Pilot Project for Integrated, Client-Centered Support of Fragmented Medical and Care Services to Be Launched

Applications and Registration Open in Sejong City Starting on the 18th of This Month

Starting from the 18th of this month, a pilot project will be launched to provide integrated, client-centered support for various medical and care services that have been operated separately. The 'Integrated Medical and Care Support Pilot Project' has been established to provide comprehensive services?including medical care, nursing, and daily support?to elderly individuals experiencing difficulties in their daily lives.

According to Sejong City on August 7, the city plans to proactively implement this pilot project ahead of the full-scale enforcement of the Care Integration Support Act, which was enacted last year and will come into effect next year. Through this pilot, the city aims to gather feedback and assess outcomes from the field. The eligible recipients of integrated support are individuals aged 75 or older who are recipients of long-term care home-based benefits, those classified outside the long-term care grading system, and patients about to be admitted to nursing hospitals or related facilities.

Eligible participants can access 30 services across four main areas: health and medical care, nursing, daily living support, and housing. These include professional home-visit medical centers, community-based senior center primary care, and village-wide home-visit health management services.

Applications for the project can be submitted by the individuals themselves, their guardians, or others at the local Eup, Myeon, or Dong administrative welfare centers, or at the Sejong branch of the National Health Insurance Service. To identify eligible participants, the city plans to directly visit the homes of elderly residents in the area, as well as provide on-site guidance and counseling through phone calls and text messages.

Lee Youngok, Director of Health and Welfare, stated, "This pilot project goes beyond simply connecting services; it marks the starting point for building a sustainable, community-based care system. We will do our utmost to provide dense and practical care services that citizens can truly feel."