Abstract
In the last few decades, long-term care services have been involved in a broad array of innovation processes to progressively transition from medical to bio-psycho-social organisation models, with an increased attention to life quality in its holistic meaning. In fact, when providing care to older adults affected by dementia, it is essential to respond to both medical and psycho-social needs, all affecting life quality and well-being. Non-pharmacological approaches, also known as social-educational interventions, represent an answer to this need for innovation in elderly care since they allow the integration of formal and non-formal care, promote person-centred approaches and help in adopting culture change paradigms on frailty in elderly age and dementia. This contribution presents the main results of a European Erasmus+ Project designed to innovate the training of social and health workers to equip them with a broader array of non-pharmacological methods to address frail older adults. The project involved the Local Health Agency-Azienda USL of Bologna, which implemented a training program focused on promoting the skills needed by practitioners to fully integrate non-pharmacological approaches into older people’s daily care. The training activity is part of a broader program for improving quality in elderly care, including two audits active in Bologna: “Pharmacological Appropriateness” and “Mechanical Restraint”. Here we present the learning outcomes of a training program involving around 300 professionals from 70 long-term care organisations.
Presenters
Elisa BruniPhd Student, Scienze dell'Educazione G.M. Bertin, Università di Bologna (Italy), Bologna, Italy Rosa Angela Ciarrocchi
Sociologist, Direzione Attività Socio-Sanitarie , Azienda USL di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Carlotta Bagaglia
Anthropologist/Administrative Function, Direzione Attività Socio-Sanitarie , Azienda USL di Bologna, Bologna, Italy Aurora Ricci
Researcher in Educational Research, Department of Education Studies "Giovanni Maria Bertin", University of Bologna, BO, Italy Elena Luppi
Professor, Department of Education Studies, University of Bologna, Italy
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Ensuring Quality Long-Term Care
KEYWORDS
TRAINING, DEMENTIA, CAREGIVERS, LONG-TERM CARE, NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL APPROACHES
