Seongdong-gu Dementia Care Center's 'Memory Store' Wins Grand Prize in Seoul's Excellent Program Contest

From Care Recipients to Active Participants: Dementia Patients Take the Lead
Connecting the Community Through Goods Production and Pop-up Events

Seongdong-gu, Seoul, announced on June 21 that the 'Seongdong Store Seongsu-dong Memory Store' project by the Dementia Care Center received the grand prize in the 2026 Excellent Program Contest for Everyday Life Enjoyment for People with Cognitive Impairment and Their Families.

Seongdong-gu Dementia Relief Center won the grand prize in the Seoul City Excellent Program Contest with the project "Seongsu-dong Memory General Store." Provided by Seongdong-gu.

This contest was hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Dementia Center and sponsored by Eisai Co., Ltd. The contest evaluated dementia care centers from Seoul's districts, comprehensively assessing creativity, sustainability, community connectivity, and scalability to select outstanding programs.

The award-winning 'Seongsu-dong Memory Store' is a dementia-friendly initiative involving families of dementia patients, people with mild cognitive impairment, and early-onset dementia patients. Its distinctive feature is that it goes beyond simple care, being designed for participants to take on roles as members of the local community.

The project is structured so that participants communicate with residents while directly producing and packaging goods. It operates as 'Maeumhanko Workshop,' where families of dementia patients engage in crochet activities, 'Memory Lab,' where people with mild cognitive impairment create memory-related products, and 'Chorok Corporation,' where early-onset dementia patients handle product packaging. Each participant takes on roles suited to their characteristics, enhancing their sense of accomplishment and self-esteem, and broadening their experience of social participation.

The district explained that the program received high marks for presenting a new model that views people with dementia not as subjects of protection, but as members of the community, and for supporting their ongoing social participation.

The goods produced will be released to residents through the 'Seongsu-dong Memory Popup.' On-site, there will also be activities such as writing messages of support for dementia patients, promoting dementia care-friendly stores, and running experiential programs.

Heejin Kim, Director of the Seongdong-gu Dementia Care Center, stated, "The grand prize recognizes our shift to making dementia patients and their families the main agents of participation and role recovery," adding, "We will continue to expand participatory projects that enable people to maintain their daily lives within the local community."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.