Transnational project meetings
Six partner meetings have been planned at time intervals that coincide with crucial milestones of the project’s progress
July 2023
6th and final partner meeting in StuttgartAfter three years of working together on the Communicare project the partners met for the final meeting in Stuttgart. The 6th transnational meeting served to validate the results, consolidate the sustainability plans, prepare and complete the documentation for the final project reports and propose new ideas for future cooperation and activities resulting from the project outcomes. The partners also used the time to reflect on the experience gained in order to improve future cooperation and to prepare for the international conference that took place one day later on 12.07.2023.
July 2023
Stuttgart
March 2023
5th Transnational meeting in PatrasBetween 1 and 2 of March 2023, the transnational project meeting of Communicare project in Patras took place. It was organized as a hybrid meeting and all participants had the chance to convene on the progress of the project’s remaining tasks. In general, it was discussed the finalization of the project’s interactive platform, and the gathering and analysis of the evaluation questionnaires. Also it was stipulated the structure of the sustainability National plans attributed to each project partner, since we are in the final part of the project, where sustainability should reach its peak. To this end, the upcoming Multiplier events aiming to enhance the dissemination outreach of the project were also analyzed. Finally, partners defined the form, logistics and lectures of the International conference to be held in Stuttgart in mid July 2023. All partners expressed their satisfaction with the results of the project, and they all agreed on finding new opportunities to continue the partnership, through the further exploitation of Communicare platform, and through investing in a new Erasmus plus project proposal..
March 2023
Patras
September 2022
4th Transnational meeting in SamosCommunicare lands in Greece for second 2022 event and train-the-trainer event. Partners from Germany (Wohlfahrtswerk für Baden-Württemberg, DHBW), Italy (COOSS), Greece (Frontida Zois, University of the Aegean), and Austria ( BFI) gathered in Karlovasi, Samos Island, for the second transnational meeting of Communicare, an Erasmus Plus program project designed to improve caregivers’ communication skills in long-term care of the elderly. The meeting took place from September 12 to 15, 2022 and was the second annual in-person meeting after the one in Ancona. This transnational project meeting also coincided with the project’s train-the-trainer event. It was a very important opportunity to discuss the online platform on which Communicare is being developed, the content, project dissemination, and in general all the crucial aspects to be developed in the immediate future. In order for the project team to be able to register and address comments and observations based on the functionality and requirements of the e-learning platform, made by the trainers-experts, the meeting in Greece turned out to be an excellent opportunity to expose the workshops related to the 3 learning paths and the game that will enrich the platform. Specifically: COOSS and DHBW covered the ‘Introduction to the basic principles of effective communication, BFI had the opportunity to delve into learning Path 2 – Basic principles and methods of communication in chronic disease along the case of dementia, Frontida Zois and Wohlfahrtswerk für Baden-Württemberg on the other hand delved into the part related to Communication in the new era of instant messaging, video calls and technological advances to support an age-friendly environment. The game was taken care of by University of the Aegean, but all partners and trainer experts had a chance to express their opinion and view the potential of the platform again. These insights were not developed exclusively through face-to-face lectures; in fact, all participants had the opportunity to compare and discuss the content, the manual, and the whole outcome of the research conducted. Not only that, the Communicare team analysed the actual usability of the platform and in a second moment two other very important points were deepened such as: sustainability and dissemination. This important aspect was started right in Greece and brought to completion at the end of 2022. In addition to traditional articles made in written form, video interviews were conducted with the contact persons of some partners. Ruth Dankbar, Christos Goumopoulos and Ute Schulz explained in detail what Communicare consists of. Another important piece to give the project the right visibility.
