TRIO – Adult education on digital, health and data literacy for citizen empowerment

<< Background >>Digital technologies in health enhance self-care, health promotion, and illness prevention by facilitating consultations, medication requests, access to health records, and the use of m-health solutions like apps and wearables. However, the rapid growth of digital health exacerbates existing health inequalities, particularly among those with lower literacy levels, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. People who are digitally health literate tend to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors, but those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, vulnerable groups, or older populations struggle with technological advancements.The Directorate-General of Health in Portugal warns of increasing health inequalities due to digital health growth and stresses the need for better digital health literacy. Improving health literacy can reduce these inequalities by building citizens’ confidence and skills. As digital health literacy now includes data literacy, understanding data sharing is crucial for benefiting from digital health technologies.<< Objectives >>The TRIO project addresses these challenges by developing a modular approach to digital, health, and data literacy. This project creates a manual, a toolkit for trainers, and a Green Paper in collaboration with stakeholders, supported by a customizable platform. The content is tailored to different age groups (18-35, 36-50, 51+) and focuses on groups at risk of exclusion. TRIO conducts pilots in five countries to empower citizens of all ages and education levels to navigate the eHealth world, make informed decisions, and improve their well-being, autonomy, and inclusion.<< Implementation >>The PR1 Manual on Digital, Health and Data Literacy is based on the concept of Health 2.0, centred on patient empowerment and collaboration between patients, carers, citizens and health professionals. It was published online to raise public awareness and serves as the basis for PR2. The PR2 Educational Platform has a simple and attractive interface with training and gamification tools. It includes a library and materials for adult educators. It was developed with citizens to test accessible learning options and was trialled in local workshops. PR3 Toolkit for Professionals and Workshop Methodology is a kit for trainers developed to meet the needs of different stakeholders, tested and adapted in local workshops. PR4 Recommendations for Policymakers involves pressure groups and associations promoting the implementation of learning opportunities. It includes a Green Paper with recommendations. Five national and one international multiplier event were held, with at least 170 participants, as well as five transnational partner meetings. Horizontal tasks included project management and coordination at European level, communication with the National Agency, communication and promotion, quality and risk and project sustainability.<< Results >>Manual for Citizens, Educators, and Policymakers (PR1):Document link: https://trioproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TRIO_manual_final-version_EN_cv.pdfAvailable in 6 languages (EN, PT, ES, GR, NL, RO) https://trioproject.euEducational Platform (PR2):Available in 6 languages (EN, PT, ES, GR, NL, RO) https://trioproject.eu/language/en/platform/Moodle Platform (use GUEST ): https://moodle.inesctec.pt/course/view.php?id=9Project Training Manual (PR3):Document link: Toolkit for professionals and workshop methodology - https://trioproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TRIO_PR3_Toolkit_final_ENG.pdfAvailable in 6 languages (EN, PT, ES, GR, NL, RO) https://trioproject.euRecommendations for Policymakers (PR4):Document link: Recommendations for policemakers (EN) - TRIO-Policy-recommendations-_22.07.2024.pdf (trioproject.eu)Document link: Green Paper - TRIO_Green-Paper_EN.pdf (trioproject.eu) Available in 6 languages (EN, PT, ES, GR, NL, RO) https://trioproject.eu