In France, according to the INSEE, the number of people over 60 will increase by more than 10.4 million between 2007 and 2060. It is estimated that 6-7% of people over 60 lose their autonomy. Furthermore, the life expectancy of people with disabilities tends to get closer to the one of the general population.This French demographic study is totally transposable in the countries of the other partners, the consequences of aging are identical in each of the partner countries.This shows that the increase in the elderly population and in the population with disabilities will cause problems in terms of hosting institutions. The objective of the ALTERNATIVE project is to develop the skills of caregivers and foster families and to professionalize them. Today caregivers and foster families are not or poorly trained in our four countries. In Belgium as in Italy there is no real existing training for them. In Spain this hosting possibility hardly exists. So this project aims at building for caregivers and foster family persons a qualifying initial training, which could become certifying with the standards of a state diploma.Now, an elderly person or a person with disabilities living in his own family or in a family paid for this is the hosting modality in which abuse or mistreatment is the most frequent (source ALMA association against the abuse of older persons).The lack of a real training and therefore of a good knowledge of the origins of handicap and of which postures to adopt, can only generate fear, misunderstanding, and then mistreatment; and sometimes, too often, violence.In all cases, there is pain, both for those who are welcomed and for the caregivers and foster families. ADES, AVIA, SUSA and ALTÉA are training centers; ADES and AVIQ have particularly strong expertise in the field of training engineering in many trades related to social work. CEIS will be an important contributor especially in the experimental phase, given the originality of their work.AVIQ, ALTÉA and CEIS are field organisations, already working in the support and accompaniment of the elderly and / or disabled. CEDIS and KOINE also have contacts with caregivers and foster family persons and will also mobilize to constitute the committees of valorisation and for the experimentation of the training.Concerning the "final" beneficiaries of our project, all partners except ADES have links or services dedicated to elderly or disabled people.Finally, CEDIS and ADES in France, AVIQ in Belgium, CEIS in Italy and ALTEA EUROPE in Spain have links with the public authorities in charge of health and social policies, which are organisations that certify foster families in France and in Italy - in Belgium, the AVIQ has this role.The project's operational objectives are to:- Enable caregivers and foster family persons to acquire detailed knowledge of the different types of disabilities and age-related diseases.- To develop professional practices that ensure the well-being and respect for the people accompanied.- To develop the skills of caregivers and foster family persons so as to improve their employability.- To professionalize the function of foster family.We will develop a training course consisting in :- A professional portfolio;- A competency framework;- A training framework.This training will be experimented by a test group composed of caregivers and foster family persons, and will cover 30% of the overall volume of the training, which covers 240h.The valorisation of our project will be led by national committees of valorisation, that will bring together the partners of the concerned, caregivers and foster family persons, as well as organizations and stakeholders to foster care. At the end of 2018, small seminars will be organized in each country to disseminate the final results of ALTERNATIVE.
In general, in all the countries participating in the ALTERNATIVE project, namely BELGIUM, SPAIN, ITALY and FRANCE, the population over 60 will increase significantly by 2060. The increase in the aging population will inevitably create problems because it will be accompanied by an increase in the population of persons with disabilities. Hosting facilities are already not sufficient, so it is important to encourage the development of alternative support means, particularly foster care and family care. The function of foster family is really developed in France, where they are employed by the elderly and / or disabled. But even in this country, it is only recently (April 2017) that they are under the obligation of receiving an initial training defined by a decree that sets its content and modalities. Concerning family carers, which is found in each of the project countries, and which is the most widespread function, the existing training courses which are given at the initiative of some associations are only very rarely followed. Indeed, carers have difficulties to be available but also do not perceive the need to follow these courses. At the same time, mistreatment among older people and / or people with disabilities is becoming more common and is generally done by relatives, including caregivers and family carers. This comes in particular from the fact that they are not or poorly trained in the care of people with disabilities and / or aging. This can lead to very difficult situations, amplified by a context of strong isolation. The lack of a real training and therefore a detailed knowledge of the origin of disabilities and postures to adopt, can only generate fear, misunderstanding, therefore abuse and sometimes, all too often, violence. In all cases, there is suffering for both the people we welcome and the carers. This is why the ALTERNATIVE project has the following general objectives: - to enable caregivers and family carers to acquire a detailed knowledge of the different types of disability and pathologies related to aging. - to develop professional practices guaranteeing the well-being and respect of the accompanied persons. - to develop the skills of carers and hospices in order to improve their employability. - to professionalize the function of foster carers. The project has 2 Belgian partners, AViQ and SUSA, 2 Italian partners, CEIS and KOINÉ, 1 Spanish partner, FSyC, and 2 French partners, CEDIS and ADES. ADES, AViQ, SUSA and FSyC deliver training. ADES and AVIQ have in particular strong expertise in the field of engineering training in many professions related to social work. AViQ, FSyC and CEIS are field organizations that are already working on supporting elderly and / or disabled people. To this must be added CEDIS and KOINE, who have contacts with caregivers and family carers in various capacities, and were able to mobilize them to form valorization committees and to experiment with trainings. At the end of the project in October 2018, ALTERNATIVE's partners achieved all the operational objectives they had set - to develop a training path consisting of: - a professional reference system; - a reference system of skills; - a training repository. This training was the subject of an experiment conducted in each country with a test group made up of family carers and caregivers, and covered more than 30% of the total volume of the targeted training, which is 240 hours. The valorization of our project was based on national valorization committees, bringing together the partners of the country concerned, carers and family-friendly, as well as partner organizations and stakeholders of the family welcome. At the end of 2018, small seminars were organized in each country to disseminate the final results of ALTERNATIVE.