This paper presents the construction of the policy for integrated and continued, social assistance and healthcare in the realm of healthcare policy in Portugal, highlighting the planning for release in Social Work. Since 2006, when continued care was recognized as a right and integrated into policy and the healthcare system, the Social Work profession has been highlighted in this process of planning for release and in the development of procedures that are implicit in the relation of assistance, particularly in the reception and diagnosis, meetings and reports, action plans, accompaniment and evaluation of the process and integration in the community. The technical-operative dimension of Social Work in planning for release highlights the role of the profession within the healthcare system, improving access to the benefits of care, the well-being of the ill and of families, and consolidates the Social Work profession in society.
Healthcare policy; Continuing care; Planning for release; Social Work