Up to 440,000 Won in Support with City and National/Provincial Funding
Early Detection and Prevention of Severe Dementia through the Program
It has been found that citizens are highly satisfied with the dementia differential diagnosis co-payment support program currently being promoted by Seongnam City (Mayor Shin Sangjin) in Gyeonggi Province.
Seongnam City, Dementia Screening Test Copayment Support Project Promotional Banner. Provided by Seongnam City
According to Seongnam City on July 28, the city commissioned With Research, an academic research and survey institution, to conduct a telephone survey on June 19 and 20 with 80 participants and guardians of the program. The results showed that the overall citizen satisfaction score was 87.6 points.
The overall satisfaction score (87.6 points) was calculated by converting the responses to 13 questions across five areas, based on the Public Customer Satisfaction Index (PCSI 2.0) model, to a 100-point scale. The satisfaction levels are divided into seven stages, including "very satisfied" (100?85.7 points) and "satisfied" (85.6?71.4 points).
By category, the service quality score for the dementia differential diagnosis co-payment support program was the highest at 88.7 points, followed by the overall satisfaction score at 88.0 points, and the social responsibility score at 87.9 points.
Areas for improvement included delays in waiting times for examinations and diagnoses, and an insufficient number of designated hospitals (10 locations).
In response, the city plans to simplify the stages of screening, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis, and to gradually increase the number of partner hospitals.
The confidence level of this survey is 95%, with a sampling error of ±10.05 percentage points.
Starting in September 2022, Seongnam City first implemented the program to support up to 330,000 won for dementia differential diagnosis co-payments for residents aged 60 or older with an income at or below 120% of the median income. Over the past two years and nine months, 48.57 million won has been provided to 484 recipients.
As of July 1, the program has been expanded to include all citizens, regardless of income or age.
Therefore, any citizen who needs a dementia differential diagnosis can now receive up to 330,000 won in support from Seongnam City. Including an additional 80,000 to 110,000 won in national or provincial funding (national funding for those at or below 120% of the median income, provincial funding for those above 120%), the maximum support can reach 440,000 won.
This applies to cases where a citizen receives a free preliminary screening (first stage) and diagnostic test (second stage) at the Dementia Relief Centers of Sujeong, Jungwon, or Bundang District Public Health Centers, and is found to have signs suggestive of dementia.
If a citizen undergoes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), computed tomography (CT), or blood tests for dementia differential diagnosis at one of the 10 partner medical institutions, Seongnam City covers the costs, making the tests virtually free of charge.
Mayor Shin Sangjin of Seongnam City stated, "Through the dementia differential diagnosis support program, we are seeing the effects of early detection and prevention of severe dementia," adding, "By expanding the program to all citizens, we expect to reduce the social costs of medical care, nursing, and caregiving borne by families caring for dementia patients."
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