Carta Social

8/11/2023

The Statute of the Informal Caregiver, as annexed to the Law 100/2019, of 6 September, regulates the rights and duties of the caregiver and the cared-for person and establishes the respective support measures.

This law determined the implementation of pilot projects to develop measures to support informal carers and carers, with a uniform distribution throughout the national territory, selecting the territories to be covered according to their levels of social fragility.

Following the evaluation of the implementation of the pilot projects, the Regulatory Decree 1/2022, of 10 January, establishing the terms and conditions for recognition as an informal carer, as well as support measures for informal carers and carers, extending such measures to the whole of mainland Portugal.

One of the measures to support the informal caregiver considered fundamental and that aims to reduce their physical and emotional overload is, according to the evaluation carried out in a Specific Intervention Plan, the rest of the caregiver, in order to benefit from a rest period in the provision of care. Thus, it is possible to develop measures to mitigate burnout and promote physical and/or mental health.

During this period, it is possible for the person cared for to be received in a structure where they are provided with health care and/or social support appropriate to their needs, and the possibility of access to care at home is enshrined through the Home Care Service.

Aware that the use of the support measure for the caregiver's rest involves factors of various kinds, namely the nature of the services provided, the financial resources involved, as well as factors of a geographical nature, this Order introduces the procedures for using the caregiver's rest measures and managing vacancies, also determining a positive differentiation aimed at reducing the burden borne by the citizen, specifically by reducing the percentage on the per capita income of his household, the differential of which is assumed by the social security. It also allows, depending on the nature of the reply, the exemption from co-financing.

This measure is expected to take care of those who care, so it is the Government's commitment to promote an effective protection of the rights of informal carers and their valorization, returning them the legitimate and irreplaceable role, not only for the people they care for, but for the entire social and health system, recognizing their primary contribution to their sustainability.

Source: Diário da República No 213/2023, 1st Supplement, Series I of 2023-11-03