FUTURE FEET: Digital learning environment for foot health education and training Erasmus Project

Project Title

FUTURE FEET: Digital learning environment for foot health education and training

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Pedagogy and didactics; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

There is an escalating need for a digitally competent and scientifically based foot health practitioner workforce to meet societal needs. For example, 24 to 30% of the EU population will have to turn to a foot health practitioner/podiatrist during their life, driven by changes due to ageing, diabetes and/or obesity (McRitchie et al., 2018). This matches global trends and together form more than half the EU population. European Commission statements on “enabling the digital transformation of health and care in the Digital Single Market” (2018) asked that we rethink health care systems to ensure that they remain fit-for-purpose. This requires innovative solutions making health care more accessible and patient-centred.

In terms of achieving this in foot health care practice, several barriers exist. One barrier is the low levels of digital literacy in the foot health workforce, creating a mismatch between client/patient needs and expectations and the services on offer from health professionals.

A second barrier is the risk of unchecked clinical practices being adopted leading to wasted treatments and money, ineffective practices, and at worst a risk to people’s foot and general health.

Teachers of foot health practitioners recognise that education already lags behind the use of digital technologies in clinical practice. A key example that this project will address is the digital design and manufacture of foot orthoses (therapeutic insoles). These can now be prescribed using end-to-end digital systems, including opportunities for cloud based knowledge systems to support clinical, manufacture and supply decisions. These are the types of real world digital innovations available to students when they graduate and enter employment. However, they are too often inadequately prepared for either use of these systems or their critical appraisal against the needs of their own practice/employment.

To address these issues, the partnership intends to:
– improve the digital skills in the foot health professional community, both for undergraduates and postgraduates.
– transfer research and scientific knowledge into clinical foot health practice education

The results foreseen are:
1. Develop a new knowledge framework: the current knowledge framework related to clinical foot biomechanics and foot therapeutic insole practice is outdated, disproven and there is a major risk to professional standing and standards of clinical care. The current knowledge framework is too often divorced from the opportunities that digital technologies offer, a situation reinforced by low levels of digital literacy in some professional disciplines and territories.
2. Develop 2 new undergraduate and postgraduate curricula to integrate the knowledge framework into pedagogical material dedicated to the subject: “Digital skills for clinical practice: foot orthosis and communication with the patients” and “Digital skills for business practice: entrepreneurial skills for students”.
3. Develop one teacher training “Digital skills of teachers/educators to support the future digitally literate foot health workforce” to integrate the new digitally based knowledge framework, and materials into the educational practices of teachers.
4. Develop a web-based platform to connect foot health students, researchers and teachers in a peer-to-peer transnational digital learning community.

The project targets specifically students (undergraduates, postgraduates), teachers, researchers and the foot health community in general.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 280987 Eur

Project Coordinator

Haute Ecole Léonard de Vinci & Country: BE

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA
• THE UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD
• ARTEVELDEHOGESCHOOL
• DOKUZ EYLUL UNIVERSITESI