Care4Skills is a project designed to address the training needs within the long-term care (LTC) workforce in order to meet current and future challenges. The project is built upon the foundation of the Skills Partnership for Long-Term Care and recognises the significant impact of digital transformation and the increasing demand for person-centered care within the sector.

Aims

• Prepare and equip the LTC workforce with the necessary skills to navigate and excel in the evolving landscape of the LTC sector.
• Encourage and facilitate the digital and person-centered care transformations occurring within the LTC sector.

Main Target Groups

• Social work assistants
• Nursing professionals
• Social care workers
• Social services managers

Objectives

• Provide immediate training opportunities to address urgent skills shortages, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid advancement of digitalisation.
• Establish a comprehensive understanding of the existing and future skills needs within the LTC sector, taking into consideration the evolving nature of care practices and technological advancements.
• Develop and implement new, modular Vocational Education and Training (VET) curricula tailored to address the identified skill gaps and cater to the emerging occupational profiles within the LTC sector.
• Create a robust Sectoral Skills Strategy to guide the European LTC sector in effectively addressing the identified challenges, fostering innovation, and promoting excellence in care delivery.

Main Activities

• Implement a Rapid Response Training Programme within the first year, focusing on essential digital skills and person-centered care principles, utilising a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format, and targeting 1,500 frontline LTC workers.
• Conduct extensive research to analyse existing training resources, anticipating future skills requirements, and devising a standardised methodology to monitor skills progression within the sector.
• Develop comprehensive scenarios and personas to simulate and examine various situations encountered by LTC workers, enabling the identification of essential skills and knowledge required for different care settings and user groups.
• Design and pilot new VET curricula based on identified learning outcomes, focusing on digital and person-centered care competencies, and utilising micro-credentials to enhance flexibility and recognition.
• Formulate a Sectoral Skills Strategy encompassing milestones, actionable plans, funding avenues, and practical guidelines for implementation at both European and national levels, taking into account local particularities and sector-specific challenges.
• Establish a comprehensive communication and dissemination strategy encompassing a project website, social media engagement, newsletters, press releases, and multiplier events to ensure broad visibility and promote the adoption of project outputs.
• Formulate a sustainability plan, including strategies for expanding the Large Scale Partnership for Skills in Long Term Care, securing continuous funding, and disseminating key findings to policymakers and relevant stakeholders to ensure lasting impact beyond the project's timeframe.
• Institute a rigorous quality assurance framework to monitor and evaluate project activities, ensuring high-quality outputs, and incorporating feedback mechanisms for continuous improvement.

The Care4Skills project aims to create a more robust and adaptable LTC workforce across Europe, prepared to deliver high-quality, person-centered care in an increasingly digitalised environment.

Partners

1. EASPD (European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities)
2. EAN (European Ageing Network)
3. SSE (Social Service Europe)
4. EPSU (European Public Service Union)
5. Social Employers
6. EVBB (European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training)
7. UNIPSO (Union des entreprises à profit social)
8. NASO (National Alliance for Social Responsibility)
9. DAYANA-X Ltd.
10. Association of Social Services Providers Czech Republic (APPS CR)
11. Tukena Foundation
12. AEL-Amiedu Ltd, Taitotalo
13. NEXEM
14. Association Régional du Travail Social Hauts-de-France (IRTS HDF)
15. Child and Adolescent’s Center (CAC)
16. Panhellenic Association of parents and friends of visually impaired people with additional handicaps (AMIMONI)
17. AKMI
18. Civic Advocacy Network (CAN)
19. Mécses Egyesület (MECSES)
20. Apro Formazione
21. AIAS Bologna
22. Actiz
23. Avans+
24. iSocial
25. Johannes Kepler Universität Linz (JKU)
26. University of Helsinki (UH)
27. TÜV HELLAS