Second CareNET Newsletter

1. Project Newsletter – Issue 2
Map of Domains for Digital Competences Visualised
Following the announcement of the full report, careNET now offers the visual
representation of the full "Map of domains for common and specific digital
competences for domiciliary care workers and care recipients aged 65+ years" for
your convenience. The visualization supports the analysis and report published after
collaborative exercises in the development process in two workshops. Take a look
here.
Participate! Join us for the ICT and eSkills for Social
Care Conference
On 26 February 2014 an international conference (careNET conference) will be
organised to share the lessons learned and to collaborate with other initiatives
of the field and to establish further use of these results.
We invite practitioners, organisations and researchers to join the consortium in
discussing what ways open up for the care-sector in the brave new world of digital
inclusion. To see the conditions for submitting a presentation of project/research in
progress/demonstration, please click here. Selected submissions will be invited to
participate and present at the event and will be published online (no fee involved).
Are you interested in participating without presentation?
There are two ways for partcipation: online and on-site. The venue will be the Brussels
Press Club in Brussels, Belgium, with to its central location (Schuman Metro stop) it’s
easy to reach from all parts of Brussels. All participants are required to register online
here (participation for both online and on-site event is free of charge).
What will happen during the conference?
The Conference will open with high profile keynote speakers from all around Europe
elaborating on ICT skills in social care. Following the presentation of the careNET
project, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the careNET national cases
including a showcase summary. To support networking and to create a possibility for
other initiatives to collaborate, the careNET showcase will be followed by presentations
and demonstrations of other similar initiatives’ results. Coffee breaks and buffet lunch
will be provided.
The entire conference will be streamed live online via Adobe Connect.
Read more on the careNET website.
On the Road to Digital Skills: The launch of the careNET
pilots
The pilots of the careNET project started in November 2013. They implemented and
validated the careNET learning architecture, pathways and resources previously
produced. The Spanish and French partners carried out trainings through a specific ICT
tool, a digital tablet, involving 120 care workers and care recipients. During these
trainings the participants used a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) consisting of three
tools: a social network, a learning platform and a competency wiki. Through the VLE
and the related “Learning Relay Centers” provided by the project partners, the trainees
learn in an innovative surrounding.

2. Read more about the pilot here.
Good Practices of Digital Competence Development Carer Aware Cases
In a world where information and communications technology (ICT), and in particular
the Internet, are transforming the way we communicate, learn and work, thousands of
independent sector social care services for adults in England do not have access to
high-quality internet or digital technology. This means their clients and staff are at a
disadvantage in terms of access to training and development, knowledge gathering and
full participation in the support networks available online. In 2010, the Social Care
Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned the National Institute of Adult Continuing
Education (NIACE) and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to undertake a study
into the impact of the Get Connected Investment Project. It aimed to enable care
providers to improve access for service users, carers, visitors and staff to ICT so they
can use the power of the internet to communicate, learn and train. Read about their
good practices in this article.
Reading Corner
Social Networks and Elderly People
Social networks may play a key role in getting the elderly to enjoy the benefits of digital
empowerment. Social networks alone cannot fulfill the important need for social contact
but are a valid and increasingly used tool to complement other ways of social
interaction. Why don’t the elderly engage in social networks? It is due only to the
attitudes and perceptions that they have about these networks (e.g. “I am too old” and
“It is too complicated”) or do actual existing barriers (e.g. related to declining health or
a lack of resources) keep them at bay? This is a difficult question to answer and more
research needs to be done into the real causes, and how these barriers can be
removed.
In this article we will tackle the possibilities that social media and online discussion
forums can offer to the elderly and how they can actively engage in social networking.
A Video Call Connects Seniors with their Loved Ones
A great number of elderly people suffer of loneliness, mainly because of their children
living in distant places. In this case, telephone has always been a consolation for them
in order to communicate directly with their beloved ones. The advancement of digital
technologies has brought a new dimension in the communication of the seniors, since
they can combine voice and video calls with digital tools that can be easily used by
them.
In this article we give some tips to home-carers how to support seniors to overcome
the fear of technology.
ICT Learning in Home Care: Carers as learning mediators
Several projects are aiming to improve the care of older people involving both carers
and older people. However in projects like ACTION or DISCOVER the training is solely
dedicated to carers considered as an intermediary in the development of competences.
The ACTION project provides carers information about ICT services, especially using
videophones with older people and caregivers. In the DISCOVER project carers learn
to use mobile devices and digital technologies to become mentors of their care
recipients. In this article you will read about cooperative learning in home care
situations with the help of ICT.