Adult caregivers in Palliative and Geriatric care, especially those who do not have access to adequate training and support networks from professionals, are exposed to psychological stress that puts their mental and physical health at risk.
The SPES4Caregivers project aims to provide skills to family and professional caregivers in Palliative and Geriatric care to prevent burnout and manage stress.
Furthermore, the project aims to enhance social inclusion by integrating less advantaged caregivers who lack financial and social resources.
Implementation
(source ΑΝΤ Fondazione: https://ant.it/ricerca/project-spes4caregiver/)
The project is divided into four work packages:
The aim of this work package is to identify the needs of the target population in each pilot context. Twenty carers (five per partner) will be interviewed, balancing the number of informal caregivers, professional caregivers and healthcare professionals who are members of Interdisciplinary Palliative Care teams.
After analysing the interviews with caregivers, the University of Padua designs role-playing scenarios based on the themes that emerged, to be used in the experiential phase of the course.
The clinical partners will create 15 open educational resources (OER) in the form of e-books, videos and audio tracks to supplement the training course and enable caregivers to easily access the content, even in an asynchronous individual training mode. This was done not only to provide caregivers with flexible training, but also to allow the training material to be shared with a wider audience.
The course will engage 80 caregivers and comprise three classroom-based modules, each consisting of both lectures and experiential phases:
– Module 1: recognition and awareness of burnout symptoms
– Module 2: using empathy to better recognise one’s own emotions and those of others
– Module 3: strategies for reducing stress and preventing burnout
A local micro-planning phase will aim to adapt the training course to the different contexts in which it will be implemented. The customisation of the modules may refer, for example, to the length of the course, the schedule, the type of activities and the delivery methods.
The activities included in this work package refer to the entire project and are divided into various phases:
Research design:
a) to evaluate the theoretical and empirical evidence in existing literature and formulate the research questions
b) to construct and share with partners a semi-structured narrative interview protocol for caregivers
c) to construct and develop an evaluation grid for the training course,
d) to share data collection techniques with partners.
Research implementation:
a) to collect data from partners,
b) to analyse data and share results with partners involved and a sample of research participants.
Research dissemination:
To disseminate research results to a wider audience so that as many people as possible can benefit from them.
Expected results include:
a) publication of scientific articles in leading journals in the field, participation in major European scientific conferences, and the co-organisation of an international conference/congress in collaboration with the partners
b) the creation of guidelines for burnout prevention and mental health promotion in collaboration with the clinical partners and external stakeholders to guide future interventions.
2 years (October 2025 – November 2027)
Erasmus+ Programme, for Call 2025 KA220-ADU – Cooperation partnerships in adult education
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
