CURATE-D: A Game-based methodology for empowering Dementia friendly communities and equal access to Culture for people with Dementia

<< Background >>The number of people with dementia (pwD) is rising, affecting over 50 million people worldwide (10 million in Europe), a figure projected to triple by 2050.The EU accessibility agenda is gaining importance in the fields of leisure, culture and tourism. However, it has focused on motor disabilities, overlooking audiences with non visible disabilities like dementia. Studies show that removing participation barriers significantly improves the well-being of pwD and their carers through cultural experiences. Dementia-friendly communities are among the most promising approaches towards creating inclusive and accessible life choices and experiences for pwD, including cultural activities, eliminating existing barriers.Barriers include intrapersonal (psychological), interpersonal (family and friends), structural (external factors), intrinsic (health-related, dependency on carers), environmental (societal attitudes,stigma), and interactive (situational) ones. Our project aimed to enhance skills of cultural venue staff and professional caregivers to support pwD in cultural experiences who got trained by innovative game-based educational material within the VET framework.<< Objectives >>CURATE-D project aimed to develop a game-based methodology and educational materials to help cultural venue staff and professional caregivers to improve their skills in supporting people with dementia (pwD) in cultural experiences.Cultural venues can play a pivotal role in fostering dementia friendly communities.The key objectives of the project were to:-promote social inclusion and equal accessibility to culture of pwD-adapt vocational education training of professionals in cultural fields to today needs that includes the transformation of cultural experiences to be inclusive and accessible to pwD-adapt vocational education training of professional carers to the needs of their patients (pwD) who can benefit a lot by getting involved in cultural activities-create an innovative game-based educational methodology and toolkit for VET education of professionals in the cultural fields and caring of pwD.Partners conducted a survey on professionals’ needs, existing inclusion and accessibility knowledge, preferred training techniques, and found good practices & existing game-based VET training materials and dementia care ensuring they contribute to the innovation in VET << Implementation >>3 TPM: kick-off (10 pax), final (5 pax) and 1 informal TPM during the LTTA (10 pax) 1 LTTA : staff training (10 pax)development of methodological guide (IO1)interviews with cultural venues & professional caregivers to assess their skills and learning needsdesk research on best practices co-creation of CURATE-D methodology in online workshops creation of 2 learning guides for cultural staff (IO2) & professional caregivers (IO3)development of 1 digital serious game (IO4) for cultural staff, professional caregivers & general publictranslation of IO1, IO2, IO3, IO4 in partner languages (extra from the proposal)trainings of 87 people (50 expected) being cultural staff & professional caregivers development of IO5 Conclusions report3 national multiplier events, 1/country (76 attendees, expected 60)3 press releases & 2 newsletters (English)1 international webinar (89 attendees) & a webinar in Greece (22 attendees) to present results. Additional events not originally planned were organized to fulfill NA’s suggestion to promote the project's results earlier than the multiplier events.Social media posts, organizational newsletters, presentations in events & conferences.Upload of results in EPALE & Erasmus+ platforms<< Results >>The partners, with diverse and complementary backgrounds, produced the following outputs:IO1 Methodological guide of CURATE-DIO2 Learning training guide for the staff of cultural venuesIO3 Learning training guide for the professional carers to support pwD in cultural activitiesIO4 CURATE-D educational serious game (digital)IO5 - Training of professionals and Conclusions reportAll materials are Open Education Resources available on the project's website, Erasmus + results platform, and EPALE.Additional dissemination materials include:2 newsletters & 3 press releases (4 expected in total) in EnglishProject website (English)1 leaflet /flyer (all partner languages)1 interim & 1 Final Dissemination report1 interim & 1 Final Evaluation reportOutcomes-10 staff members of partners enhanced their skills in game based methodology of CURATE-D via the LTTA- 7 training workshops with culture venues staff and professional caregivers (initially planned 5) attended by 87 target groups members (initially estimated 50)- 40709 people reached via various dissemination actions (expected 2000)- CURATE-D international and greek webinar: 89 and 22 attendees, respectively (both were extra actions)