The Erasmus+ project SociALL is dedicated to advancing the skills and efficiency of care workers. To this aim, a new training material has been finalized to equip them with practical and easily accessible digital tools that can be integrated into their daily tasks. The project partners want to facilitate their activities and provide them with relevant tools to help them take care of their patients.
The suggested digital supports were selected because of their simplicity of use, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility. This means that no technical knowledge is required and that they are user-friendly. Moreover, it should be possible to use them through mobile or web apps and they must respect the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Furthermore, to ensure the innovative tools are used by the maximum possible number of care workers, they must be free or very affordable.
Various tools are promoted in the training material to help care workers. The first one is the “Drugs.com” app which is a comprehensive encyclopedia about medicines. It provides detailed information about a large number of drugs in order to assist care workers in their activities. Similarly, the “MDCalc Medical Calculator” app supports clinical decisions with various medical calculators to facilitate estimations and diagnostics.
For promoting physical activities and health monitoring, the “Step Tracker Pedometer” app tracks steps, the distance covered, and the calories burned. “Google Fit” is another recommended tool for monitoring health and encouraging a positive lifestyle. These apps give precise data and graphs about your performance and your health.
The training material also addresses tools for social care like those that assist in addiction recovery and mental well-being. The “I am Sober” app supports individuals in quitting and recovering from addictions with tracking and motivation content. It also provides information like the amount of money saved by avoiding harmful products. In parallel, the “Happify” app promotes mental well-being through psychological information, motivational content, and relaxing activities like meditation.
Effective communication is also essential in care work, that is why the training material includes tools to address this issue. The “Spread the Sign” app is a visual dictionary for sign languages which is crucial for taking charge of deaf or hard-of-hearing patients. “Google Translate” is another possible tool to overcome language barriers and ensure clear communication since 133 languages are included in the app.
To help care workers manage their activities, innovative tools are recommended in the training material such as “Trello” and “Asana”. The first one helps organize tasks and track progress through collaborative dashboards and user-friendly functionalities. The second app, “Asana”, offers features for project tracking, and team collaboration. These tools enhance the effectiveness of the care teams and facilitate good cooperation between their members.
All the project partners hope this new training material will help care workers and that the recommended tools will facilitate their activities. The training is freely available on this website in the “training material” part within the “results” section.