September 2022
Samos
June 2022
3rd Transnational meeting in AnconaThe first in-person meeting of the Communicare project was held in Italy. Partners from Germany (Wohlfahrtswerk für Baden-Württemberg, DHBW), Italy (COOSS), Greece (Frontida Zois, University of the Aegean), and Austria ( BFI) gathered in Ancona for the first transnational meeting of Communicare, an Erasmus Plus program project designed to improve caregivers’ communication skills in long-term care of the elderly. The meeting in Ancona, held June 21-22, 2022, proved to be very useful for deepening all the learning paths to be included in the platform. The partners met in Italy, in the city of Ancona, and it was a very valuable opportunity not only to take care of the purely planning aspects, but to meet in person after a long time. Because of the restrictions related to the pandemic emergency, widespread throughout Europe, the meetings were always held online, in the Marche region the pleasure of working as a team was finally discovered. On the first day, representatives of the various partners focused on learning paths, content aspects essential within the platform. Introduction to the basic principles of effective communication, basic principles and methods of communication in chronic diseases along the case of dementia, communication in the new era of instant messaging, video calling, and technological advances to support an age-friendly environment and the game. During the meeting, gamified scenarios were also presented by University of the Aegean: the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. Directly viewing the digital context dedicated to users proved particularly useful in curating some technical and content aspects. Specifically, minor annotations were made on colors and the possibility of making all graphic components within the scenario accessible. Thought was also given to the instruction panel and the overlay questions. Where is it best to place them? How to make them usable for a user not particularly experienced with digital tools? Again, brainstorming proved to be extremely productive and interesting: in fact, the idea emerged of including a special section within the platform dedicated to conversation. The partners divided into three working groups, one for each scenario defined earlier. The discussion within the COOSS Marche training rooms was extremely useful to analyze the digital context and take care of the details of the scenarios to be proposed in the platform. The second day in Marche was an opportunity to plan the next meeting, scheduled to take place in Samos, Greece, in September 2022. The first in-person meeting was a key step in the development of Communicare.
1 June 2022
Ancona
May 2021
2nd Transnational meetingThe second partner meeting in May 2021 was a good start for product development! Because of Corona, the second meeting was held online. It is a pity because the partners like each other very much and would have been looking forward to a face-to-face meeting. Nevertheless, due to the positive working atmosphere between the partners, a very productive meeting was also possible online. The literature research was already completed at this point and the final report was almost ready. Therefore, the partners could already discuss the first ideas about the future program. The partners agreed to work on three different areas related to our topic “Communicare – improving communication skills as a useful tool for family caregivers in long-term care for the elderly”. The ideas are direct results taken from the final report of the literature review and cover the most important competencies of caregivers. The following three topics were identified by the partners: introduction to the basic principles of effective communication. basic principles and methods of communication in different chronic diseases, illustrated by dementia diseases. communication in the new age of social media and technological advances in the environment to support an age-friendly environment. Furthermore, a digital game was brought up by the Greek partner, which needed further discussion. All partners agreed that, in addition to a comprehensive manual on the above topics, all content should also be made available in digital form on the platform. So, the partners decided to form working groups. A first working group dealt with the creation of the curriculum. This was to determine exactly what content was to be developed. This curriculum was the basis for all further steps that had to be initiated and developed. It is therefore fair to say that this meeting in May 2021 was one of the central meetings to ensure the right decisions for the further positive course of the project and product development. A big thank you goes to all partners for the excellent content work and for the great cooperation among each other!
May 2021
Online
October 2020
1st Transnational meetingAfter the start of the Communicare project in September 2020 the Kick-Off Meeting was held online due to the Corona pandemic. On the 21st of October 2020 partners from Austria (Berufsförderungsintsitut Oberösterreich; BFI), Italy (Marche Cooperativa Sociale Onlus; COOSS), Greece (Fontida Zois & University of the Aegean; UAegean) and Germany (Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg; DHBW & Wohlfahrtswerk für Baden-Württemberg; WW) met to get to know each other and build reliable working relationships. Therefore they introduced themselves and their organisations including background and experiences useful for the project. The partners also discussed the project goals, intellectual outputs and methods to reach the objectives. Furthermore they outlined a dissemination plan to raise awareness and the impact of the project. The next step is to do a country specific in depth-research to form a baseline study and to create the project website.
October 2020
Online
At each partner meeting the agenda includes a presentation of tasks that have already been carried out, along with a discussion of any problems faced and the analysis of the IO leader progress reports, certification of the task results by all partners, designing of tasks remaining to be undertaken, revisions of the timetable if required, task allocation, corrective actions, and modifications, if necessary.
