Seongnam City to Support End-of-Life Care at Home... Launching "End-of-Life Care at Home" Initiative

Seongnam City Launches "End-of-Life Care at Home" Task Force
Mayor Shin Sangjin Leads Integration of Health, Medical, and Welfare Services
Establishing a Public House-Call System; Pilot Program to Serve About 100 Residents
Mayor Shin Sangjin: "Building a Comprehensive Medical and Care Support Network"

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor: Shin Sangjin) is launching the “End-of-Life Care at Home” initiative, designed to help residents finish their lives with dignity by receiving medical treatment and various forms of support in their own homes. The project provides a comprehensive continuum of services, ranging from home medical care to in-home assistance, nursing, end-of-life support, and bereavement services for families.

Seongnam Mayor Shin Sangjin is presiding over the Seongnam City End-of-Life Home Care Promotion Team meeting in the City Hall's first conference room on the 30th. Provided by Seongnam City

On September 30, Seongnam City formally launched the “End-of-Life Care at Home Task Force,” composed of the public health centers of Sujeong, Jungwon, and Bundang Districts, Seongnam City Medical Center, and departments responsible for social welfare. Mayor Shin Sangjin took personal charge as the head of the task force, overseeing the discussion on the project’s direction and evaluating the collaborative systems among participating organizations.

The core of the project is to integrate health, medical, and welfare services—previously provided separately by different institutions—in accordance with the specific needs of each recipient. The plan is to establish a system that covers all aspects from identifying eligible individuals, to providing home medical care, daily living support, and end-of-life services, thereby easing the caregiving burden for families.

Seongnam City Medical Center will upgrade its existing home medical care center to create a "public house-call system." Medical professionals will visit patients at home to provide treatment and monitor their health, with arrangements in place for rapid hospital admission if a patient's condition deteriorates.

Currently, each of the city’s three district health centers has one doctor and one nurse assigned, for a total of six professionals offering home visits. Going forward, the city plans to assign additional visiting doctors at Seongnam City Medical Center, further expanding the house-call service.

The city also plans to address gaps in care that cannot be adequately covered by long-term care insurance. Measures are being discussed to provide additional support for in-home and nursing services, especially to fill in the gaps caused by the limited service hours associated with standard in-home care. There are also plans to expand caregiver assistance for those in the final stages of life.

The city will organize an "End-of-Life Care Assessment Committee," composed of medical, public health, and welfare experts, to select about 100 participants for the pilot phase. The committee will conduct comprehensive evaluations, considering health status, level of care needed, and the family’s caregiving capacity. Selected citizens will be provided with a customized combination of home medical care, long-term care, additional in-home assistance, welfare services, and end-of-life support, tailored to their individual circumstances.

Seongnam City intends to finalize detailed operational procedures and clarify each institution’s role. Once the assessment committee is established and participants are selected, the project will move into full-scale implementation.

Seongnam City has begun full-scale promotion of the "In-Home End-of-Life Care Program," and Mayor Shin Sangjin of Seongnam City is visiting the homes of elderly recipients to check on their health conditions and offer encouragement. Provided by Seongnam City

Mayor Shin Sangjin stated, “How and where one spends the final moments of life is a crucial issue, directly related to the quality of life and dignity of our citizens. Seongnam City will create a robust support framework so that citizens who need medical care and assistance can continue to live comfortably and safely in the comfort of their own homes.”

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