Upgrading VET education for a social caregiver with knowledge of social activities that strengthen the cognition of the elderly and empowering caregivers with knowledge of soft skills that improve communication skills and protect against burnout

<< Background >>Social careres are very often burnout and lack the knowledge about communication with elderly/people with dementia and cognitive training skills for elderly and people with dementia. We decided to prepare innovative educational program for NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) Social Caregiver which offers knowledge in the field of communication with elderly/people with dementia and cognitive training. Currently students of this program don´t receive such a knowledge. A social worker at home is an expert who offers the most direct andcomprehensive help to the elderly at home. Market needs: - The number of beneficiaries of home care is constantlyincreasing: in 2006 there were 5,328, and in 2019 already 8,339 (Source: Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Social Welfare). - The elderly want to stay in their home environment for as long as possible and go to a nursing home only in the period when they already need a lot of help/care - The global expert public is striving for a model of home care, as a model of the future in the care of the elderly (trends in the EU have been in favor of this for 20 years). << Objectives >>NVQ Social caregiver at home comprises 150 hours of education, half of which are practical lessons. In such a short time, certain important contents are not touched on in sufficient depth. - Social workers are often burnt out, as everyone takes care of more than 7 users (Source: Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Social Welfare). The aim of the project was to provide innovative knowledge to the pilot group of 25 educators and students of NVQ Social Care at Home, which: - protects them from burnout - helps them improve communication with the elderly - teaches them methods to strengthen the cognition of older people and improve social contacts with their families, as this is one of the basic tasks of social workers. These innovative contents were at the end put in certain extent into video content (provided in Slovene, English, Danish) which is being distributed: via webpage/platform of leading partner, current and past students of NVQ received videos via partner Social Chamber of Slovenia (newsletters, webpage news, magazine news), via newsletter and webpage news of partner Cene Štupar, in Denmark through: Brain+ app for treatment of mild to moderate dementia, through the municipality therapist newsletters, union website. << Implementation >>- Lecture and workshop 1 for pilot group 1 and 2 (students + educators): How to empower yourself to help others: Art workshop- Lecture and workshop 2 for pilot groups 1 and 2 (students + educators): How to empower yourself to help others: Mindfulness- Lecture and workshop 3 for pilot group 1 and 2 (students + educators): How I empower myself to be able to help others: Me with others- Lecture and workshop 4 for pilot group 1 and 2 (students + educators): How I empower myself to be able to help others: My sources of power- Lecture and workshop 5 for pilot groups 1 and 2 (educators + students): How to make good contact with users: soft skills training- Lecture and workshop 6 for pilot groups 1 and 2 (educators and students): Protective and risk factors for cognitive decline and usage of different activities for strengthening of cognition- Creating of video content through which educational content will be widely disseminated- Project preparation phase + Creating a pilot group of educators and students of NVQ Social care at home- Cooperation with Danish partner company Brain+- Management of the project by lead partner<< Results >>- our team gave lessons and workshops covering the topics of communication with elderly/people with dementia and cognitive training for elderly to 15 students of NVQ Social Caregiver in Slovenia and 10 professors of NVQ Social Caregivers as described into detail above.- we created videos for family members of people with dementia and professionals which are covering following contents:- 5 videos covering mental well-being of people with dementia: 1. How to start improving communication/conversations with a person with dementia2. People with dementia are capable of much more than you think – how to maximize their capabilities3. Recommended activities for people with dementia (part 1)4. Recommended activities for people with dementia (part 2)5. Improving the quality of life of a person with dementia depends on our approach- 6 videos covering Leisure activities suitable for people with dementia:1. Memory Training Playing Cards2. Memory Games3. Sorting Games4. Coloring & Easy Painting With Water5. Easy Board Games6. Puzzles- 7 videos covering Relaxation technique for people with dementia & for their caregivers: fractal drawing- 5 videos covering Physical well-being of people with dementia: Exercises in a chair