On March 29th, the Chungbuk provincial agency started ‘Silver Care Service(SCC)’ for senior citizens who live alone. SCC is the checking program where police officers frequently visit the homes of elders living alone or inquire after using the telephone to check on their safety. SCC is being implemented in all areas in Chungbuk except for Cheongju and Cheongwon.
   Firstly, SCC started in Okcheon province. After SCC was implemented in Okcheon, it received affirmative responses from local residents, and it spread out all around Chungbuk. ‘No-in-bo-ho-hwal-dong’ was the former service for elders living alone, but its objective was just to prevent elders from being exposed to crimes. On the other hand, SCC has more advantages than the former service, so it replaced it.
   An officer looking after the elders living alone said, “There are the policies to take care of elders living alone, but there are not enough workers or financial support. Most of all, in agricultural villages, it is difficult to expect aid from the local community unless it is an industrialized community. Thus, SCC has a chance to give better care to the elderly.”
   Cheongju and Cheongwon are exempt from this program because the two provinces need to focus on there police forces to prevent crimes and they have enough equipment and facilities to care for elders such as 119, ambulances, and hospitals.
   An officer working in the safety and welfare division in the Chungbuk police agency said, “Because of larger nuclear families and more elders, there are many families who live separately from their parents. Therefore, when the elders abruptly fall into hardship, it’s hard to expect help from their separated families. In this situation, if the elder’s sons or daughters call for help to the police officers, then they will help instead of the daughters or sons, and they will send text messages about the current situation to the sons and daughters.”
   Elders who are over 80 years old will be included in SCC. Police said that elders who are over 65 years old will also be accepted by SCC if they apply. And even elders who live deep in the mountains can use SCC by the rural district police stations.

Kang Ill-gu

ig33@cbnu.ac.kr