News Details

On 22 May, the session “Personal Assistance and Independent Living” was held as part of the Talk Disability and Inclusion 2025 event. This event was promoted by the Balcão for the Inclusion of the Municipality of Porto in the Auditorium A Beneficência Familiar in the city of Porto.

The opening session was held by the Director of the Municipal Department of Social Cohesion, Raquel Castello-Branco, and the panel of speakers was attended by Sónia Esperto, President of the National Institute for Rehabilitation, IP, Fernando Fontes, Assistant Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, Ana Catarina Correia, Director of the Association Centro de Vida Independente, Rosária Martins, Personal Assistant and Felisberta Andrade, recipient of personal assistance.

The theme of the session focused on the path of independent living movements and the reality of personal assistance in the Portuguese context, from the pilot project to the social response, as well as future perspectives.

The president of the National Institute for Rehabilitation, IP during the intervention highlighted the work carried out by the National Coordinating Entity in close proximity to the CAVI, calling for the continuity of this partnership. He also stressed the need to enhance and maximize the resources that are already available, so that it is possible to enable the extension of the project.

During the session there was room for some questions and reflections put by the participants to the speakers. The participants' interventions focused on the need to regulate the profession of the personal assistant and highlighted the importance of the role of the recipients in the growth of MAVI, through the sharing of experiences and participation in the evaluations of the quality of the service.