Quality VET in Healthcare: Improving Mobility and Employability Erasmus Project

Project Title

Quality VET in Healthcare: Improving Mobility and Employability

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Recognition (non-formal and informal learning/credits); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Embedded in the framework of an enhanced European vocational education and training (VET) system, our project pursues the development, implementation and establishment of an attractive, digital and interactive approach to VET in the field of healthcare, consistent with the socio-demographic needs of three interconnected regions: Tenerife (Spain), Berlin (Germany) and Paola (Malta). Each partner has a socio-demographic reality that can be somehow complemented to the other two, namely: population ageing is one of the major challenges for the Canary Islands health system where, in addition, there is a tremendously high unemployment rate together with the need of skills improvement; the German socio-economic fabric has to face up to the shortage of skilled and qualified healthcare and caregiving professionals; not only has the Maltese VET system steadily built a reputation as a centre of excellence while raising the status, accessibility and attractiveness of professional VET, but they also count on an Institute of Community Services, which is especially relevant to the VETHealth project. In this scenario, the VETHealth project has the following main objectives of action: (1) the digitalisation of learning, (2) the validation of participants in the labour market and (3) the improvement of communication and functional skills for occupational purposes. Each of these objectives is to be accomplished by carrying out different strategic activities, namely: (1) creating an online healthcare assistant training course — entirely produced using ICT-based methodologies and delivered in a digital, multimedia and interactive format; (2) organising a 2-month work placement and practical lab sessions — to be carried out at an international location, i.e. Germany and Malta, aimed at increasing work experience opportunities — and using electronic accreditation of prior experiential learning — for the recognition and validation of learning outcomes (skills and competences) across non-formal and informal knowledge; and (3) designing an online language course, specific to the VET needs in healthcare — leading participants to reach A1 level in line with the CEFRLOur project can be conceived as a powerful digital asset resulting in certified and accredited qualifications (Level 4 according to the EQF), the validation of learning outcomes across informal and non-formal learning, and two online courses — an online healthcare assistant training course and an online language course, specific to the VET needs in healthcare. Both courses are the product of using a cloud-based tool for the creation of e-learning content to be transferred into comprehensive and engaging audiovisual media in audiovisual production and facilities, and made available for participants in an accessible learning management system, where the e-learning experience becomes fully flexible and interactive. Our project must be understood as a bridge to the future to count on qualified and competent healthcare and caregiving professionals, with skills and competences in a foreign language of demographic relevance, which will contribute to achieve effective communication in healthcare provision. All in all, the successful completion of our project will ultimately lead to long-term quality VET training in healthcare and the provision of quality healthcare in the framework of the internationalisation of VET for tomorrow’s Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 359000,49 Eur

Project Coordinator

MALTA COLLEGE OF ARTS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY & Country: MT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDAD DE LA LAGUNA
• SGM SOLUTIONS & GLOBAL MEDIA GMBH
• Brain Shuttle, S.L.