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    Mind TalkTalk Bus - © Daejeon City
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Mind TalkTalk Bus

Status
ongoing
50%
City

Daejeon Metropolitan City

Main actors

Local Government

Project area

Neighborhood or district

Duration

Ongoing since 2020

A mobile mental health service

To ensure citizens can easily and conveniently access mental health support, the City of Daejeon established the ‘Mind TalkTalk Bus' service in an effort to prevent mental illness from becoming chronic by early detection and treatment. The Mind TalkTalk Bus has a mental health check-up area where visitors can be tested for conditions including depressions, anxiety, addiction, and suicide risk screening by using the stress test tool. After completing the check-up process, visitors have access to a confidential counselling session and if continued support is needed they are connected to professional treatment centres.

This case study was contributed from the UCLG Learning Team (learning@uclg.org).

For further information about the case study, click here.

Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all agesAchieve gender equality and empower all women and girlsBuild resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovationReduce inequality within and among countriesPromote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
City
Daejeon Metropolitan City, South Korea
Size and population development
Daejeon is the fifth largest metropolis in South Korea. Statistics Korea states the 2021 population recorded for Daejeon Metropolitan City was 1,469,543. The city covers a surface area of 539.85 square kilometres with a population density of 2,7812 people per square kilometre.
Population composition
The 2021 data records that females comprise 50.8 % of the population and males 49.2 %. The 0-14 age group is recorded at 10.8 %,15-64 at 71.3 % and 65+ at 17.9 %. Of the total population, 98.8 % are of Korean nationality. Of the people of Daejeon, 21.8 % follow Buddhism and 31.2 % follow Christianity (20.5 % Protestantism and 10.7 % Catholicism). Korean and Korean dialects are the prevalent languages and English is spoken.
Main functions
Daejeon is one of South Korea's four administration hubs and is home to12 national government offices, including Korea Customs Service, Small and Medium Business Administration, Public Procurement Service, National Statistical Office, Military Manpower Administration, Korea Forest Service, Cultural Heritage Administration, Korean Intellectual Property Office and Patent Court of Korea.
Main industries / business
Daejeon is known for its technology and research institutions. There are 23 universities and colleges in Daejeon that employ over 4,000 staff and have more than 100,000 students enrolled. Daejeon is the home of many private and public research institutes, centers and science parks including the R&D centres for Samsung and LG.
Sources for city budget
Daejeon draws its budget for public spending from taxes, fees, fines and operating revenues. Additionally, like all local governments in South Korea it relies on national subsidies, general grants and local transfer funds from the central government.
Political structure
Daejeon is governed by a Mayor-Council system and represented by a National Assembly. It has the status of a metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government, with administrative status equal to that of a province.
Administrative structure
The Daejeon Metropolitan Council is the local government of Daejeon. There are a total of 22 members, with 19 members elected in the First-past-the-post voting system and 3 members elected in Party-list proportional representation. Daejeon is divided into 5 'gu' (administrative districts).
Website
http://www.daejeon.go.kr/language/english/

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic recession have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new barriers for people already suffering from mental illness and substance abuse disorders. 

The City of Daejeon determined that mental health services provided by psychiatrists and counsellors were necessary to support high-risk groups amid growing psychological anxiety and concerns arising from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, ‘Mind TalkTalk Bus’ supports citizens’ mental health and safety concerns by providing customized services for each person and their situation. 

The key objectives of the project are to:

  1. strengthen public mental health policies relating to the impact of COVID-19. 
  2. establish a psychological support system to improve access to mental health services.

Daejeon City has adopted the Comprehensive Plan for creating a Healthy City (2022-2025) and has set a goal to creating a city ‘where all citizens are healthy and happy until the age of 100’.

The ‘Mind TalkTalk Bus’ service is one of the projects that has been implemented to strengthen public health policies and is aimed at citizens who are unable to access mental health services due to restrictions on time and place and prejudice against mental illness.

The name "Mind TalkTalk" was decided upon after a public competition, it means that anyone can come and knock on the door to talk to someone about mental health problems.

Along with the mental health check-up tool and counselling service the ‘Mind TalkTalk Bus’ will present cultural performances that encourage citizens to feel comfortable talking about mental health issues and get help when needed. Moreover, in case of disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the bus will be utilized on site as a space for those who are experiencing mental health issues and ensure they receive immediate support and access to services.

Public participation was encouraged by promoting the Mind TalkTalk Bus schedule in media outlets including television, radio, newspapers, electronic boards and bus stop advertising bulletin boards. Access to information has been disseminated through social media channels allowing many people to participate.

To increase citizens' interaction with the Mind TalkTalk Bus, a competition was held, and prizes were given through a lottery, to citizens who took pictures of the stationary or moving bus and uploaded it to their social media networks.

Any institution and group can use the Mind TalkTalk Bus by applying for the visit in advance to public institutions, apartments, residential complexes, workplaces, and welfare facilities located in Daejeon.

Daejeon City purchased a bus to operate the Mind TalkTalk service with a private consignment budget of 240 million won. 

The administration and support and of the Mind TalkTalk Bus is managed by Daejeon City and Chungnam National University Hospital. Daejeon Regional Mental Health Welfare Center oversees operating and promoting the mobile counselling service on the Mind TalkTalk Bus.

In 2022, 25 million won was allocated for operating the Mind TalkTalk Bus.

In 2021, the Mind TalkTalk Bus operated 82 times, with 1,674 users and 1,665 users accessing counselling services. The total figure is comprised of 1,133 women and 541 men and 61 % of the total were users in their 60s or older.

According to user satisfaction survey that was conducted, most users were satisfied with the convenience of time and place and said it was very helpful for promoting positive mental health messaging in the community. In addition, they agree on the need to continue and expand mobile counselling service.

An Epidemiological Survey of Psychiatric Illnesses in South Korea in 2016 showed that one in four people (25 %) suffer from mental illness at least once in their lifetime, but only 22.2 percent of these people have experience of using mental health service.

In addition, according to the psychological support service survey conducted on COVID-19 patients, 68% of all respondents said they needed access to mental health services. However, due to time and place limitations and social prejudice against mental illness, the service is often not available.

Moving forward, Daejeon City will share the knowledge and learnings from this project with other municipalities and cities at conferences, workshops and events.

Mind TalkTalk Bus on Kuki News (Korean): Link

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