The municipal policy in the area of aging has been:
1 – Supporting entities to provide services through the allocation of premises, supporting the construction and qualification of equipment’s (Matosinhos has a network of 23 institutions, of which 21 were supported in this scope);
2 – Promoting direct responses such as tele-care, repairs in elderly homes, physical stimulation and socialization activities, and eliminating of architectural barriers in public spaces and roads;
3 – Developing knowledge conducting studies and workshops for social characterization and needs assessment.
It is given priority to support and protect elderly citizens without removing them from their original contexts.
In the near future, these aspects will be developed with new initiatives:
1 – Promoting intergenerational activities, particularly within clients of social responses;
2 – Creating the Municipal Senior Council in order to promote civic participation and to influence political decision-making, to develop thematic workshops to make the needs diagnosis more accurate; to disseminate the program of physical activities namely to reach people that suffer greater financial vulnerability; to develop actions that improve accessibility and mobility.
3 – Optimizing the synergies created by the dynamics of the Age-friendly Cities Network, to keep up to date the knowledge of the needs of the residents, as a whole.
The Local Health Entity (Health Centres) promotes several projects to support both elderly people with diabetes, dementia and other mental health issues and their informal carers. These projects aim to defer the diseases symptoms, among patients, and to support carers teaching them coping and tackling technics. The activities are developed by health professionals, mainly nurses, and comprehend partnerships with mental health services (psychiatrists, psychologists…) and can take place both (individually) in patients’/carers´ homes or at Health Centres (group activities).
The Local Health Entity drew the Local Health Plan (http://www.ulsm.min-saude.pt/ebook.aspx?menuid=767) in accordance with the National Health Plan.