The “Figueira Cuida Melhor” (Figueira Cares Better) program, promoted by the Figueira da Foz City Council, made 13 differentiated care beds available to vulnerable residents at the Atthis Senior Care institution as of March 27.
The initiative is the result of a contract with the company, which will run for one year, with the possibility of being renewed, and is intended for the hospitalization of people over the age of 66, for periods of no more than 90 days, making up for the lack of vacancies in the national long-term care network.
The contract was signed on the morning of March 27, 2025 by the mayor, Pedro Santana Lopes, and the institution's executive director, João Ramalho.
At the session, the mayor justified the creation of the “Figueira Cuida Melhor” (Figueira Cares Better) program with the lack of social responses in this area that he faced right at the beginning of his mandate.
“It baffles me to see how communities continue to live their daily lives and look so little at these realities,” he emphasized.
The executive director of Atthis Senior Care, João Ramalho, considered that “Figueira Cuida Melhor” is an innovative program, which reflects the “concern of the executive to respond and create solutions for residents in more advanced age groups”.
She also wished for the solution to be replicated in other parts of the country.
According to Olga Brás, “the principle of social justice and human dignity” triggered the creation of the Figueira Cuida Melhor municipal program, an initiative that “transcends a mere welfare response and asserts itself as an innovative model of the local welfare state”.
According to the mayor, the program “guarantees the dignity of those who need it most, ensuring that residents can remain close to their families and their emotional networks”.
The unit allows admissions for a maximum of 90 days, in all respects comparable to medium-term long-term care units, for people with acute or chronic illnesses that present psychosocial incapacity, and the placement of people in caregiver respite.
Hospitalizations will be free for residents with a monthly per capita income of less than 1,050 euros or two IAS (Social Support Index), but above that amount they will be paid progressively according to the beneficiary's income.
Source: https://ofigueirense.com/