Health Systems in Transition - Portugal

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Health systems in transition Portugal 132
elderly and dependent people coexist: the so-called informal networks and the
formal network embodied by the RNCCI. It is estimated that 110 000 people
in Portugal are dependent at home, and 80% of them receive some kind of
informal care. The latest National Health Survey found that 1.1 million people
aged 15 years or more (12.5%) provided informal care or assistance to relatives
or other non-family members, 85% of which provided informal care to family
members (INE/INSA, 2016). Additionally, these informal carers were mainly
women and 42.6% provided informal care for more than 10 hours per week
(INE/INSA, 2016). A recent study conducted by the Portuguese Association for
Consumer Protection (Associação Portuguesa para a Defesa do Consumidor)
found that the majority of informal carers in Portugal are women, mainly
daughters, mothers or wives. The study identified several vulnerabilities
among carers such as anxiety and depression. Also, the study found that,
without informal carers, around 80% of elderly and dependent people would
be institutionalized.
Informal carers have gained increased importance in Portugal, and the
Ministry of Health has publicly expressed the purpose of creating a structured
network of informal carers in Portugal, comprising people taking care of elderly
and/or dependent people at their homes. Training and empowerment of informal
carers is included in the National Programme for Health, Literacy and Self-care
launched by the Ministry of Health in March 2016 (Dispatch No. 3618-A/2016,
of 10 March 2016). Similarly, several civil society organizations of informal
carers have shown interest in helping the government to create the “Informal
Carer Status” by the end of 2016. It is expected that this status will acknowledge
several legal, fiscal, labour and social issues that are currently missing for those
who take care of elderly or dependent people.
As an example of the mobilization of civil society, a network of
informal carers was established in Portugal (Cuidadores de Portugal ), a
non-profit organization that is part of the European network of informal
carers (Eurocare). This network provides information to carers and has
established partnerships with universities, municipalities and research
centres to promote inclusion, social innovation and the development of new
technologies that can be useful to both carers and people receiving care
( .