1. THE SUDDEN SHIFT TO ONLINE LEARNING, WHICH REQUIRES MORE SPECIALISED DIGITAL SKILLS for our trainers
   The COVID-19 crisis has greatly accelerated the need for upgrading and digital transformation of education & training systems across Europe. For example, in RO all European projects financed by POCU program (co-financed by ESF) which all include specific VET/learning opportunities for different target groups had two alternatives starting with March 2020: either to switch the learning schemes to online (being the FIRST year when online learning was recognized by ANC as formal qualification-only for more theoretical parts of the trainings) or to suspend the activities on unlimited time. Than, all the organizations were encouraged to upgrade their training skills to maintain the learning process at a satisfactory level and to maintain the learners’ attention, especially through online instruments. By A.2.1, A5.1, A5.2 our project aims at equipping training systems from partners’ organizations in Ro, BG, SP, IT to face the challenges presented by the recent sudden shift to online and distance learning, including supporting our trainers and researchers in VET field to develop digital competences and safeguarding the inclusive nature of learning opportunities.

2. THE POOR TRAINING OFFER FOR THIS TOPIC IN THE 4 COUNTRIES
   In RO and BG there are not available on the market scientific/documented courses for instructors in physical education of elders, creating a new content will be a value-added action for training systems in all 4 countries. In RO the SO for aerobic&fitness instructor is very general and it stipulates the need for low impact aerobic for seniors, but only in a general manner. In the pandemic context some of the most affected sectors were the training sector and the social care sector which proved extremely vulnerable even in very developed countries. The people working in social care who want to upgrade their skills do not have in all mentioned countries a large palette/offer to choose from. We will easily find training providers in ITC, in engineering, in financial services, but in the field of social services, which is poorly represented in countries such as RO or BG, we find only classic approach of the caregiver profession. Especially if we are talking about specialization and not the initial qualification. And if we really are looking for a specialized training kit/open course/online course in physical education of elders we will find within some training materials only content that will cover only few hours of training (e.g ACRA case) or materials in Eng.
   The learners working in social care will gain the tools to better respond to growing demand for services dedicated to active ageing. One of the functionalities envisaged by this course (instructor of physical education of elders) will be a necessity not just a new trend, once the day centers and the gym dedicated to elders became more important in prolong the active lives of seniors.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

O1: increasing the extent of use of digital tools in learning process for 5 organisations in social care&kinetoprophylaxy in 4 countries-RO, BG, It, Spain by supporting 13 of its trainers & researchers in VET to develop digital competences and safeguarding the inclusive nature of learning.

  RESULTS:

• 13 of our partners organisations’ trainers & researchers in VET will increase their digital skills, technologies, innovative and open pedagogies in training after participating in 5 days intensive joint training in Italy (LMS for learning, Zoom, Big Blue Button, augmented reality for digital learning, to synchrony digital learning systems for online training);
• our training platform adapted in the project (being also a direct result of the fact that our experts will improve digital skills) will become an attractive tool for>300 trainees from 5 countries during project.

O2: increasing the knowledge of 13 trainers in the elderly care or kinetoprophylaxy from the 4 countries, on active ageing and concrete techniques of wellness improvement of elders by using know-how infusion from both sectors.

  RESULTS:

• 13 trainers in the elderly care or kinetoprophylaxy from the 5 organisations will increase their know-how on the subject of active ageing and wellness improvement of elders by using know-how infusion from both sectors (during A2.2 they will learn from a multidisciplinary team of affiliates of ACRA on gamification of learning, socio-educational intervention in home care for elderly, relaxation&breathing techniques, mindfulness);
• Part of the 13 trainers will be involved in creating the training kit, then our joint team will be prepared to adapt exercises to the physical status of the elders, creating sets of exercises to specific targets-autonomous or semi-autonomous elders, use physical exercise to alleviate certain deficiencies/health problems.

O3: to increase the skills in elderly care and kineto-prophylaxis for 34 trainees & practitioners from 5 partner organizations under a scientific and cross-sector approach.

  RESULTS:

34 trainees & practitioners from our 5 partner organizations involved in kinetoprophylaxy & social care will upgrade their skills by 3 practice mobilities of 6 working days, organized in Ro, BG and Italy, under a scientific and cross-sector approach.

O4: to increase the degree of attractivity of training tools used by training providers in elderly care sector from RO/BG/SP/IT by creation of a cross-sectoral training kit&1 updated platform allowing to learners to specialize and to better work to any of these countries on the topic of wellbeing and improving physical status of the elders.

  RESULTS:

1 cross-sectoral digital training kit created withing the project+1eTraining platform - allowing to learners to specialize, to better work to any of the 5 countries on the topic of wellbeing and improving physical status of the elders they care; the kit will be useful to many qualifications and specialization available on NQF2.

