ABOUT THE PROJECT
The PRAGRESS project is directed at professional care givers, such as nurses, social workers, nursing aids, and other professionals involved in the prevention and management of challenging and aggressive behavior in both home and community settings. Aggressive behaviour is a multi-parametric phenomenon which requires a comprehensive training framework focusing on
- Raising awareness on aggressive and violent behavior
- The causes and prevention of aggressive or violent behavior
- Management and de-escalation methods for controlling aggressive behavior
The PRAGRESS consortium includes 7 participating institutions. As academic institutions, DBHW, NUI Galway and TURKU AMK are very active in delivering education and training courses to professional and adult learners in the health and social care sectors through their Schools of Health and Well-being Sciences. Care provider partners FRODIZO, ISRAA, and WW have similarly significant professional expertise and experience, as well as dedicated structures for both home and residential care of older people. CHALLEDU has been chosen due to its technical background and expertise in developing multimedia content. CHALLEDU provides technical excellence in the field of ICT learning tools and will make the project’s training content easily accessible and comprehensive, but also fun and interactive.
The activities planned include
- Baseline study of the critical parameters that shape the overall context and bring about the phenomenon of challenging behaviour in older people towards caregivers in home and community care
- Development of PRAGRESS training content based on the results from IO1, aiming to provide comprehensive and well-structured training material to help minimize the impact of challenging behaviour in older care and LTC
- The PRAGRESS e-learning platform will be an open educational resource environment under the format of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), offering e-learning modules for use by all formal and informal caregivers, lifelong learning providers, care stakeholders, and older people’s organizations and communities
- PRAGRESS pilots will be designed and applied in accordance with the education and training modules developed, and can be used for learning validation, skills acquisition, and specific skills training.
- ustainable project outcomes with particular focus on a recognition system of digital badges for those who participate in the training during and after the project.
Results
- Improving the quality of life of older care recipients: By understanding and analyzing the causes of aggressive behavior, caregivers will be able to respond adequately and act in a preventive manner.
- Improving the quality of life of caregivers: aggressive behavior in LTC directly affects quality of life of caregivers resulting in high levels of stress and burnout
- Improving interpersonal relationships and communication between caregivers and beneficiaries
- Upgrading the skills and qualifications of formal and informal caregivers facilitates safe and effective management of aggressive behavior in residents, and improves overall quality of care
- Strengthening social inclusion by advocating against ageism and age discrimination, and through personalized approaches to long term care
Impact
- Creation of learning contents to improve quality of care services, and the range of interventions
- Increasing skills, competencies and knowledge to improve employability and job satisfaction
- Developing interdisciplinary professional networks nationwide and across Europe to share knowledge and experiences
- Immediate skills support and training for professionals in LTC
- Creating a pool of innovative training material for future interdisciplinary collaboration and further development
- Offering experience and best practices across professions and organizations in LTC