Seongnam Launches Home-Based End-of-Life Care Program

SEONGNAM — The city of Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province is moving forward with a "home-based end-of-life care" program designed to let residents spend their final months in familiar surroundings while receiving medical treatment and caregiving at home.

Seongnam said on the 1st that it launched a task force for the program on Sept. 30 and held its first meeting. The body brings together the public health centers of Sujeong, Jungwon and Bundang districts, Seongnam Medical Center and municipal welfare departments.

Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin heads the task force. The meeting covered the direction of the program, the role of each participating organization and plans for building a cooperative framework.

The core of the program is to connect health, medical and welfare services that have been delivered separately. The city plans to build an integrated support system running from identifying candidates through home medical care, caregiving and nursing services, support during the final stage of life, and follow-up support for bereaved families.

Seongnam Medical Center will strengthen the functions of its existing home medical care center to build a public house-call system. The measure is intended to allow residents with limited mobility to receive treatment and health management at home without visiting a hospital.

Once the public house-call system is running, medical staff will visit patients' homes to provide treatment and check their condition. A system will also be set up to quickly refer patients to hospital admission if their symptoms worsen.

The city currently conducts home visits with six medical staff — one doctor and one nurse at each of the three district health centers. It plans to assign additional doctors for home visits at Seongnam Medical Center to expand the public house-call service.

Support to narrow gaps in caregiving will be pursued at the same time. The city intends to supplement the caregiving needs of residents in the final stage of life that long-term care insurance alone cannot meet.

In particular, Seongnam will review additional caregiving and nursing support to reduce gaps that can arise from institutional limits such as the hours allowed for home nursing services. Support for nursing care for residents in the program will also be expanded.

The aim is to ease the caregiving burden on families and help residents live stably in their own homes for as long as possible.

Seongnam will also form an end-of-life care review committee to improve the objectivity and expertise of the program. The committee will include experts in the medical, public health and welfare fields.

The committee will review candidates' health conditions, their level of need for care and their families' caregiving circumstances. On that basis, it will select about 100 residents for the pilot program.

Those selected will receive home medical care, long-term care services such as home nursing visits, additional caregiving support, welfare services and support during the final stage of life, tailored to individual circumstances.

"Where and how one spends the final moments of life is directly tied to a resident's quality of life and dignity," Shin said. "We will build a tightly knit Seongnam-style support system so that residents who need medical care and caregiving can stay at home with peace of mind."

Seongnam will now work out detailed operating plans and the role of each organization. It will then launch the program in earnest after follow-up steps including forming the review committee and selecting pilot participants.