A1 AUTONOMOUS HOMES IN PINHAL
Caritas Coimbra
Portugal
(NGO)
A1 SHORT SUMMARY OF THE PRACTICE
The Pinhal Autonomous Homes is a senior village, implemented in 2011, that aims to provide housing for older adults.
Their tenants are autonomous but alone.
They need support for a happier, healthy and active ageing but do not want to go to a nursing home.
Besides “The Pioneers” Association and its cooperating members, also Águeda Municipality is involved as a partner in the development and implementation of the project.
A1 OBJECTIVE OF THE GP
It also contributes to streaming the organization’s existing services and resources, making them usable and profitable and thus promoting its sustainability.
A1 STAKEHOLDERS
(4,13) The main stakeholders of this practice are:
A1 PARTICIPANTS AND BENEFICIARIES
(9, 10) The target population are older adults (usually over 65 but not mandatory) who are still autonomous but suffering from loneliness (with no family support), who refuse to be institutionalized in traditional services, but clearly in need of support to achieve a more active and healthy ageing.
(11) This GP doesn‘t explicitly address gender issues
A1 RESULTS
(2,6,7,8) The most valuable benefits obtained are the positive impact of the project among its target group, in terms of:
The business model is viable and autonomy is encouraged.
Tenants report they feel happier, safer and more secure than if they lived alone in their original houses and find this as a much better alternative than a nursing home, which they did not want as they are autonomous still.
A1 METHOD
(3,5) No formal methodology has been made public.
A1 RESOURCES
(12) The information about the time needed to develop this GP is not available
(15, 16) The funding is related to the amount necessary to build the houses and, if necessary, to buy the land where it is settled and provide the infrastructures (e.g. garden).
However, the most direct business model for this would be for an organisation which already has the infrastructure and free land and that only needs to invest (eventually with the support of public funding) between 10 and 25 thousand euros per house.
Current expenses shall be covered by the rent paid by the tenants. This initiative also includes the creation of a picnic park, a playground and a pedestrian path that facilitates and promotes the users’ mobility and socialization.
(19) No ICT technologies were used.
A1 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION