The project aimed to develop, test and disseminate an XR/VR- and AI-assisted resilience training approach for healthcare-related VET. HEART sought to help healthcare and elderly-care workers recognise early signs of stress and burnout, understand workplace stress factors, learn practical mindfulness and self-regulation techniques, and experience guided relaxation in an immersive VR environment. It also aimed to strengthen digital competence in VET through an online platform, learning videos, assessments, reflection tasks, handouts and XR/VR tools. A further objective was to raise awareness among VET providers, healthcare organisations, managers and stakeholders about the potential of digital resilience training for burnout prevention and staff well-being. The project produced transferable resources for workshops, onboarding, professional development, guided learning and stakeholder demonstrations. The results targeted current workers, future care professionals and organisations interested in practical, non-clinical resilience learning. At the same time, HEART contributed to the EU priority of high-quality digital education through an innovative digital learning platform.
HEART was developed in response to stress, emotional exhaustion and burnout risks among healthcare and elderly-care workers in Austria and Germany. The partners applied because care-related professions face high emotional demands, staff pressure, shift work and mental-health risks, while VET and workplace training often provide limited practical resources for recognising stress, strengthening resilience and using digital learning safely. HEART therefore addressed two connected needs: practical burnout-prevention learning for care workers and modern, accessible digital learning resources for healthcare-related VET. The project combined burnout awareness, mindfulness, XR/VR learning and structured Hearty-guided learner support in a safe, non-clinical training context. It helped users reflect on stress, explore coping strategies and experience digital resilience training flexibly, with a focus on elderly care as a demanding and understaffed work context and on increasing the relevance and attractiveness of VET. In addition, HEART responded to the broader European need for high-performing digital education and training platforms that support modern, accessible and scalable learning.