Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jung-hun) received the Minister of Health and Welfare Award in both categories of Dementia Prevention and Management (individual) and Excellent Dementia Program (institutional) at the 13th Day of Overcoming Dementiamanaged by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

This award was given to promote the system for national responsibility for dementia care and discover and encourage groups and individuals who contributed to overcoming dementia in the local community. The commemorative ceremony of the Day of Overcoming Dementiawas held online last month on the 21st due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gangdong-gu was praised for its public-private efforts in various areas such as the prevention, overcoming, management, and improved awareness surrounding dementia and for its provision of integrated dementia services for the residents.

Gangdong-gu opened the Gangdong-gu Center for Dementia in 2007 and began offering integrated care services to take the lead in responding to the rising prevalence rate of dementia among the aging generation. In 2019, Gangdong-gu integrated and expanded the existing center in light of the second year of the system for national responsibility for dementia care to restore the three-story, 682-㎡ facility as the base and center for dementia care.

Furthermore, Gangdong-gu strengthened the public-private cooperative care system with the trial project for public dementia assistance in 2018, the dementia care village in 2019, and the dementia care physician project to become a dementia-friendly city with no blind spots.

This year, the number of online programs increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, Gangdong-gu started the first “online dementia treatment service” in Seoul to provide customized cognitive stimulation sets for elders with dementia to use in the comfort of their homes. The district also held online dementia education for the residents as an effort to minimize the gap in dementia care.

Mayor Lee Jung-hun commented, “The social responsibility for dementia is increasing with the rising number of aging dementia patients. We will do our best to lessen the burden of care for elders with dementia and their families and provide systematic dementia care services for residents.”

【 Related Photo 】

Exterior of Dunchon Library