The iDO project objectives are:
1) DESIGN and DEVELOP in close collaboration with people with dementia and their caregivers an innovative training package to promote the acquisition of skills and competences by direct care workers;
2) TEST the training package with an appropriate number of end-users (direct care workers) in five EU countries, especially for evaluating its impact on their motivation and inclusion in learning activities;
3) FINALIZE the training package incorporating all feedbacks received from end-users;
4) DISSEMINATE and SCALE UP the intellectual outputs at a wider EU level, ensuring the SUSTAINABILITY of project results.
These objectives will be translated in the following outcomes:
O1. Testimonial videos of patients and family carers: This Output will aim to design and develop a series of videos showing people with dementia and their family carers expressing their needs in daily life and care. The videos will be a unique opportunity to involve people with dementia and family carers in the development of the training package, providing their view over the assistance they would like to receive and their preferences. Therefore, such videos will inform direct care workers on these issues and stimulate a clearer understanding of people with dementia and families’ situations and needs.
O2. Training videos of expert professionals: This Output will aim to develop a series of videos with expert professionals in various fields who could provide advice, suggestions and information in a correct but accessible way. The videos will be edited interviews with experts in different areas of dementia care, including for instance: neurologists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, engineers with experience in assistive technologies for people with dementia. The interviews will focus and be directly linked to the main needs of people with dementia and family carers emerged in Intellectual Output 1. The final objective will be to impact the knowledge of direct care workers and to stimulate its reception and application in their daily practice, in order to improve quality of care, work condition and people with dementia’s wellbeing.
O3. Interactive serious game: An innovative game will be designed to work around the standard ineffectiveness of traditional training methodologies for direct care workers. The game runtime, complexity and intrusiveness will be modelled and designed from the ground-up around the requirements and needs indicated by direct care workers, people with dementia, family carers, dementia experts. The elements of innovation of the game are: a) continuous tracking of the user’s abilities; b) determining an appropriate number of steps for the challenge to correctly train the abilities of the target user; c) keeping up and staying “half-a-step” in front of player performance; d) natural interaction and little-to-no learning curve; e) engagement with a learning-by-doing exercise; f) offering different levels of difficulty; g) taking into account social and cultural background and technical literacy, producing a most natural game model for target demographics.
O4. Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): The MOOC is an e-learning platform which will include a wide range of multimedia, interactive and textual training contents for direct care workers. The MOOC will be available primarily in mobile version, which will improve the engagement of direct care workers (usually with low digital skills) to this vocational training package. Furthermore, the design and development of MOOC and contents will involve direct care workers for creating the most attractive training experience they need. Finally, the involvement of people with dementia and family carers in the process will consider also their perspective, stimulating direct care workers to reflect to their daily activities and how to meet at best clients’ needs.