The Kick-off meeting of the Erasmus+ INTenSe project, coordinated by Social IT, was held on the 2nd and 3rd December 2020, with the participation of the representatives of each of the 5 consortium partners. During the event, participants discussed the objectives of the project, which aims at developing new ICT instruments and innovative methodologies to support and improve the vocational training of the socio-sanitary operators that work with people affected by dementia. The co-design approach will be adopted during the entire course of the project, including the involvement and the direct participation of the target group in project activities. Participants have also discussed the priorities and responsibilities of the respective partner organizations, defining the first activities to be implemented.
The role of the partners
Social IT will be responsible for the technical development of the web platform for the sharing of all the training material of the project. Being the coordinator of the project, Social IT will be in charge also of the administrative and financial management and will ensure the coordination and the cooperation between the partners.
The other partners have been identified as pilot partners for the organization of focus groups with the socio-sanitary operators to identify their needs, as well as to discuss and co-design the methodology and the instruments that the project aims at developing according to the co-design approach.
The Martin-Luther Halle-Wittenberg University (www.uni-halle.de) will realize an e-booklet that will collect self-experience best practices and methodologies aiming to allow socio-sanitary operators to better understand the everyday experience lived by persons affected by dementia.
The Dublin City University (www.dcu.ie) will develop a toolkit composed of different practices and ICT tools that will allow to simulate the perceived sensations and feelings of persons affected by dementia.
The SPES Group (www.gruppospes.it) will bring deep knowledge and expertise in the field of the management of neuro-degenerative diseases including dementia.
The Maastricht University (www.maastrichtuniversity.nl) is responsible for dissemination and communication of the project and of the achieved results.
The next steps
During the event, participants discussed the first activities to be implemented and the first issues to be solved. In the first place, it will be essential to establish a clear definition of self-experience (starting from an analysis of the state-of-the-art), that will be the basis for the development of the e-booklet and for the future project activities. It also emerged the necessity to define a clear protocol for the organization and the implementation of the focus groups, taking into consideration the type of target group and the number of participants to involve. Social IT will be responsible for the realization of the project website in collaboration with the Maastricht University.
The protracted emergency situation due to Covid-19 may influence the implementation of the project and its activities, especially the planned project events and the training activities that will involve both the partners and the socio-sanitary professionals. Flexibility and cooperation between the partners will allow to achieve the expected objectives, also thanks to the usage of digital instruments.