Carer+ training programme

Background
Name of your initiative: 
Carer+ training programme
Short name (acronym): 
Carer+ training programme
Website title and address: 
Carer+ project website
Which organization is submitting this initiative?: 
IPERIA L'Institut
Please specify in which regions/provinces: 
FRANCE›BASSIN PARISIEN›Basse-Normandie›Orne
City: 
Alençon
Where is this organization located?: 
France
Please enter the name of the contact person for this initiative: 
Gloria Ortiz
Please enter the email of the contact for this initiative: 
gloria.ortiz@iperia.eu
Part of larger strategy or programme: 
European
If you answered "other", please specify: 
Please provide us with more details of this programme or strategy: 
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) (2007-2013) European Union
The status of the initiative: 
Completed
Please give a summary of your initiative (in English): 
An interdisciplinary and international team of 14 institutions launched the Carer+ project in 2012 for care-workers all around Europe. The project identifies and enhances ICT competences of care-workers who support older persons at home - anticipating a new and vital role for care workers. Introducing new, easy-to-use internet-based technology tools for older, during 3 years scientific research, a competence framework, curriculum and training tools in theory and practice, training for trainers and policy exchange visits as well as an open online learning space and community for care-workers will be put in place to realise the challenging aims of the project.
The geographical scope: 
European
Type of initiative: 
Public-private-partnership
Environment or setting of the initiative: 
Rural
The economic environment or setting of the initiative: 
Moderate
The most important source of funding for your initiative: 
European funding
If other, please specify your source of funding: 
What triggered this initiative?: 
Objectives
What are the main objectives of your initiative? Choose a maximum of 3 objectives.: 
Housing: increase the number of older people living independently
Social participation: increase the number of older people who are socially active
Respect and social inclusion: increase in number of policies/strategies targeted at older people
Please describe any subgoals of your initiative: 
To equip cares with the required set of digital competences to support older people (+65) in their use of ICTs and AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) technologies in order to enhance their professional status and impact positively on the quality of life, autonomy and safety of those in their care
Target group
Does your initiative target people with a specific impairment or disease?: 
Not specifically
How many people have you reached or do you expect to reach with your initiative?: 
250 - 1000
Does your initiative target a specific age group?: 
65 - 79
Does your initiative target men or women?: 
Irrelevant
Approach
Please indicate what best describes your initiative: 
Other
What type of intervention strategy is used in your initiative?: 
Living lab/pilot
Please indicate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of your initiative: 
Not applicable
Who executes the initiative: 
Non-governmental organisation
Research/educational setting
What is the relevant physical scale of your initiative?: 
European level
Please indicate how you think your initiative could be scaled up (made to reach more people): 
The Carer+ training programme can be replicated in other countries, adapted to the local context and eventually language. Carer+ training programme is available in English and all piloting countries languages: French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian and Latvian.
Please indicate the type of stakeholders concerned with your initiative.: 
End-users
Non-governmental organisation
Primary health care providers›General practitioner
Provider of informal care
Research/educational setting
Please describe how you think your initiative could be transferred to other regions or contexts: 
The Carer+ training programme contents can be quite easily translated and adapted to local cultural and social context.
Is your initiative economically sustainable and does it contribute to economic development?: 
The training programme requires at least 6 months of training, including 40 hours of face-to-face sessions and 160 hours of distance learning. This means that it can be more easily implemented in those countries or regions that have already training programmes for carers where the Carer+ contents could be integrated.
If you selected "other" neighbourhood, please specify:: 
Impact & outcome
Will you collect or have you collected outcome data for this initiative?: 
Yes
What do you consider the key success factors of your initiative? If your initiative has not yet started, please indicate what you expect the key success factors to be: 
After the Carer+ training programme, a majority of care workers and informal carers declared the homecare they delivered was enhanced an enriched by digital competences and tools: over a 70% claimed they would use a tablet device in their caring practice in the future. Then, they considered that the quality of life of the older people was improved, especially in relation to their mental/emotional well-being, the attitudes toward ICTs and the capacity and competence to use ICTs.
What do you consider the main barriers to overcome in your initiative? If your initiative has not yet started, please indicate what you expect the main barriers to be.: 
The devices used for the training (tablets with internet connection) are in some countries too expensive for a majority of older people. Internet connection services are also frequently expensive, specially considering the medium pensions in certain EU countries.
What instruments will you use/have used to collect data?: 
Other, namely
If you selected "other" instrument to collect data, please specify: 
Own questionnaires
If yes, how will you/have you collected those data?: 
Observational studies
Qualitative evaluation
Will you collect or have collected socio-economic impact data for this initiative?: 
Yes
Will or are the collected data in the initiative publicly available?: 
No