The Korean Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy visited Covenant Shores after meeting with state officials. The committee’s stop was part of a multinational trip led by the deputy minister of the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. The committee previously had traveled to Brazil for an international conference.
“The Korean government selected Covenant Shores because of its continuum of care and reputation for excellent programs and facilities,” says executive director Anne Arakaki-Lock. She, along with department managers and minister Tae Keun Jung of the facility’s Management Advisory Committee, hosted the visitors.
Covenant Shores presented information on the continuum of services available at the community and the organization’s holistic wellness philosophy. The committee toured the assisted living, memory support and health care centers as well as its residential community. Discussions included issues surrounding training, procedures, and national programs.
“Sitting at the same table with leadership from both countries was an enriching experience,” comments Lock. “When two countries collaborate, we both learn and we both benefit from sharing our mutual concern of caring for the aging.”
This was the second delegation from Korea to visit Covenant Shores this year. In June, graduate students from Soongsil University School of Social Work visited the campus to learn about the range of services offered in a continuing care retirement community.
According to the United Nations, the segment of older individuals within Korea’s general population is enlarging at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world, with nine percent of its people older than age 65. The U.N. estimates that nearly 24 percent of the nation’s population will be older than 65 by the year 2050.
Covenant Shores is a nationally accredited not-for-profit continuing care retirement community administered by Covenant Retirement Communities on behalf of the Board of Benevolence of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
