According to the WHO’s “Universal eye health: a global action plan 2014-2019”, globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. Population growth and ageing will increase the risk that more people acquire vision impairment. WHO ‘s “World report on vision” (2019) states that effective and feasible rehabilitation interventions are currently available but they need for qualified rehabilitation professionals applying new user-centred and trans-disciplinary approaches in their daily practice. Currently the qualification of Visual Disabilities Rehabilitator (VDR) is not well-formalized, neither at national level (in National Qualification Frameworks) nor at EU level, since ESCO classification doesn’t refer to them. Worldwide, With the exception of few initiatives in USA and UK, the professional training of new specialist skills in the area of visual rehabilitation is left to the sporadic, isolated and self-referential initiatives of centres and associations; this fragmented approach affects the quality of the training and the recognition of a qualification. The main SCOPE of oMERO project is to overcome the identified mismatch between the skills currently offered by VDRs curricula and those actually demanded by healthcare institutions, private service providers and final end users. To this end the project will pursue the following objectives: 1. to define a PROFESSIONAL PROFILE FOR VDRs, which can play a reference role at EU level for the formalization and the certification of the VDR qualification in order to motivate students to take up this career; it will be based on an accurate contextual and market analysis and on a Delphy study involving international experts. 2. to define an EU REFERENCE CURRICULUM FOR VDR, general and “across-the-board”, but modular and flexible in order to be adaptable to any country and HEI; the Curriculum will meet the learning needs of students and the skills demand of labour market and will implement the trans-disciplinary approach, a strong WORK-BASED LEARNING COMPONENT and INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES; being LEARNING OUTCOME-ORIENTED” and compliant with the main EU standard and tools for VET in HE, it will support transparency and international mobility, as well as formal and informal competences recognition and validation. 3. To up-skill and re-skill academics with new competences related to the design and delivery of the innovative VDR curriculum In order to support the proper use and contextualization of the Curriculum, specific Guides targeting Higher Education Designers and Teachers will be delivered, including detailed lesson plans. A virtual reality simulator for learning by experiencing visual disabilities in real time (REALTER) will be delivered, too. The Strategic Partnership is made by 8 full-partners from 5 EU Countries (Italy, Sweden, France, Lithuania and Ireland) and one International Associated Partner (ICEVI). 5 Higher Education Institutions with high skills in the sector, joined the partnership. 4 of them committed to implement HE courses based on oMERO Curriculum after the end of the project. To support this initiatives, the project will also deliver the program design and the learning materials for these courses, which will be made available at the end of the project for free use. Future teachers of these courses will be involved in a 5-DAYS SHORT-TERM JOINT STAFF TRAINING EVENT which will take place in Italy; it will be aimed to improve their skills and performance concerning the approach of the new Curriculum and innovative teaching methods and techniques; these skills could be transferred to other context and to other colleagues through best practices sharing. Coordinated by the David Chiossone Institute, a Service Provider representing the market demand with an high experience in VDR training, the partnership will persist even after the end of the project, strengthening the collaboration between higher education, research and business. The main target users of the project will be HE INSTITUTIONS, STUDENTS and TEACHERS. HE INSTITUTIONS will widen their educational offer with a relevant study program that allow students to acquire the breadth and depth of skills they need. HE DESIGNERS AND TEACHERS will improve their performances, in line with the renewed Agenda for Higher Education. Thanks to oMERO project, HE STUDENTS will be able to attend well-designed higher education curricula, centered on their learning needs and awarding a certification for a well-defined occupation, being relevant for the labour market. HEIs participating in the project will profit from the project impact since they will be able to implement new he courses based on oMERO curriculum, relying on project results.
oMERO aimed to overcome the mismatch between the skills currently offered by VDRs curricula and those actually demanded by healthcare institutions, private service providers and final end users. oMERO will pursued the following OBJECTIVES: 1. to define a Professional Profile for VDRs, based on IPCEC approach, which will play a reference role at EU level for the formalization and the certification of the VDR qualification . 2. to define an EU reference Curriculum for VDR, general and “across-the-board”, but modular and flexible in order to be adaptable to any country and HEI; the Curriculum: 2a. will meet the learning needs of students and the skills demand of labour market, based on the VDR Professional Profile; 2b. will implement the trans-disciplinary approach required by IPCEC, a strong WORK-BASED LEARNING COMPONENT and INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES; 2c. being LEARNING OUTCOME-ORIENTED” and compliant with the main EU standard and tools for VET in HE. 3. To up-skill and re-skill academics with new competences related to the design and delivery of the VDR curriculum
WHO ‘s “World report on vision” (2019) states that effective and feasible rehabilitation interventions are currently available for the entire range of needs associated with eye conditions and vision impairment across the life course; but these interventions needed to be configured in a new approach, the INTEGRATED PEOPLE-CENTRED EYE CARE (IPCEC), which puts the comprehensive needs of people and communities, not only diseases, at the centre of healthcare, and push to empower people to have a more active role in their own health. In addition, visual disabilities often occur in people with multiple disabilities; their management requires professionals who integrate the skills of the health-rehabilitation area with new key-competences related to: - the use and the teaching of new technological devices and electronic aids; - users’ empowerment through the enhancement of orientation, independent mobility, daily-life skills, etc. - the planning and the implementation of user-centred interventions, based on the actual needs of blind people and visually impaired persons In this context oMERO project aimed at tackling the skill gap in the field of Visual Disabilities Rehabilitation.