Jeonju Forms Public-Private Integrated Care Council to Support Aging in Place
In Jeonju, South Korea, the city government held the inaugural meeting of an Integrated Support Council for Medical and Long-Term Care Integration on the 17th, at the fourth-floor conference room of Jeonju City Hall. The event launched a public-private cooperation body aimed at coordinating care for residents who need ongoing medical and caregiving support.
The council brings together representatives from local medical institutions, health and medical associations, welfare and caregiving groups, housing sector stakeholders, and professionals in mental health and disability services. In total, 45 sector representatives will participate in the new body.
Its goal is to develop and assess local care plans so that elderly and disabled residents can live healthily and securely in their current homes. The council will hold two regular meetings each year to strengthen public-private collaboration and to deliberate on integrated-care policies and how to connect with related agencies.
A city official described the integrated medical and long-term care support program as a core policy that goes beyond welfare services to support the overall lives of older residents. The official said the council would faithfully reflect frontline voices and expert opinions to build a more thorough and stable integrated-care system.
This year, the city plans to invest 0.88 billion won to support roughly 850 elderly and disabled residents so they can maintain daily life at home rather than in hospitals or facilities. The program expands nine areas across 101 services, including home-visit medical care, home-visit rehabilitation, nutritional meals, and improvements to living environments.
Among the services expanded are visiting medical care and rehabilitation at home, as well as nutritional meal delivery and housing-environment improvements. The aim is to deliver more comprehensive, at-home support that can reduce hospital admissions and help people age in place.
The development is meaningful beyond Jeonju because it reflects a broader interest in integrating medical and long-term care to support aging populations. For U.S. readers, the model hints at potential avenues for Medicaid and Medicare debates over coordinating health and long-term supports, expanding home-based services, and strengthening community-based care networks to improve outcomes and control costs.
Jeonju is the capital of North Jeolla Province in southwestern South Korea, and the council’s formation signals a local effort to institutionalize coordinated care across health, welfare, housing, and social services. If the approach proves scalable, it could inform similar regional or state-level initiatives aimed at aging in place in the United States.