Background  

COVID-19 and war in Ukraine are harbingers of a more destabilised World driven by climate change, rapid mass migration, food insecurity, state failures and epidemics. These will have significant impacts on Europe’s health systems’ infrastructure and health workforce. On the other hand, health care professionals often lack sufficient knowledge, training, and skills to engage effectively with digital technologies as a result they are often stressed when dealing with these technologies. With an aim to address the challenges arising from the ubiquitous use of digital and electronic technologies in the multi-disciplinary health care environment across the EU, the DDS-MAP formed a Pan-European consortium consisting of HEIs (Medical, Nursing, Education and Digital Technology), NGOs, health authorities and health insurers across the EU. 

General objective 

The EU4Health ‘DDS-MAP’ project aims to develop new training provision for healthcare and allied professionals in the EU, focused on the acquisition and mastery of new digital technologies in the delivery of care services. Healthcare professionals’ awareness, knowledge, and self-reflection on their use of digital technologies will be explored in both learning and professional practice. 

Specific objectives  

• Map the provision of available digital skills (literacy, digital transformation, cybersecurity, online communication) of the health workforce at local and European level in order to increase digital competency amongst healthcare workers. 

• Enable healthcare managers to better respond to current and emerging healthcare issues (cybersecurity, surge management, supply management).  

• Enable healthcare workers to effectively plan, deliver, monitor and evaluate digital health care approaches and their well-being and resilience through adaptation of digital skills.  

• Engage with regulatory authorities and professional associations to promote micro learning and credentials accreditation for the acquisition and recognition of skills development. 

Results  

Over the next 30 months the project will produce:  

• A first-of-its-kind survey of the digital competences across the European Union.    

• European training modules developing through a co-creation process addressing the needs of multiple disciplines for hospital doctors, nurses, and non-clinical staff.  

• Micro credentials leveraging and adapting an established framework for DDS-MAP. 

• Augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) platform leveraging expertise within DDS-Map 

Partnership 

• South East Technological University (Co-ordinator),
• IBK Management Solutions (Germany),
• University College Dublin (Ireland),
• University of Maribor (Slovenia),
• Klaipedos University (Lithuania),
• University of Osijeck (Croatia),
• Medical University Lublin (Poland),
• Association of Knowledge and Technology Industries – GAIA (Spain),
• Health Authority Teramo – ASL (Italy),
• European Association of Service  Providers for People with Disabilities (Belgium),
• EUROFORTIS Society (Latvia),
• Mutualia Mutual Social Security Collaboration (Spain),
• Riga Stadina University (Latvia). 

Contact

Omor Ahmed, Project Officer, EASPD

Funding  

DDS-MAP has funding worth €2,477,703.77 of which €1,982, 000 is provided under the European Union’s EU4Health programme under grant agreement no – 101101259.