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The European Training Network on Informal Care

Project description

For sustainable informal care in Europe

Europe’s population is growing older and growing in number. As a result, more elderly persons suffer from chronic conditions and rely on regular and voluntary assistance of informal caregivers, mainly relatives and friends. In this context, the EU-funded ENTWINE project will investigate existing needs, barriers and possibilities in different countries to improve the well-being of caregivers through the European Innovation Training Network. It will carry out experiments and consider factorial designs and persuasive analysis to design the best advanced technological solutions and psychological interventions shaped according to the specific needs of caregivers. The overall goal of ENTWINE is to enable sustainable informal care in Europe.

Objective

Mostly due to increased longevity and medical advances, the needs of older/ill individuals for long-term care rise rapidly while the availability of informal caregivers decrease. Informal caregivers are those who provide unpaid care to a relative or friend with a chronic illness, disability or other long-lasting health or care need. This “Gare Gap” will create huge problems for the sustainability of European health care systems that rely heavily on the provision of informal care. The aim of ENTWINE’s multidisciplinary and inter-sectorial team is to investigate the broad spectrum of issues concerning the development and use of innovative psychosocial and technology-based interventions that support willingness and opportunity to provide informal care. WP 1 details the current and future caregiving challenges and motivations for diverse groups of informal caregivers and their care recipients, and society, in different countries that have different care systems by means of an intensive longitudinal cohort study (ENTWINE-iCohort). It will establish who needs support, what kind and when. WP 2 examines (1) whether specific interventions, services and technology-based interventions (eHealth, social robots) could empower caregivers and reduce their burden, and if so, (2) how best to deliver these interventions, services (e.g. internet platforms) and tools to sustain willingness to care, experience optimal outcomes of their role, and improve quality of life amongst informal caregivers. Methods include experiments, factorial designs, and persuasive profiling. WP 3 examines the implementation and dissemination of innovative technology-based tools and interventions. The focus is on overcoming barriers following a user-centered, stakeholder-driven implementation and agile science approach to promote the adoption and implementation of innovative technologies to support informal caregivers. ENTWINE represents a stepping stone towards sustainable informal care throughout Europe.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018

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Coordinator

ACADEMISCH ZIEKENHUIS GRONINGEN
Net EU contribution
€ 531 239,76
Address
HANZEPLEIN 1
9713 GZ Groningen
Netherlands
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 531 239,76

Participants (10)

Partners (16)