“In practice, patients will no longer take their medication directly from the blister packs where they are packaged, and will instead have a box, identified by the days and times of administration, for each month,” explained Rita Santos, treasurer of this parish council, in the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros, district of Bragança.

To be eligible, it is necessary to be a resident of the parish council of Macedo de Cavaleiros or its annexes, Travanca and Nogueirinha, be over 65 years old, have no family support, that is, no formal caregiver, be a person with a disability, or be a patient with chronic diseases, regardless of age.

This work will be carried out by pharmacies, in accordance with a to-be-established protocol, and paid for by the Macedo de Cavaleiros parish council.

Afterwards, the elderly will collect their medication, already separated, at the parish council headquarters, with the aim of having “tighter control” over medication intake and even medical check-ups, including blood pressure and diabetes measurements.

“We live in an area where, being a city, our more distant parishioners, in Travanca and Nogueirinha, sometimes have some difficulty in taking their medication correctly,” said Rita Santos, highlighting that several people have already expressed interest in this support.

The regulations have already been drawn up and approved by the parish assembly. “The idea is to start the project this year. We expect it to begin in late September or early October. We will open applications beforehand, screen eligible candidates, and start implementing it in late September or early October,” she added.

According to the last local elections, in October 2025, the parish council of Macedo de Cavaleiros had 6,114 registered voters.