Who We Help
Portage supports people who need, or want, someone with them on a journey — and the families and professionals arranging it.
Last updated October 7, 2026
Portage provides a Travel Companion or a Medical Escort for anyone whose health, recovery, mobility, or age makes travelling alone difficult. Most of the people who contact us are an older adult planning a trip, a patient leaving hospital, a traveller with mobility or cognitive challenges, or a family member arranging a journey for someone they care about.
Healthcare professional, insurer, or assistance company?
Arranging travel for a patient or policyholder? Your pages cover referrals, coordination, and how we work with your team.
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Many older adults are fully able to travel but would rather not manage airports, connections, and long days on their own. A Portage Travel Companion handles the logistics on the day and provides hands-on support, so a visit to family, a wedding, a reunion, or a move to a new city stays comfortable from door to door.
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Sometimes the person arranging the trip isn't the one travelling: an adult child in another city, a spouse who can't make the journey, or a caregiver who needs to stay behind. We plan the journey with you, keep you updated at agreed points along the way, and stay with the traveller until they've arrived.
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Travelling with a wheelchair, a walker, limited stamina, or recent surgery takes planning that airports and airlines don't do for you. Your Case Coordinator arranges airline assistance, mobility equipment, and ground transport in advance, and your Travel Companion or Medical Escort provides the transfers, personal care, and pacing the journey needs.
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Leaving hospital, a rehabilitation centre, or a treatment program often means a journey home, or to a hospital or care facility closer to home, before the traveller is fully recovered. We work with the care team and the family on timing and the level of support needed, from a Travel Companion for personal care through to a Medical Escort for clinical care in transit.
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Airports are unfamiliar, loud, and unpredictable, which makes them hard for some travellers: people living with dementia or an acquired brain injury, neurodivergent travellers, and anyone whose anxiety about flying has kept them from a trip. A Portage Travel Companion is one consistent person for the whole journey, keeping the day structured and predictable and handling the surprises so the traveller doesn't have to.
How we help travellers with cognitive and sensory challenges
Which situation sounds like yours?
Every journey is different, but most start from one of these situations. Open the one closest to yours to see how Portage helps, or contact us and we'll work it out together.
No two journeys are exactly alike.
Some travellers simply need an experienced companion. Others require clinical care from a registered nurse or advanced care paramedic. We assess every situation individually and recommend the level of support that best fits the traveller's needs.
If you're not sure which service is appropriate, we're happy to talk through the situation and help you determine the best approach.
A solution matched to the traveller
Looking for an answer to a specific travel question?
Many people contact us trying to solve one particular problem. These guides answer the questions we hear most often: