthen collaboration with related organizations, the city will establish an integrated care council. This council will play a key role in developing community care plans and policies and in coordinating and collaborating with relevant organizations in the region.
The city will continue to promote public-private partnerships to raise community awareness of integrated care, develop the capabilities of professionals in related fields, and focus on developing and completing the Yangsan-style community-based integrated care model.
An official from Yangsan City stated, "Care is no longer a matter of choice but a universal issue. Rather than focusing on facility-based care for low-income or severely ill individuals, our core welfare project is to concentrate the city's capabilities so that any citizen in need of care can live healthily in their own home and community. To ensure the success of this initiative, it is essential to identify eligible individuals through citizen interest and to foster cooperation among relevant organizations and groups. We hope that everyone will show great interest so that our integrated care project can become a reliable support tool that all citizens can trust and rely on."
Residents who have difficulty living alone and need care can apply directly or through family members or acquaintances at the care support center (customized welfare team) of their local town or township administrative welfare center. Through care counseling (needs assessment), they can receive individualized care services tailored to their needs.
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