IRMANDADE DA SANTA CASA DA MISERICORDIA DA AMADORA IPSS

Their core work

Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Amadora is a Portuguese charitable social care institution (Misericórdia) that provides health and social services to the community of Amadora, near Lisbon. In EU research projects, they serve as a real-world care setting for testing and validating digital health solutions aimed at older adults — from diabetes self-management and frailty prevention to palliative care and chronic heart failure. Their core contribution is providing access to patient populations, clinical environments, and frontline care professionals who pilot and evaluate ICT-enabled integrated care models. They bridge the gap between technology developers and the elderly care reality on the ground.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

SCMA's early H2020 involvement (2016–2019) centred on traditional care challenges: diabetes self-management (ProEmpower), palliative care pathways (INADVANCE), and frailty prevention (eCARE), with a strong patient-centred and clinical focus. From 2019 onward, their projects increasingly incorporated advanced digital technologies — AI, smart wearables, big data analytics, and cloud computing (PHArA-ON, INCAREHEART) — reflecting a shift from basic ICT procurement toward more sophisticated technology-enabled integrated care. The organization has also expanded beyond direct care into workforce training for connected health (CHAMELEONS), signalling a maturing role in the digital health ecosystem.

SCMA is moving from being a passive care provider testing basic ICT tools toward becoming an active pilot site for AI, wearables, and data-driven elderly care platforms — making them increasingly relevant for digital health innovation projects.

How they like to work

SCMA participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator, which is consistent with their role as a care-delivery organization providing real-world validation environments rather than leading research agendas. With 96 unique partners across 19 countries in just 6 projects, they operate in large consortia (averaging 16+ partners per project), typical of PCP and large-scale pilot programmes. This broad network suggests they are open and adaptable collaborators who integrate well into diverse multinational teams.

SCMA has built an extensive European network of 96 unique partners across 19 countries through six projects, an unusually wide reach for a community care institution. Their partner base likely spans universities, technology companies, hospitals, and other care providers involved in large-scale health innovation pilots.

What sets them apart

Unlike universities or tech companies that develop health solutions in labs, SCMA offers something harder to find: a real, operational social care institution with direct access to elderly patient populations and frontline care staff willing to pilot innovations. Their Misericórdia status — a deeply rooted Portuguese charitable institution — gives them community trust and long-term patient relationships that purpose-built pilot sites cannot replicate. For any consortium needing a Southern European elderly care validation site with PCP procurement experience, SCMA is a proven and reliable choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INADVANCE
  Largest single funding (EUR 321,912) and their deepest clinical engagement — focused on early palliative care pathways, a sensitive and complex care domain.
• PHArA-ON
  Large-scale active ageing pilot integrating AI, smart wearables, big data, and cloud computing — represents SCMA's most technologically ambitious participation.
• INCAREHEART
  Most recent project (2021–2025), combining PCP procurement with multidisciplinary chronic heart failure care and interoperability standards — shows their current direction.