1. The subjects approached in the joint staff training event in Naples during the 3rd month of implementation: Augmented reality for digital learning, synchrony digital learning systems -Zoom or Big Blu Button integrated in LMS’s;

2. The cross-sectoral dimension of the training kit that will combine concepts and practices from elderly care & social services (innovative exercises, energizers, ice-breakers, Occupational Therapy for elders), physical education-especially kineto-prophylaxis (low impact aerobics, Pilates, yoga, functional training), psychology (motivation of elders to change habits and to take action);

3. The training kit may be used for 2 main sectors which are similar conceived in mentioned countries: 1) social services providers: socio-educational animation technician/ socio-educational animator or elderly caregivers and 2) for sector dedicated to physical education or kineto-prophylaxis: aerobic and/or fitness instructors for elders, physic therapist;

4. In Romania and Bulgaria we didn’t find suppliers of training treating the physical education of elders (especially of prophylaxis means) under scientific approach; this training kit it will be a novelty for CVT in these countries (the joint team found few suppliers in Italy but only in Italian language and few suppliers in Spain – with the same barrier of language); the best practices from It and SP will also be available for RO&SP and the cross-sector training kit will be translated in 4 languages;

5. A4.3-Testing new training kit to be adapted to the trainees and elders' needs it includes an innovative methodology: specialists from Global Help, UCV and ACRA will test the practical parts of the training kit, by delivering short training sessions of the spot, on the location of their affiliates/stakeholders: gyms for seniors, day centers for elders (like role models from BCN, Bucharest, Satu-Mare), residencies (Valcea). By this, the content and format may be adjusted and validated until the publishing.

This project is complementary to a previous project that 3 of the partners have already carried out, more exactly STRACOVStrategic cooperation in the field of elderly care vocational training, focusing on involvement of socio-economic actors, financed under E+ KA2, Strategic partnerships in VET, https://www.stracov-elderlycare.eu/ The digital training guide created within this project will upload on the mentioned learning platform and would be a great follow up of our previous initiative. Also, the training kit will be digitalized and will be transformed into multimedia content with the help of Euroform experts, resulting an online dynamic course. The trainee will discover many innovative ways to understand the concepts, to perform the exercises on music, to learn by doing, he/she will have to opportunity to contact the researchers in the project to ask any supplementary information on the studied topic and to get their answer in video format.

The past project created 3 common outputs: 1 complete curricula, 1 e-book with ISBN for professional care of the elderly, mixing know-how, experiences, best practices in 4 countries and 1 online platform - a collaborative space where partners’ staff created content, exchange ideas, organize webinars for other practitioners/trainees in the field and where the training curricula was uploaded in 5 languages-en, ro, bg, sp, it. The present project starts from 2 of the units of competences from the previous curricula, where the subject of physical activities was approached in an integrative manner and at a nonspecialized level, only by proposing and leading social games or icebreakers or easy exercises, which does not require any specialized skills. This new project continues the topic of the previous project (elderly care), isolate a narrow subject and give it a new dimension at a specialized level, enabling workers in social care to adapt to elders status (autonomous elders from day centers or semi-autonomous from residencies).

The project creates a synergy between field of education (CVT) in social care and physical education dedicated to elders (mainly known as kineto-prophylaxis). The second nominated field is very new and it is still underdeveloped in terms of learning tools in countries like Romania and Bulgaria and it is partially covered in Italy and Spain – countries which dedicate more focus on novelty of social care services and also to active ageing. The training kit may be used for two main training sectors which are similar conceived in all mentioned countries: 1) social services providers (in Italy for the qualification of socio-educational animation technician or elderly caregivers that may work in in semi-residential and residential structures or health services/physical training, in Spain for caregivers of dependent people with semi-autonomy from residencies of for home caregivers-elders’ assistants, in Bulgaria and Romania for elderly caregiver in the comfort of their home code NQF 5133.1.2 and also for socio-educational animator- in RO-cod COR 516907, cod NQF 5169.3.1 for sector dedicated to physical education or kineto-prophylaxis 2) in Italy-for certified courses for fitness instructors for elders, not for performance aim but for health and physical status maintenance- Diploma of Fitness Instructor for Senior recognized nationally by ASI (Italian Sports and Social Associations) and CONI and internationally by EFA (European Fitness Association), in Romania for instructor of aerobic-fitness who may also work with groups of elders, as it is stipulated under of Occupational Standard of this course, code Nomenclator of Qualifications- 3475.2.1.

• the diversity of resources+competencies the partners could share, to get complete digital training kit and user friendly and open online learning;

• e.g, in Romania even we have a general Occupational Standard which guides the specialization of an instructor of aerobic and fitness including for elders, the content of the curricula and the number of training kits/number of training providers are not available at the country level (not the general instructor, for elders specifically); in Italy instead Instructor for aerobic & fitness for elders Diploma is recognized under NQF and also by CONI and is legally valid throughout the national territory. These courses are already available on the market and the content is adapted elders specific as final beneficiaries of the caring services. Our Italian partner already searched for some training suppliers, and it synthetized the content for us, for guidelines in our work: Physiology in old age: main characteristics of the musculoskeletal, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems; Physiological changes in ageing; Limits and possibilities of a gymnastic intervention; Motor activity in the presence of the most frequent pathologies in the elders; How to manage group and individual training; Training planning&techniques for: joint mobility, muscle toning, cardio fitness, proprioceptive sensitivity; The proposal of a playful activity; How to relate to the elders; Analysis of the needs and expectations of the elderly user;

• the need for standardization and clear guidelines of learning associated with new professions in social services - one of the sectors with the highest occupational mobility in EU;

• the elderly care services represent a type of services growing all over EU because of the demographic trend of aging of the population, new specializations are needed;

• RO&BG have lower quality in social services so it would be relevant to practitioners in this field to learn from their counterparts- the 3 mobilities for trainees.