About 60 staff from care SOS, daily care and integrated care organizations gathered Wednesday at Seongbuk Art Hall — District Mayor Lee Seung-ro pledged to strengthen integrated care linkages so residents can maintain healthy, independent lives where they already live
Seoul's Seongbuk-gu held the "2026 Care Service Provider Capacity-Building Workshop" on Wednesday at Seongbuk Art Hall on the fourth floor of the district office, aiming to sharpen the expertise of local care workers and build a more comprehensive community care network.
The workshop drew about 60 field workers and program managers from 29 care SOS service providers, four daily care service providers and 11 integrated care specialized project providers.
Seongbuk-gu has entered super-aged society territory, with residents aged 65 and older numbering 89,850 — accounting for 21.3 percent of the population — while the number of dementia patients has reached 7,996 as of 2025.
The training was organized to strengthen frontline workers' ability to respond to dementia and communicate effectively with patients, as enforcement of the integrated care support act accelerates the shift toward a community-centered care system.
The first session featured a lecture by Lee Seon-mi, deputy director of the Seongbuk-gu Dementia Care Center, on understanding and communicating with dementia patients in care settings. She shared practical knowledge covering the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, field-tailored communication techniques and dementia prevention guidelines.
The second session, led by Jeon A-yeong, head of the cognitive health team at the Seongbuk-gu Dementia Care Center, offered hands-on occupational therapy exercises combining physical and cognitive functions. Participants made tile wood trays and sang while moving — dual-task activities designed to deepen their understanding of the physical and cognitive conditions of dementia patients.
Seongbuk-gu's care SOS program provides five tailored services — temporary home care, accompaniment support, meal delivery, residential convenience assistance and short-term facility placement — to residents in need of urgent or temporary care. Working with 29 partner organizations, the district has this year connected 2,524 residents in need of care to services, leading efforts to eliminate gaps in the care safety net.
District Mayor Lee Seung-ro said the district would "proactively identify and support residents in need of care, and further solidify an integrated medical, nursing and welfare care support system so that elderly and vulnerable residents can continue to live healthy, independent lives in the familiar places they call home."
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