„EMPROVE: EMpowering PROfessional RelatiVEs in Europe” agreement number 2022-1-RO01-KA220-VET-000085071 is a European Union co-funded initiative in the vocational education and training field, being implemented in 4 European countries by practitioners both in the elderly care, adult centers and lifelong learning experts. It is coordinated by Asociatia Elena si Marius Tutunaru from Romania in cooperation with CENTRUL PENTRU PROMOVAREA INVATARII PERMANENTE (Romania), Alzheimer Bulgaria Association (Bulgaria), European Education & Learning Institute (Greece) and CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE PER LA PROMOZIONE DELL'EDUCAZION E E LO SVILUPPO ASSOCIAZIONE (Italy).

What is the philosophy behind our project?

In many countries of the European Union the population is undergoing a demographic transition with more people being elderly. The increased demand from this populace is having, and will have, a significant impact on the provision of health and social care. Providing high quality care to older people is complex and multifaceted. Due to the aging of the European society and the growing demand for social services, decisive measures should be taken to support caring professions, including families caring for the elderly. Consequently, the models of care and the skill sets necessary to care for older patients must adapt to meet their needs. Although the sector of social health care is constantly growing in most European countries, the multitude of available services and changing regulations make it necessary for a specialist to professionally manage the health and wellbeing of elderly members of the society.

Briefly about the project

Within this broad European scenario, the EMPROVE project will develop an innovative training path for the people who would like to obtain the skills of a Geriatric Care Manager (or also called Professional Relative) who in his/her role combines holistic competences to help the families navigate through the aging process of their relatives efficiently and with the most appropriate resources available.

The project is addressed to staff of the elderly care centers, residents' homes, nursing homes, graduates of medical and social studies-nurses, public health educators, social workers, public administration staff, geriatric care educators, sociologists and psychologists (as direct target group) and older people who require support in every day activities, families caring for the elderly, elderly care centers, residents' homes, policy makers in the area of social/health/geriatric care in the partner countries - European umbrella/sectoral organisations working in the area of social/health/geriatric care (as indirect target group).

What we are planning to produce during the project implementation period?

- A training course aimed at the acquisition of the skills and competencies of a Professional Relative of the elderly with various symptoms of old age or mental or physical illness who need assistance with everyday activities. The training materials will be developed as an e-learning content

- A Manual addressed to the participants of the Course describing the general knowledge about the profession of a Professional Relative

- An e-learning platform with the EMPROVE training content. The Platform will include all the results produced within the project, being the main learning tool for the users wishing to undertake a training course to obtain skills and competences of the Professional Relative. Access to the Platform will be free after registering into it.

We encourage everyone in the target group to follow the project's Facebook page to stay connected with our journey in developing the above resources!