Manca Pajnič, Ljubiša Pađen, Katarina Galof and Špela Mihevc, from the University of Ljubljana, published a new article in Utrip magazine. This article tells us about the global phenomenon of population aging. Therefore, we learn about the increase in life expectancy and its reflection on the treatment of patients in health care. Utrip Magazine is an online and paper edition for all nurses of the nursing association of Slovenia.
The Slovenian team also addresses in this article the need to recognize the figure of the caregiver. In short, they approach the importance of the GivingCare Project in this matter.
The Faculty Health Sciences of the University of Ljubljana is the largest and oldest higher education and scientific research institution in the field of health care in Slovenia. It has the longest tradition of higher education in nursing and allied health professions in the country. For instance, the mission of the Faculty is to be a leading Central European educational and research institution in the health sciences. Training excellent experts at all academic levels. Above all, promoting new discoveries through highly original research, and disseminate research knowledge into practise and policy.
If you would like to read the full article, you can find it here.
Save the Date! The final conference of the GivingCare – Empowering Caregivers project will take place on Friday 5th May (a.m.)
The GivingCare – Empowering Caregivers project has developed and tested an innovative Continuous Education Programme. This project has also reflected on a Competence Profile for carers and developed awareness raising material.
This conference will offer the possibility to discover the Giving Care training modules, learn about the outcomes of the piloting in Spain, Portugal, Poland and Slovenia, and discuss the way forward in the current policy context at European level.
The last three years
How to bridge the care skills gap?
How to ensure health and care professionals have the skills required to provide quality care to older persons?
How to support informal carers through empowering training opportunities?
Among Long-Term Care workers, only 1 in 2 consider that their “present skills correspond well with their duties”[1]. Growing evidence points to the need to develop skills among care workers to ensure the quality of care services at a time requirements are becoming increasingly complex. Training is also key to improving working conditions and job attractiveness in the care sector when European countries face a perilous shortage of staff in the care sector. Parallelly, the pivotal role of informal carers is being increasingly acknowledged, as well as their need for support, including accessible and relevant training.
Bringing together Health Schools, Universities, and civil society organisations from Spain, Portugal, Poland and Slovenia, the Giving Care project aims at empowering carers and fostering their recognition through training. Therefore, partners have developed and tested a Continuous Education Programme, and produced corresponding training material for professional and informal carers, and awareness raising tools. The partnership also reflected on the content of Competence Profile for carers.
Concluding three years of cooperation
Concluding three years of cooperation, this event will offer the possibility to discover the Giving Care training modules, learn about the piloting’s outcomes, and discuss the way forward in the current policy context at the European level.
To Whom?
It is open to all relevant stakeholders:
students
care workers
informal carers workers
training providers
policymakers…
Registration
This event will take place in Brussels and online. The registration is open until 25th April.
Every month, Caregivers Portugal, in partnership with the Escola Superior de Saúde de Santa Maria (ESSSM) and the GivingCare ERASMUS+ Project, will provide talks between Professor José Manuel Silva and a special guest.
Professor José Manuel Silva will be talking to specialists in the area of Care. We will hear about self-care in Caregivers, the acquisition of skills and Occupational Therapy in Caring, what are the challenges in managing Caregiver teams (CAVI / ERPI) and the support network for Caregivers, and we will end with the importance of Physiotherapy in Caring.
The GivingCare Project seeks, in its Continuous Education Programme, to develop many of the topics addressed in these Talks so that everyone can have access to content that responds to the needs of the three main professional profiles identified: Professional Caregiver, Family Caregiver and Assistant Caregivers.
Jagiellonian University organized in Kraków the 3rd Transnational Project Meeting between June 20th and 24th, 2022. It was the first face-to-face meeting of the GivingCare project team. Team Members assessed the project’s progress and analyze what has been achieved and what still needs to be done.
Since IO2 is still in progress, it was crucial to present the results of the Continuous Education Program Pilot. All partners analyzed the different implementations in each country and considered the pre and post surveys that the students completed. The analysis of the surveys was necessary to improve the second phase of the pilot.
Ljubljana University was responsible for monitoring the IO2. They prepared a presentation to contribute to the analysis of IO2 documents (in the final stage of development).
In the second part of the meeting, under the responsibility of the Jagiellonian University, were defined more concrete plans for carrying out the activities of IO3- Guides for Personal.
Intelectual Output 3 – Guides for Personal
A3.1- Supportive manual for Personal
A3.2 – Good practices guide for caring
A3.3 – Storytelling Videos
Eurocarers presented a document titled “How to take care of who cares” during the meeting, with essential bullet points for the development of A3.2. In addition, filmesmente presented the sketch and screenplay for the videos that will introduce each of the modules and will be used as a promotion and dissemination tool for the GivingCare Project.
We also discussed the project’s financial balance and received feedback from the agency on the Interim report during the meeting.
The 3rd Transnational Project Meeting played a crucial role in monitoring the progress of IO2 and IO3 activities, as well as reviewing and improving implementation plans and agreed-upon deadlines.
The Implementation of the Pilots in Portugal aims to prepare the modules that compose the final version of the Continuous Education Programme. The project requires testing the quality, quantity, and interest of the contents addressed to the target audience by implementing a pilot course of all modules.
