Personal assistance corresponds to a specialised independent life support service, through which support is made available to the person with a disability or incapacity to perform activities that, due to the limitations arising from their interaction with the conditions of the environment, they cannot perform on their own.

It is up to the person with a disability or incapacity himself/herself or to whom he/she legally represents, to request personal assistance, through the formal expression of interest, with a CAVI of his/her area of residence.

Personal assistance may be provided in the following areas (Article 5 of the Ministerial Implementing Order No 415/2023 of 7 December 2023):

• Support activities in the areas of hygiene, food and personal care;
• one-off domestic assistance support activities;
• follow-up activities to consultations, treatments and rehabilitation interventions;
• travel support activities;
• communication mediation activities;
• work-based support activities and socially useful activities;
• activities to support the attendance of vocational training;
• activities in support of formal education;
• activities to support higher education and research attendance;
• support activities in culture, leisure and sport;
• support activities for active job-search;
• support activities for the creation and development of supportive social networks;
• activities in support of participation and citizenship;
• activities in support of decision-making, including the collection and interpretation of information necessary for decision-making.

The following persons may receive personal assistance: (Article 8 of the Ministerial Implementing Order No 415/2023 of 7 December 2023:

• Persons with disabilities certified by a certificate of multipurpose disability or disability card of the Armed Forces with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60% and age equal to or greater than 14 years are recipients of personal assistance.
• Regardless of the degree of disability, people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness and autism spectrum may be targeted.
• Majors declared prohibited may benefit from personal assistance, and their active participation in the process of forming the will and in the enforcement of their decisions must be ensured, without prejudice to the legal regime of incapacities and respective provision.