The InterAct project collects experiences from refugee centres in different European countries and creates transfer of these experiences to regular psychosocial support practice, to education and to research. It promotes interdisciplinary cooperation in psychosocial interventions. Worldwide migration movements have been challenging Europe to deal with social development in a sustainable way. Since 2015, in response of the sudden increase of numbers of refugees arriving in Europe, various psychosocial support projects have been developed at many places in various countries, involving practitioners from different disciplines: social work, psychology, occupational therapy, medicine, physical therapy and other health professionals. Due to the complexity of practice and accompanying research a multi-perspective approach and thematic exchange between disciplines in education and training, in research and in practice is needed. The three main objectives of the Interact project are (1) to transfer results and experiences gained from refugee projects in different European countries to regular psychosocial support practice, teaching and research, (2) to foster interdisciplinary cooperation in teaching, psychosocial practice and research, and (3) to create international cooperation and exchange of experience. Interact will develop - a collection of learning and teaching materials describing the experiences from interdisciplinary psychosocial support practice for refugees in different European countries, - a cultural style guide including a systematic for individual and professional roles and attitudes, reflections of cultural backgrounds, norms and values, - a digital learning environment supporting the flexible implementation of blended learning scenarios in related higher education courses with support of an Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS), - a curriculum for an interdisciplinary teaching module “psychosocial interventions” integrating learning needs of different disciplines and educational systems, - a guide for interdisciplinary practice in psychosocial support programmes - an international review of research results related to interdisciplinary education and practice - evidence-based policy recommendations, and - a sustainable multidisciplinary and intersectoral partnership between higher education institutions, organisations from practice, and regional, national and European networks. Additionally, the project will carry out two Learning/Teaching-activities in Berlin and Athens bringing together, project partners, teachers, students, practitioners, and refugees. During five multiplier events in four different countries, the main products will be disseminated towards actors on regional, national and international level. The InterAct project is aa cooperation of four HEI institutions (IB Hochschule in Germany, National University of Athens in Greece, Universitat de Vic in Spain and Karolinska Institute in Sweden). It actively involves teachers, researchers and students in related higher education subjects, practitioners active in psychosocial interventions, policy and decision makers on regional, national and EU level and clients of psychosocial interventions, including refugees. It implements an interdisciplinary, intersectoral and multiperspective approach using innovative ICT to enable blended and flexible learning, teaching and training pathways. The project identifies and addresses success factors of interdisciplinary cooperation by combining teaching and training models, experiences from practice and corresponding research evidence. It provides evidence and good practice for actors in higher education, practice and policy making and supports all actors in promoting innovation in relation to education, training and care delivery systems.
The Erasmus+ project InterAct – Interdisciplinary Cooperation in Psychosocial Interventions is based upon experiences gained in working with refugees across different disciplines such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, education and psychology. The project involved partners from Sweden, Greece, Finland, Spain and Germany. During the two-year project, experiences have been collected and reflected upon together with refugees, volunteers, practitioners, students and teaching colleagues from different health care and social disciplines in higher education. Various psychosocial support projects have been developed in response to the sudden increase of refugees arriving in Europe since 2015. Such projects occur in many places in various countries, involving practitioners from different disciplines. The migration policies that regulate the everyday practices of refugees and people engaged in the field of psychosocial support for refugees are complex. Due to this complexity, an interdisciplinary perspective to orient practices was needed. The three main objectives of the Interact project were (1) to transfer results and experiences gained from refugee projects in different European countries to regular psychosocial support practice, teaching and research, (2) to foster interdisciplinary cooperation in teaching, psychosocial practice and research, and (3) to create international cooperation and exchange of experience. InterAct developed: - a collection of online learning and teaching materials describing the experiences from interdisciplinary psychosocial support practice for refugees in different European countries, - a cultural style guide including a systematic for individual and professional roles and attitudes, reflections of cultural backgrounds, norms and values, - a digital learning environment supporting the flexible implementation of blended learning scenarios in related higher education courses with support of an Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS), - an educational toolbox for an interdisciplinary teaching course “interdisciplinary psychosocial support” integrating learning needs of different disciplines and educational systems, - a handbook for interdisciplinary practice in psychosocial support programmes, - an international review of research results related to interdisciplinary education and practice in the case of refugees, - needs-based policy recommendations, and - a sustainable multidisciplinary and intersectoral partnership between higher education institutions, organisations from practice as well as regional, national and European networks. Additionally, the project carried out two learning/teaching-activities in Berlin and Athens bringing together project partners, teachers, students, practitioners, and refugees. During five online multiplier events in four different countries, the main products have been disseminated towards actors on the regional, national and international level. The InterAct project was a cooperation of four HEI institutions (IB University of Applied Health and Social Sciences in Germany, National University of Athens in Greece, Universitat de Vic in Spain and Karolinska Institute in Sweden). It actively involved teachers, researchers and students in related higher education subjects, practitioners active in psychosocial interventions, policy and decision makers on regional, national and European level, clients of psychosocial interventions and refugees. InterAct implemented an interdisciplinary, intersectoral and multiperspective approach using innovative ICT to enable blended and flexible learning, teaching and training pathways. The project identified and addressed success factors of interdisciplinary cooperation by combining teaching and training models, experiences from practice and corresponding research evidence. The project results provide evidence and good practice for actors in higher education, practice and policy making and support all actors in promoting innovation in relation to education, training and care delivery systems. Learning and teaching materials were created describing the experiences of interdisciplinary psychosocial support for refugees in different European countries. These materials are based upon two learning-teaching events in Berlin and Athens from which InterAct developed an online educational toolbox. Furthermore, relevant health and social professions were consulted as experts for their perspectives from the field of forced migration. Policy recommendations for health and education policy in Europe as well as a handbook for practitioners were developed from this work. More importantly, refugees were considered experts in their everyday life and experiences, and therefore their input influenced all intellectual outputs.The joint analysis of experiences demonstrates an urgent need for psychosocial support for refugees. It also reveals potential implications for education systems, practice and policy makers.