Cuidar Melhor aids families and institutions who support those sick with dementia and is implemented in the municipalities of Oeiras, Cascais, and Sintra. This aid is funded by local, specialized offices in every municipality and focuses on spreading awareness, sharing information, and guiding the sick and their caretakers. The project involves the partnerships of the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Montepio Foundation, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Portugal.

From January to March, Cuidar Melhor handled 136 cases in the three municipalities – 55% of which involving family members – with the objective to create solutions to existent problems of caretaking (for example, the temporary relocation of the sick of relieve the caretaker).

The project has been presented in several locations with the intention to increase awareness of the topic of dementia, to expand partnerships, and to replicate this methodology of intervention (in schools, volunteer pools, local associations and other foundations, etc.). To make Cuidar Melhor more dynamic and informative, we have produced new publicizing materials and improved the graphics and contents of the project website (www.cuidarmelhor.org).

The framework of this project has been tested at the Café Memória – a partnership still associated with the Sonae Sierra – that consists of a health center for those sick with dementia and their caretakers. With the presence of specialized, technical support and treatment for this type of sickness, these spaces offer the opportunity of co-inhabitance and the exchange of experiences, awareness, and learning. The Café Memória finds itself expanding at this moment. The Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Lisboa oversees and just opened Cafés Memórias in two of its locations, and five other entities presented proposals to expand the Cafés Memórias to different areas of the country (Porto, Fundão, Setúbal, Portimão e Albufeira).