117 Day-Centre and Home-Care Places Now Let Informal Carers Take Up to Seven Hours Off, in a Pilot Running in 18 Councils

Recognised informal carers in 18 of Portugal's councils can now leave the person they look after at a day centre, an activity centre or with a home-care service for a few hours, so that they can rest, work or see to their own health. The Government said on Tuesday that 117 places have been opened for this under a pilot called the Bolsa de Cuidadores (Carers' Pool), Lusa reported via Observador.

"Someone can leave home, rest and look after themselves, knowing that the person they care for is still being looked after," said the Labour, Solidarity and Social Security Minister, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho. She spoke at the Instituto da Segurança Social (ISS, Social Security Institute) in Lisbon on Tuesday, the day set aside for informal carers' rest. She said 19,000 informal carers are now recognised by the ISS.

How the pilot works

The rules are in Portaria n.º 21/2026/1 of 21 January, which created the pilot (text in the Diário da República, Portuguese only). The pool has two parts:

• Places in social services. The person being cared for can attend a non-residential service, such as a day centre, a Centro de Atividades e Capacitação para a Inclusão (CACI, activity and training centre for people with disabilities) or home-support care, for no more than 7 hours in a row and no more than 56 hours a month. The places are run by charities and other social-sector bodies under agreements with Social Security, which manages them and pays the institution 140 percent of the usual monthly rate for each place it keeps free for carers.
• Volunteers. For short absences of up to 3 hours in a row, a trained volunteer can step in. Councils run these volunteer lists under an agreement with the ISS. Volunteers must be at least 18, live legally in Portugal, know basic emergency response, sign an ethics code and show a criminal record certificate.

The pilot runs in one council in each of the 18 mainland districts, chosen by a government order. The portaria says it lasts 12 months from that order, after which it is evaluated and, if the Government decides, given permanent rules in a new portaria. Until then, the pools set up in the pilot stay open. According to Lusa, the pilot started in January.

Who can use it

The pool is open only to carers who hold the Estatuto do Cuidador Informal (informal carer status) recognised by Social Security, and whose cared-for person lives in one of the pilot councils. Access depends on an assessment by the carer's profissional de referência (the Social Security or health professional assigned to follow the case), and is written into the carer's individual support plan, the Plano de Intervenção Específico.

The minister said carers should check the online page of their Social Security district centre for the council in their district and the places available. The Secretary of State for Social Action and Inclusion, Clara Marques Mendes, said 108 of the 117 places had been available for about two months, and some will already have been used. She said the right to rest was already in law but hard to use because there were too few places in care homes and other services.

The rest rights carers already have, everywhere

Outside the pilot, recognised carers keep the rest measure under Portaria n.º 335-A/2023, which the January portaria amended. The rest period is agreed in the carer's support plan, for up to 30 days a year, taken in one go or in parts. Where the cared-for person uses home-support care or another non-residential service, it can stretch to 120 days. The person being cared for can also go temporarily into a care home or a long-term care unit; what they pay there depends on household income.

We have explained how carer status works, and our guide to becoming a recognised informal carer covers the application.

At the same event, the Government said its pilot of home care combined with health care, SAD+Saúde, which began in May for people who are dependent or have a disability, has helped more than 150 people.