A look into the operation of the National Dementia Relief Center

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Cho Kyu-hong) will start evaluating 256 dementia care centers across the country from July. It’s about looking at the whole operation. This is the first time since 2017, when the dementia relief center began to be installed as a pilot project in local governments.

The ostensible reason is “to strengthen business performance and quality management suitable for the function and role of the Dementia Relief Center”. However, it is known that this is a comprehensive inspection of the passive operation of some centers and some behaviors that go against the purpose of business.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “We will divide the inspection into 130 places from July to September this year and 126 from February to April next year, and we will complete the nationwide inspection by the first half of next year.” Dementia relief centers are designed to register dementia targets, provide early screening, dementia prevention, and customized services for dementia patients and their families. She is also in charge of running a shelter for people with dementia and a café for people with dementia.

The evaluation items of the Ministry of Health and Welfare consist of three areas: building dementia infrastructure, providing and managing dementia services, and strengthening regional dementia capacity. An evaluation committee composed of cities, provinces, central and regional dementia centers, and external experts evaluates dementia relief centers from various angles through written evaluations, on-site evaluations, data surveys, and surveys.

Senior Policy Officer Yeom Min-seop said, “According to the results of the dementia safety center operation evaluation, we plan to promote quality improvement of dementia management services by rewarding excellent institutions and conducting customized consulting for lower-level institutions.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has conducted annual evaluations since 2018 for the ‘Global Dementia Center’ installed in 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide. There are regional dementia centers at Dong-A University Hospital in Busan, Donggang Hospital in Ulsan, and Gyeongsang National University Hospital in Gyeongnam.