ABI (Acquired Brain Injury) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide; it has been reported that over 10 million people suffer from an ABI yearly across the globe. The global average is the 9% of the total population. ABI severely affects psychomotor, perception and cognitive skills for those persons living with it, impairing their quotidian activities and daily lives. Nowadays, ABI treatment does not follow a predefined protocol: therapists design a custom pathway, individualizing all processes in a multidisciplinary and patient-focused approach attending to their own impairments (muscle control, movement patterns, functional limitations or memory loss). So, formal caregivers need to know to design personalized care services: it implies a permanent life-long education for providing high-quality care services. Informal caregivers might also experience barriers and lack of knowledge with this regard. Currently, partners have detected a lack of training activities, and tools at EU level addressed to formal caregivers, specifically for ABI patients. The TOOLS4BRAIN will provide and implement a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) based on an e-Health and a new validated and evidence-based methodology translated into a practical guideline for training ABI formal caregiver. The proposed method is suitable to be adapted to several ABI patients because the App will be based on a complex algorithm and on a strong decision analysis model which will be able to provide formal caregiver with training path specifically designed and adapted for each level of brain injury disability. Thus, TOOLS4BRAIN provides an innovative and high quality learning tool able to improve and extend the capacities of ABI formal caregivers in providing high quality and personalized services to their patients. Partnership has been set considering the main scope of the project and in order to ensure a strong consortium with complementary skills and expertise in providing health care and training services related to the care of brain injured patients: The Nisa Hospitals Neurorehabilitation Unit (NeuroRHB) cares for and treats patients who have suffered brain injuries or other neurological disorders. The aim of the NeuroRHB is to provide specialized, tailored, and cross-disciplinary neurological rehabilitation that combines close personal treatment with the latest scientific and technological developments FEDACE performs activities of representation and promotion to facilitate and increase the inclusion of people with ABI, and the attention for their families giving support and rehabilitation programs and to fostering public interventions. In 1991, FEDACE together with other international ABI Associations is one of the founders members of the Brain Injured and Families – European Confederation (BIF): a non-governmental organisation aimed at raising awareness of brain injury by creating a common European platform through co-ordination and co-operation between national associations of people with brain injury and their families. NOVAMENTE is a non-profit association that aims to support survivors of ABI and their caregivers. The association has a strong expertise in organising workshop addressed to ABI families, professional and public body and in sharing and providing support and information for ABI family members. Moreover, the association works as link between ABI families and the national public institutions. The association is member of the Brain Injured and Families – European Confederation (BIF). BUYUK works closely with several medical centres, hospitals and clinics offering courses and training for several professional and workers. It aims to provides all kinds of tools and equipment required by modern medicine sharing them among society, to construct and establish all kinds of health facilities, to educate and make researches in order to raise public awareness, to organize symposiums, panels and scientific meetings, to support domestic and international scientific, educational and research projects, to support researchers and specialists in the field of health.
ABI (Acquired Brain Injury) and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. It has been reported that over 10 million people suffer from an ABI yearly across the globe. The global average is the 9% of the total population (Majdan et al, 2016).Nowadays, ABI treatment does not follow a predefined protocol: therapists design a custom pathway, individualizing all processes in a multidisciplinary and patient-focused approach attending to their own impairments (muscle control, movement patterns, functional limitations or memory loss). So, formal caregivers need to know to design personalized care services. It implies a permanent life-long learning for providing high-quality care services. Informal caregivers might also experience barriers and lack of knowledge with this regard. Partners detected a lack of training activities, and tools at EU level addressed to formal caregivers, specifically for ABI patients. For that reason, partners submitted the TOOLS4BRAIN project in order to support the life-long learning of formal caregives and, consequently, contribute to increase the quality of life of ABI patients and their families. The TOOLS4BRAIN has developed two Intellectual Outputs: - IO1 is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the form of an e-Health App that provides a new validated and evidence-based methodology translated into a practical guideline for training ABI formal caregivers, suitable to be adapted to several ABI patients because the App is based on a complex algorithm and on a strong decision analysis model able to provide formal caregiver with training path specifically designed and adapted for each level of brain injury disability. This App is accompanied by a Booklet aimed at avoiding the digital gap and enhancing accessibility for any caregiver. - IO2 are Policy Recommendations adapted to the characteristics of the countries involved to provide guidance on relevant health policy matters in the field of Brain Injury. Thus, TOOLS4BRAIN provides an innovative and high quality learning tool able to improve and extend the capacities of ABI formal caregivers in providing high quality and personalized services to their patients. Partnership was set considering the main scope of the project and the complementary skills and expertise needed to deliver the project outputs: - The Nisa Hospitals Neurorehabilitation Unit (NeuroRHB) cares for and treats patients who have suffered brain injuries or other neurological disorders. NEURORHB was Project Coordinator and Financial Manager - FEDACE performs activities of representation and promotion to facilitate and increase the inclusion of people with ABI, and the attention for their families giving support and rehabilitation programs and to fostering public interventions, founder of the Brain Injured and Families – European Confederation (BIF). As Dissemination & Sustainability Manager established and developed a Dissemination and Sustainability strategy. - NOVAMENTE is a non-profit association that aims to support survivors of ABI and their caregivers with a strong expertise in organising workshop addressed to ABI families, professional and public body and in sharing and providing support and information for ABI relatives, being also a member of BIF. NOVAMENTE was designed as Quality and Ethics Manager. - BOSEV works closely with several medical centres, hospitals and clinics offering courses and training for several professional and workers, providing all kinds of tools and equipment required by modern medicine sharing them among society, to construct and establish all kinds of health facilities. As a technical Manager coordinated technical activities, ensuring its correctness, efficiency and implementing measures when required for minimising risks and deviations. TOOLS4BRAIN implementation involved the participation of end-users and stakeholders during the development of the outputs, through workshops attended by 30 people to gather their feedback on the tools provided in a user-centered approach; 12 interviews with different stakeholders (health professionals, ABI patients and relatives and policy makers) to collect information and requirements on health services; and 4 Multiplier Events attended by a total of 200 people including formal and informal caregivers, associations of ABI patients and their relatives and policy makers to disseminate the project results. In addition, the project results will remain available at NEURORHB website to increase the outreach after its completion. References: Marek Majdan, Dominika Plancikova, Alexandra Brazinova, Martin Rusnak, Daan Nieboer, Valery Feigin, Andrew Maas, “Epidemiology of traumatic brain injuries in Europe: a cross-sectional analysis”. The Lancet Public Health, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(16)30017-2.