Empowerment of third sector care professionals for digital transformation

<< Background >>The project was requested to address digital transformation in the health and social care sector, with a particular focus on digital preparedness, resilience and capacity to face challenges, such as those imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability of organizations to adapt to mobility constraints and service delivery was put to the test, especially when serving vulnerable or disabled people.The process of adapting to these changes was especially challenging as there were no clear models or benchmarks. The disparity in the digital skills of professionals in the sector makes it difficult to offer homogeneous and high quality services.In this context, U-Digitalize was designed to support digital transformation in this sector through a solid analysis of experiences and case studies obtained from key informants. These references not only serve as models, but also help to overcome insecurities and sensitize organizations and professionals to the feasibility and opportunity offered by digitalization to ensure continuous and quality care for dependent persons.<< Objectives >>General Objective: To facilitate the integration of digital transformation in the health and social care sector, specifically in the care of people with functional diversity, empowering organizations and professionals to effectively adopt and take advantage of digital technologies in the processes of care and attention.Specific Objectives:1. Promote a Digital Culture, developing training programs that foster a positive attitude towards digital transformation.2. Incorporate New Work Models (virtualization, teleworking, telecare) to strengthen organizational capacity and resilience.3. Raise awareness among professionals about the importance of adapting to new environments.4. Breaking the Digital Divide with digital inclusion programs that overcome inequalities and facilitate the acquisition of digital skills.5. Create a Digitalization Model of care services adapted to people with functional diversity.6. Design a specific training itinerary for direct care professionals, covering digital literacy and softskills.7. Improve Digital Competence with continuous training in third sector organizations and among their professionals.<< Implementation >>1. Contractualization and Performance Protocol Agreements.2. Creation of the Steering Committee.3. Financial and Administrative Reports (6 months)4. Preparation of Collaboration and Communication Tools.5. Agreements with Associated Partners and Other Collaborators.6. Deployment of Sustainability Strategy to ensure the continuity of the project.7.Development of the Digitization Model: a) Research on Digitization Experiences (interviews and focus groups); b) Development of the DT Model for Organizations, translation and online publication; c) Validation with users; d) Analysis of results and improvements.8. Development of the Training Program: a) Design of the Training Itinerary based on DIGCOMP; b) Development of the contents, learning objects and resources for the training program; c) Translation into Partner Languages; d) Testing of the Training Program with Target Groups; e) Collection of feedback and drafting of the results report; f) Analysis and implementation of improvements.9. Transversal monitoring and evaluation activities, with periodic verification of the achievement of indicators.10. Deployment of the project's Dissemination and Communication Plan.<< Results >>R1- U-Digitalize Model for digitalizing of care services for people with functional diversityThe U-Digitalize Model seeks the specific objective of providing directly transferable references for digital transformation in the care of vulnerable groups, promoting the modernization and digital transformation of third sector organizations. It is structured in 6 chapters:- Implications of the digitization process. - Benefits and advantages of digitization. - Obstacles and barriers to digitalization and how to overcome them. - Recommendations for successful digital transformation. - Skills and competencies needed for successful implementation. - Assessment tools and procedures.R2 - U-Digitalize Training Program.The Training aims to help multidisciplinary professionals in the health and social care sector to improve their understanding of the benefits of the digitization of services, as well as to improve their skills to successfully transform their activities to digital environments.It is a modular structured around 2 main sections:1-How to digitalize your care activities.2 – Caring for yourself: overcoming obstacles for a healthy online activity.Both are available freely available online in EN, ES, DE, IT, RO and GR.