Context: The Covid-19 crisis has changed the way we live, especially for those already marginalised by disability, ill-health & social exclusion. It has accentuated isolation & inequality and has resulted in compounding mental health issues & loneliness. It has also shown that the Care Sector must find ways to adapt to keep its clients active, safe & protected. The value of Care Workers has finally been recognised. The crisis has also accentuated skills gaps. The Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated the need to use digital skills in many aspects of people's daily lives, especially to communicate when physical visiting is not possible. People with severe disabilities & others in closed communities have no other way of keeping in touch with their families and support circles. Many do not have the capacity to use digital tools themselves and rely on residential staff to enable virtual contact. Many staff do not have the skills to perform the most basic digital tasks and are consequently frustrated by their own inability to ease the suffering of their clients. The limitations of our current digital preparedness have been revealed. Currently, at least 85% of jobs require some level of digital ability, while only 56% of adults had at least basic digital skills in 2019. In the Care Sector this is much higher. This project is led by Diagrama Foundation UK and brings together partners from Belgium, France, Spain & Italy. The partners create a new training course for workers in the Social Care Sector 'Digital Facilitator of Change' and a Digital Inclusion Toolkit. The Transnational Steering Group meets at regularly & there are 4 mini-seminars. Local Focus groups drive the project at local level. Objectives: 1. Create a new professional profile for workers in the Social Care Sector by creating a new needs-driven vocational training course 2. Overcome social exclusion & isolation by opening digital communication pathways 3. Influence public perception of Diversity as part of life in all life contexts 4. Foster “Professional Identity” for people with disabilities/other excluded groups, celebrating 'ability' and using cornerstones of Empowerment, Real Work & Quality 5. Build & mainstream a Digital inclusion Toolkit with potential to transfer to other sectors Methodology: Learner Participants are Social Care Workers, working directly with highly disadvantaged client groups, are trained to become Digital Facilitators of Change. After initial local digital preparedness sessions participants undergo specialist transnational training modules in Belgium to cultivate deeper digital knowledge and also studies ways in which the public's perception must be changed to endorse clients' "ability" rather than recognise disability using Professional Identity. At Salerno University further digital knowledge is built and the course promotes the inclusive improvement of people with disabilities in working contexts in particular addressing disability in the context of diversity. Training is concluded in the UK by pooling innovation and participative learning creates the Digital Facilitator Toolkit. The partners pilot the concept of "Micro-credentials" (New EU Skills Agenda) issuing units for each module of training completed, led by University of Salerno. Learner Participants use their learning to facilitate digital communication channels for clients and their family networks & support circles. Working alongside occupational tutors they also promote clients' work and employment opportunities through highlighting creativity and artistic talents. This includes virtual tutor sessions and online workshops with the public invited to interact or observe. Digital tools provide virtual shops, marketing products created by talented crafts-people further aiding clients' professional recognition & pathways to work. Impact includes Social Inclusion - new digital tools for promoting communication & well-being & access to work. Results include: 1 new training course, 'Digital Facilitator of Change' piloting 3 Micro-credential units preparing the course for mainstreaming to impact on other communities. 1 new European Digital Inclusion Toolkit 42 Care/Social Workers trained as Digital Facilitators of Change & Euro-Pass Certificates. Impact includes qualified, confident, empowered workers creating happier, healthier work environment 20 local creative workshops are held resulting in high quality arts & crafts used & exhibited to promote clients' Professional Identity 20 disadvantaged creative clients progress towards work, impact includes high levels of self esteem, empowerment and vision of new horizons, impacting on potential to find/sell work. 4 Transnational Steering Group meetings & mini-seminars promote societal change & drive diversity awareness & digital readiness initiatives. 1 new Network to promote digital social inclusion 1 Evaluation Report led by Salerno University The project starts on 01.03.2021 and runs until 28.02.23
Partners shared a need to make sure that if another emergency arose Care Workers were better equipped to meet clients' needs. The new Micro Credential framework emerging in Europe gave us an opportunity to contribute to the pilot study at EU level by sharing & developing each other's innovation. Objectives: 1. Create a new professional profile for Social Care Workers that recognised the skills needed by people working with PWD where wages are low and staff turnover is high. Care quality and staff retention must improve. Practical qualifications to increase staff Professional Identity & digital skills will help. 2. Overcome social exclusion & isolation with digital communication pathways. Using digital tools to help combat exclusion, digital preparedness will help staff be ready for future emergencies. 3. Influence public perception of Diversity to work for real equality. Raising public awareness of the problems faced by people with disabilities (PWD); promoting inclusion through real employment. 4. Recognise “Professional Identity” for staff & PWD /other excluded groups, celebrating 'ability', demonstrating that people with disabilities have skills, talents and abilities that are equal to all others and must be treated equally.
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we live. The pandemic compounded isolation & disadvantage, especially for the most vulnerable in society. It accentuated the need to find new ways of overcoming exclusion. An opportunity was recognised to use digital skills in a much wider context to improve the quality of many aspects of people's daily lives, especially those people living in closed communities when physical face to face visiting is not possible. Many staff working in residential care centres did not have the skills to perform basic digital tasks. They became frustrated by inability to ease the suffering of clients. Limitations of digital preparedness was revealed. The need to adapt training programmes for Care Workers was recognised. Project partners were known to each other through earlier work; all work with marginalised client groups, all brought local innovation. Having identified transferrable good practice they formed a partnership to share knowledge & raise awareness of problems faced by people with disabilities through celebrating skills & abilities of staff & clients through Professional Identity. They also wanted to make sure that isolation & loneliness experienced by clients through Covid did not happen again.