The South Korean government is distributing more than 2,500 location-tracking devices to dementia care centers across the country to prevent wandering elderly patients with dementia from getting lost.
The initiative is part of an ongoing public-private partnership between the Department of Health and Welfare (MOHW), the National Police Agency (NPA) and local chipmaker SK Hynix, which is currently underway. provide funding of 400 million won (approximately 250,000 USD) each from 2021 to 2024 for the project.
Wrist devices allow caregivers to check patient position and movement through a connected mobile app. It will alert them if the wearer goes out of the preset area or initiate an emergency call if needed. The NPA is also using the app to track patients if they wander.
Elderly patients whose biometric data has been recorded at dementia care centers will be prioritized for distribution of location tracking devices, according to a media release.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
South Korea’s population is aging rapidly, with people aged 65 and over making up about 16% of the population, or about 8.6 million people, last year. As the population ages, dementia cases have also increased – between 2015 and 2019, older adults clinically diagnosed with the condition increased from 5.9% to 7.3% or about 588,000.
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
Myongji Hospital in Gyeonggi Province recently developed an AI-controlled care robot called PIO to support dementia patients. The robot, like a parrot, has a camera to recognize the user’s face and facial expressions and can express emotions through LED eyes and body movements.
The development of this robot is one of many projects in South Korea aimed at alleviating loneliness and symptoms of mental health conditions across the country. For example, a district in the capital Seoul recently deployed an AI robot called Channy to serve as a personal companion for adults living alone.
ON PROFILE
“We will do our best to create a dementia-friendly society where dementia patients and their families can live with peace of mind through this public-private partnership to improve raise dementia awareness and improve dementia prevention Kim Hye-young, head of the Dementia Policy Department at MOHW, said.
