‘Care staff for the elderly with dementia’ Promoting public rental to live together

Getty Image Bank.

A new model of residential well-being will be developed in which several elderly people with dementia live with caregivers in public rental housing. The National City / Gun / Gu Dementia Relief Center shelters are also open to those in long-term care grade 5 (mild dementia), and some of the blind spots of caring for the elderly with mild dementia are expected to be resolved. . The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 25th the IV Comprehensive Dementia Management Plan, which summarized the national dementia policy in 2021-2025 after deliberation by the National Dementia Management Committee. The IV Comprehensive Plan focuses on strengthening community care for patients with dementia. Accordingly, the government plans to develop a long-term care service model in combination with social housing for the elderly (public rental housing for low-income families under 65) by next year. It is an attempt to overcome the dichotomy between facilities and housing by building a public rental housing in which nine people with mild dementia live in a common room and in their own rooms. Consideration is being given to how to receive daycare care during the day and only one essential care worker at night to stay at home. However, this is expected to apply to only a portion of the 10,000 cumulative social housing units for seniors that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport intends to supply by 2025, so the question of how much is will apply this model is the task. A plan is also being promoted to expand the number of shelter users at 256 dementia help centers across the country from the current level of long-term care cognitive support (about 17,000 people) to the fifth level (about 25,000 people). At the assistance center, you can receive day care along with professional support from the cognitive health program. This is a countermeasure in accordance with the fact that many pointed out that older people with grade 5 dementia, who are reluctant to use many facilities with severe dementia, are in the blind spot of care due to limited shelter use. However, the government announced that it would avoid duplication of similar services by restricting some long-term care services, such as day and night protection, to shelter users. The number of facilities that provide short-term care services for older people with dementia during the days their families are away from home will increase from 88 to 350 by 2025. In addition, there will be plans to calculate health insurance rates for treatments such as counseling and training in caring skills provided by specialists such as neurology and mental health medicine to families with dementia. The annual use limit of the dementia family leave system (short-term care or full-day visit care) is gradually increased from 6 days to 12 days in 2025. The income standard for dementia treatment management expenses from KRW 30,000 per month will be reduced from 120% or less to 140% of the current standard median income. Professor Seok Jae-eun from Hallym University (Social Welfare) said: “The Fourth Comprehensive Plan has the importance of increasing community care services than before, but it is regrettable that it has not matured into a comprehensive care system like the chronic disease management so dementia patients do not have to go to the center. “There is a need to expand to serve the elderly community rather than get stuck in specialized care for dementia,” he advised. By Choi Ha-yan, Staff Reporter [email protected]