Six different partners across four European countries have been working on the Communicare project since September 2020 and the intellectual outputs, such as the baseline study, the content development, the platform development and validation, have been finished.

But what do the outputs actually entail and what added value do they have?

The “Baseline study summary report“ (output 1) provides a comprehensive overview of the current situation with regard to communication in care settings in all partner countries - Austria, Germany, Greece and Italy. Each partner country provided specific information in a national literature review that was used for the European literature review. In addition, each country conducted interviews with the target group and developed case studies.                                                                                                          The report is divided into different sections containing research information about the “Methodological Plan” of the project, an “Education gap analysis and comparative analysis”, “Interviews” and “Case studies”. In general the research focus was on the main questions “What impact has a good communication between the caregiver and the care recipient?” and “What are the main challenges in communication?” Concerning the environment the focus in this research has been on the home care setting and the community care setting.

Based on the concrete obtained data of the baseline report, the future intellectual outputs (IO) of the project including the development of content and didactic methods (IO 2), the E-Learning platform (IO 3), first sustainability actions and certification (IO 5) as well as dissemination plans were created.

Therefor the results of the report defined the context and the parameters upon which training content for improving and upgrading communication skills for informal caregivers in LTC were based.

Based on the“Baseline study summary report“ the content development and didactic methods aims to provide a comprehensive set of educational materials supporting both informal and formal carers in communicating with their care recipients. Before developing the concrete curriculum and content the partners developed a competence matrix. Competences represent a combination of attributes (with respect to knowledge and its application, attitudes, skills and responsibilities) that describe the level or degree to which a person is capable of performing them. [ . . . ] In this context, a competence or set of competences means that a person puts into play a certain capacity or skill and performs a task, where he/she is able to demonstrate that he/she can do so in a way that allows evaluation of the level of achievement. Competences can be carried out and assessed (González, Wagenaar 2003, p. 69). The competence matrix contains all the key competences and the learning objectives that have been elaborated. It thus forms the basis for the curriculum and learning content.

Research identified three main fields of interest that the Communicare partners worked out as learning content:

• Basic principles of effective communication (Learning path 1)
• Basic principles and methods of communication in chronic disease (example: dementia) (Learning path 2)
• Communication in the new era of social media and technological advances to support an age-friendly environment (Learning path 3)

According to the three learning paths the partners developed a handbook and also the digital content (videos, H5P quizzes, graphics etc.). The handbook also includes guidance and sample exercises that Adult and VET trainers, elderly organizations or educational and training organisations can utilise to engage learners. The handbooks pdf can be downloaded with the following link Cc_Handbook_FINAL_16.12.22.pdf (aegean.gr)

In parallel to the content development the technical partner has been working on the structure of the Communicare website as well as the Communicare learning platform. They were responsible for the implementation of the digital materials and also had a huge impact in the development of the serious game. The serious game aims to stimulate the communication between the caregiver and the care receiver in everyday situations and wants to provide cognitive training for the patients that can be used long term.

The Communicare website Communicare | Home (aegean.gr) including all the developed materials and also a forum to exchange experiences is available in English, Italian, Greek and German and is of course free of charge!