VITALity for the Future aims to change the way vocational education in the health care sector regards personal well-being and positive health at a personal level, a professional level, from a teacher’s perspective and at a systemic level. In most European countries the population is ageing rapidly. There is unprecedented pressure on health services and community provision and on the supply of a well-qualified workforce. A paradigm shift from curative to preventative care is essential and this can only be achieved if healthcare staff have the knowledge to employ prevention skills, technology as part of care delivery, multidisciplinary working, and the skills to encourage and enable people to increasingly take control of their own care. The project will develop flexible learning materials to prepare new and present staff in the vitality sector for a new approach to healthy ageing, to be catalysts of change and to make working in this sector more attractive to young people. Through research in the 5 partner countries, learning materials will be developed based on the knowledge and competences this approach requires for young people in VET and staff in continuous training. The research and the learning materials will highlight best practice in positive health initiatives that are relevant to VET organisations. Four organisations in the VITALity partnership are VET providers in the vitality sector and deliver both initial and continuous VET courses. ROC Midden Nederland is a large provider of VET with 20000 students and 1700 employees offering over 300 different qualifications. BFI - Institute for vocational advancement is an Upper Austrian VET institution that is a market leader in re-entry into the job market and second chance education. AEVA is a large VET provider in Portugal, with a strong emphasis on work-based learning, offers a programme in Hygiene, Health, Safety and Security in the Workplace and Environment Care. SAMPO in Finland has a wide range of apprenticeship training programmes and qualifications in social services, health and sport, including a practical nurse programme. The partnership is also complemented by four specialist organisations. The Institute for Positive Health (iPH) in Utrecht is the driving force behind the Positive Health movement. The institute aims to stimulate, strengthen and accelerate the movement that has arisen around Positive Health. kent + mcgill is a consultancy that specialises in providing research, strategic development, quality management and evaluation expertise in the field of European further and higher education. Centrul Pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente (CPIP) is a Romanian NGO that works in the area of Lifelong Learning and is committed to mainstreaming the principle of equal opportunities. CPIP's main objective is to promote the lifelong learning through all relevant stakeholders. SRCV is the Romanian Society of Vascular Surgery, a professional organization that represents vascular surgeons as a professional body. The project is structured into 5 Intellectual Outputs. Following desk and field research, a research report detailing the state of play in positive health for VET and the skills needs for the future will be developed (IO1). This will lead to the project producing learning materials specifically for health sector students (IO2); modular materials for citizenship education (IO3); training workshop materials for the professional development of teachers(IO4); and examples of crossover profiles and initiatives(IO5). Learning materials will involve close collaboration with the world of work through the networks of local stakeholders and associate partner. These new learning materials on positive health, including one designed for citizenship education will be blended and flexible so that they can be implemented in different vocational education systems and working situations throughout the vitality sector. Short-term impact will be evidenced in partners’ VET programmes, on healthcare students and staff and through partner networks on local provision. Multiplier meetings in the mid-term will carry strong well-researched messages and tested materials to a wider regional audience. In the long term regional and national providers will have access to high quality learning materials they can adapt and update and influence vocational qualifications. The VITALity project will showcase its products at the Utrecht Health Hub’s Five Year Conference in 2022. In short, this project will prepare the present and future workforce in the vitality sector for a holistic approach to positive health and well-being; make young people in VET aware of the importance of positive health and their role in promoting its ideals and benefits; assist teachers in delivering a new positive health curriculum; and initiate future vitality developments in the VET health and social care sector.
The partnership wanted to create changes in how professionals in the vitality sector view prevention and positive health as well as with young people growing up to become vital citizens of the future. This was done through: - The development of curricula to prepare new and present staff in the vitality sector on vitality and positive health. - Helping young people in all vocational sectors become more aware of the benefits of vitality and Positive Health. By using the term Vitality sector the partnership also wanted to change the perception that health is only related to medical issues towards one with a much broader vision on Positive Health that include most aspects of life and personal well-being. This change needs to take place across the board not only in the health care sector but also in the minds of policy makers and the general public.
In most European countries the population is ageing rapidly. This puts a huge stress on health care systems that are already struggling with underfunding and staff shortages. In order to deal with these issues a fundamental rethink of how we view health and personal responsibility is required. This rethink needs to take place at an individual level as well as at a professional level in health care and other related sectors (vitality sector). The challenge is to understand the future competences required by employees in het vitality sector so that they may take into account the new driving forces such as a focus on Positive Health, Vitality and well-being. This means firstly that health care provision need to move rapidly from a curative approach to one that focuses on prevention. Secondly, this preventative provision should take a wider view and adopt a holistic approach. Making this shift would mean that many health care interventions could be avoided by individuals adopting a healthier lifestyle combined with and complemented by a supportive social environment. This is the case for older people but also for younger people. The project focuses on the agents of change in vocational education.