During the months of March and May, 87 students will participate in this pilot course, entirely online. Module 1: Basic Concepts in Care will enroll 38 participants, and Module 5: End-of-Life Care will have 49 students participating. Students receive training for two and a half hours every Saturday morning in a digital space, which is always open to interaction and the debate of ideas.
MODULE 1: Basic Concepts in Caregiving
M1.1 – Introduction to caregiving
M1.2 – Basic concepts in caregiving and well-being
M1.3 – Language & Communication in caregiving
M1.4 – Ageing process
M1.5 – Disabilities & Highly disabling diseases
M1.6 – Psychosocial aspects & inclusion
MODULE 5: End-of-Life Care
M5.1 – Principles of palliative care
M5.2 – General principles of symptom control
M5.3 – Ethics, Religion, Culture and Spirituality
M5.4 – Mourning and Family Support
The Implementation of the Pilots in Portugal aims to stimulate the perception of the basic concepts of the caregiver, and it is taught through modules. The team responsible for implementing the pilots in Portugal consists of teachers from the health area, nurses, and specialists in care. This partnership is between Santa Maria Health School and Associação Portuguesa de Neuromusculares.
Additionally, courses in Spain, Poland, and Slovenia are about to begin. These courses will cover the same topics as the pilot course.
The 2nd Transnational Project Meeting was initial designed to be held at Ljubljana University. However, having attention to the pandemic, the GivingCare Project’s Second Official International this meeting was held via Zoom call. This meeting took place on July 12th at 15:00 (Lisbon time) and marked the transition from Output 1 to Output 2.
Meeting Agenda
Informations
Review of the Output 1
Transition to Output 2
Task distribution and calendarization
Other subjects
During the meeting, the GivingCare project team took the opportunity to take stock of the work accomplished so far. One of the most significant achievements was the definition of the Continuous Education Programme, which consists of six modules, each worth 1 ECTS, divided into 32 sub-modules. The process to reach this result was long and involved several steps that the team had to carry out meticulously:
Definition of the structure draft of the Continuous Education Programme
Co-desing of the Continuous Education Programme
Validation of the final version of the Continuous Education Programme
Firstly, the team had to conduct an in-depth analysis of the existing resources and materials available for the development of the programme. With this in mind, the team conducted this analysis to identify gaps and deficiencies that required addressing in the program.
Afterward, the team identified the specific topics that each module would cover and worked on the structure of the sub-modules, ensuring that each one would align with the overall goals of the project.
Finally, the team reviewed and refined the programme, ensuring that it was comprehensive, relevant, and aligned with the latest research and best practices in the field of care-giving. The quality and depth of the programme reflected the team’s dedication and hard work, indicating its potential positive impact on the personal and professional lives of caregivers and personal assistants.
Furthermore, we have the IO2 – GivingCare Educational Materials. The 2nd Output, which will be led by Ljubljana University, will consist of:
Creation of a toolkit / manual for students
Creation of educative resources for teachers
Implementation of the pilot course in each institution (around January 2022)
Creation of long distance materials
In conclusion, the working method for IO2 was defined during this 2nd Transnational Project Meeting. Specifically, each partner will choose either one complete module or 5-6 sub-modules and propose a program in English.
Organization of the NHS and Social Security System
Typical health/social care workers and associates included in direct care (both formal and informal)
Typical settings in care providing (both formal and informal)
National Education and training System
Brief description / Schematic presentation of the National Education and Training System
Organization according with ISCED and/or EQF levels
Levels (ISCED / EQF) of training offers in areas related to the activities of caregivers
Types of training offers in areas related to the activities of caregivers
Types of entities that promote the courses
Results Summary
National Healthcare and Social Security systems are in all cases of a contributive nature (insurance or universally tax-financed systems), assuring different levels of care, from basic healthcare and specialized care, to medicine and medical devices co-funding. In all countries the public services are prevalent.
Data analysis points out to a considerable convergence in country’s national education and training systems organization and also in the levels providing formal training in the areas that are covered by the project.
On January 27th, the Santa Maria Health School invited all partner institutions of the GivingCare project to participate in the project’s Kick-Off Meeting, which was held via videoconference.
During this Kick-off meeting, all partner institutions did a brief presentation about their academic history and work, highlighting their potential contribution to the initiative, and introduced their team members for the project. The partner institutions are:
Santa Maria Health School – Coordinator, Portugal
APN (Associação Portuguesa de Doentes Neuromusculares) – Portugal
Filmes da Mente – Portugal
Eurocarers – Brussels
Coruña University – Spain
Jagiellonian University – Poland
Ljubljana University – Slovenia
Once the introductions were completed, the Santa Maria Health School proceeded to present an overview of the GivingCare project and its key goals. After the presentation, the project members came to an agreement on the next steps to take.
The GivingCare project was there upon initiated. GivingCare aims to empower formal and informal personal caregivers, personal assistants and other health professionals by developing technical, soft and digital skills, as well as responding to the gap in the Higher Education Institutions provision. To do so, the GivingCare team will need to:
1. Formalize the profession of professional caregiver / personal assistant at European level.
2. Structure a new profession with a professional career, remuneration levels and social recognition.
3. Assemble all the necessary training structure, content and support materials.
4. Ensure transferability of training materials for use by family caregivers.
5. With all this, provide a service to the European space, providing it with new professionals, duly qualified, capable of responding to the challenges of an increasingly aging population, with less family support, but with more quality demands regarding care they need.
