Art therapy to Boost Learnings & Empower people with disabilities

"<< Background >>The ABLE project partners have been supporting people with disabilities for many years; it is a source of great wealth and contentment. Through the various projects carried out at national level, educational teams (carers, social workers and educators) have developed practices and approaches that focus on the person and their specific needs in face-to-face settings. However, the pandemic has caused dramatic loss of life around the world and poses an unprecedented challenge to our organisations and beneficiaries. Our target groups have been severely impacted, creating and compounding their hardships, they went through hard containment (lockdowns). They have often been isolated and forced to follow strict and not always understandable measures. Our educational teams observed isolating behavior, psychological problems, feelings of isolation, depression, sleep problems in the target groups during the temporary return to face-to-face training but also during the remote monitoring and follow-ups undertaken during the crisis period by our professionals.<< Objectives >>Art therapy is a form of psychotherapeutic and developmental support based on creative activities. Through art, i.e. painting, dancing and moving, experiencing sounds and music, current and important topics are processed for the participants: develops personality and deepens self-esteem and self-confidence.It is also a therapy method that favors patient support in general. Art therapy helps people find the motivation to live and work within their own potential and strengths. It can be offered to individuals or groups through workshops, developmental and therapeutic groups, especially in this specific situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on our lives and social life and contacts. In our project we bundle and share experiences with European partners with a double objective: 1. Discover good practices abroad and then reintroduce them nationally in relation to the training and accompaniment of people in situation of disabilities through art therapy techniques2. Work together on an initial guide to provide our professionals and volunteers with the necessary tools to guide our groups effectively through the use of art therapy techniques.<< Implementation >>The following activities were implemented in our project:1. 3 Transnational Partnership Meetings - TPMs (Brussels, Jesi and Athens)2. 2 Staff Capacity Building Sessions (in Italy and Greece)3. Development of the ABLE HANDBOOK (35 pages, available in 4 languages: EN, FR, IT, GR)4. Management and implementation of the project including: transnational secretary, evaluation & quality assessment (Report available in EN), dissemination and reporting (Reports available in EN).<< Results >>The concrete outputs and results of our project are:1. The Handbook ART THERAPY TO BOOST LEARNINGS & EMPOWER PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, a 35 pages document that brings together ready-to-use educational tools and resources for professionals. The Handbook is available in 4 languages: English, French, Italian and Greek.2. The evaluation & quality plan. A 8 pages document outlining the methodology and process of evaluation and quality assurance of the ABLE project.3. An evaluation report of the whole project. A 25 pages analysis of the results of the surveys carried out during the lifetime of the project as part of the ""Evaluation and Quality assurance"" activity..3. The dissemination plan. A 6 pages document outlining the dissemination plan and strategy.4. The dissemination report. A 18 pages document presenting an overview of the dissemination and communication activities carried out by the partners."