Portugal - Country case study on the integrated delivery of long-term care (2020)

WHO Regional Office for Europe series on integrated delivery of long-term care

This report describes the current state of the delivery of health and social long-term care services in Portugal. The country has advanced the policy framework to achieve integrated services delivery. However, fragmentation in the governance, funding and delivery renders the long-term care system inequitable and inefficient. The main policy pointers to further advance integration include consolidating pathways and care transitions, promoting joint training and multi-profile teams and addressing the shortage of human resources, migration and working conditions. Further, promoting self-management and engaging family members and other unpaid caregivers in the care plans while addressing the growing needs of unpaid caregivers is of key importance. Lastly, the country could work towards establishing learning loops to improve workforce competencies and quality while strengthening the underpinning of health information for eliciting needs, managing services and informing policies.