This Portuguese Telecom Solves Student Housing and Loneliness in Older People Crisis

Portugal is facing major social challenges. It is the fastest ageing country in the European Union, with 1.7m elderly people living or feeling alone. At the same time, rents have recently tripled, pricing young people out of the market. Unable to afford accommodation of their own, 95% of young Portuguese people live with their parents. Many are leaving Portugal entirely. 

This Christmas, MEO, Portugal’s leading telecom and a purpose-driven company, is diverting most of its marketing budget to address this issue. Conceived and created by Dentsu Creative Portugal, Share Home (Partilha Casa) is a three-year national initiative, to bring together high school and university students looking for accommodation far from home, with older people who live alone and would like some company. 

Partnering the councils of Portugal’s three largest cities, Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra, and a number of organisations working in this space, Dentsu Creative Portugal and MEO, with aggregator lojacasa.pt, have built a digital platform to connect anyone interested in participating in the program – whether they’re looking for somewhere to live or can offer a welcoming home, allowing a greater quality of life and comfort for both, or an institution wanting to get involved. The goal is to find shared accommodation for 20% of the 120,000 students seeking homes by the end of the first year, but also to promote greater prevalence of such initiatives country-wide, increasing the potential for candidates.

The initiative is supported by an integrated ad campaign, spearheaded by an emotional film, running on TV, cinema, digital and social. Directed by one of Portugal’s finest directors, Oscar-nominated Marco Martins, it tells the story of a student who travels far from home to go to university in Lisbon and shares a house with an elderly woman. Set to Sia’s ‘Angel by the wings”, we see their relationship evolve from the purely practical, into a strong friendship, supporting each other through life and study. Discovering her host’s past as a celebrated figure skater, the student is inspired to give back and bring joy to her new friend and on Christmas Eve, helps her take to the ice once more. A story of two generations coming together to build a better future, it ends with the line: “When a door opens, a heart opens too.” 

Lourenco Thomaz, Dentsu Creative Portugal, chief creative officer said, “This idea goes deep into Portuguese culture, confronting the crises facing our people, young and old. This is a solution for Portugal, but it is universal. We hope that people will be moved by the work, and that the platform’s success inspires others to do the same.”

With people, communications and home at its core, MEO is also providing participants in the program with communication solutions under preferential conditions to ensure shared accommodation has the necessary connectivity and access to information. 

“We want to reach every corner of the country with this initiative. It’s a cause, which the Portuguese cannot remain indifferent to. As a leader in the electronic communications sector, MEO has a duty to draw the attention of the Portuguese people to social issues and work together to build a future that honours the fundamental importance of people,” said Ana Figueiredo, executive president of Altice Portugal. 

“The Municipality of Porto has been a pioneer in responding to the challenges of the rapidly ageing population, with programs such as Porto Importa-se or Shared Residences. Likewise, it is at the forefront of the search for solutions to the housing crisis, whether in the creation of affordable housing programs, such as Porto com Sentido, or in continuous investment in social housing, with around 13% of building intended for this type of housing, when the national average is 2%. It is natural, therefore, for the Municipality of Porto to join the Partilha Casa project, which is pertinent in the fight against these two social scourges,” added Rui Moreira, mayor of Porto City Council. 

Carlos Moedas, mayor of Lisbon City Council, said, “Housing is the biggest challenge we have in Lisbon at the moment. There is no one simple solution, but if there is something that can make a difference, it is innovation. This is what MEO did with this project by using innovation to solve social problems. And so, as Mayor of Lisbon, I am very proud to join this great initiative, because it conveys exactly what I think about the role of innovation. For innovation to be worthwhile, it has to have true impact, and change people’s lives for the better.” 

“The ageing of the population represents a negative demographic dynamic across the entire country, although with inequalities. Coimbra is particularly affected. The problems of housing, loneliness and isolation of elderly people are a challenge for Portugal, for the Government, for Local Authorities, for Institutions, for everyone. The Municipality of Coimbra congratulates Altice, through its social responsibility, for creating a social impact project to mitigate these problems, with the ultimate aim of contributing, for all of us, to a truly humanised society, concretely concerned with helping the most vulnerable people, the most fragile and in need, “said Dr. José Manuel Silva, president of Coimbra City Council.