The Regional Secretary for Social Solidarity announced today in Angra do Heroísmo that the Government of the Azores will implement a Regional Plan to Support Informal Caregivers of the Elderly and Dependants by the beginning of next year.

"The plan aims to promote the complementarity between formal and informal systems. It is a guiding tool regarding the provision of organised support to informal caregivers," stated Andreia Cardoso. The government official assured that the Government is aware of the important role played by caregivers in the lives of the elderly and is attentive to their personal sacrifices.

Andreia Cardoso noted that the Government will continue to ensure, through measures to be implemented in early 2015, the access and provision of information and training, psychosocial support, psychological support and measures that allow caregivers to rest.

The Regional Secretary spoke on the sidelines of a ceremony of laying the first stone of the São Sebastião Home and Day Centre, an investment of 1.7 million Euros that will be carried out by the Regional Government to build a home with capacity for 14 elderly persons. The project will expand the response capacity of the Day Centre to 22 users.

This investment will further improve the operation of the Home Support Service, which currently supports 65 people.

"Like other similar infrastructures in the archipelago, the construction of this infrastructure clearly reflects the Regional Government's decision to create and consolidate a decentralised network of social support services, thus returning the sense of belonging to elderly persons and keeping their link to their families," stressed the Regional Secretary.