Project Sharing - ENPHE Conference 2023

For the first time in ENPHE Conferences history, it was introduced an opportunity for ENPHE members to share on-going projects. The goal for this session is to share and inspire the network to keep on collaborating, innovating, and networking.

Here you can lookback at the projects that shared their insights, journeys and outputs:

Physiotherapy without Borders

The aim of this project is to gain insight into similarities and differences regarding the role and position of the physiotherapist within society and healthcare with eight students from four European countries. A grant from the Dutch government was secured for this project as part of virtual international cooperation. Within the project, we brought together a few important European currents in physiotherapy: Spain (Mediterranean area), Austria (German-speaking countries), Norway (Scandinavian area) and the Netherlands (Dutch-speaking currents). Under the guidance of two motivated teachers, a special online program was created so that students could work together in the best possible way toward the desired final product, a kind of map in which the aforementioned similarities and differences are made clear to both students and starting physiotherapists. This is also to lower European thresholds. 

‘Teaching Pain Science: A Core Curriculum for Undergraduate Physiotherapy Education’

Pain is the primary reason people attend physiotherapy for treatment, however pain science and practice are typically under-taught in undergraduate healthcare curricula. A common standard for teaching pain science is lacking and there is a need to ensure consistent and quality pain education across Europe. In the Erasmus + UPPScAle project we developed a common standard for pain science education for bachelor level physiotherapy programs in Europe. We then held a number of workshops at ENPHE meetings to get feedback from educators. The final content was approved by the EFIC steering committee for the physiotherapy pain curriculum and the EFIC board. 

More about the project: https://uppscale.eu/results.php 

DIRENE - Competences for the NEw era of user-driven DIgital REhabilitation

'Competences for the new era of user-driven digital rehabilitation' (DIRENE) is an Erasmus+ funded project (April 2021-2023) and addressed the need for the development of Digital Rehabilitation (DR) through higher education. Digital Rehabilitation competence and solutions should be implemented systematically in practice.The aim of the Erasmus+ funded project DIRENE (April 2021 to March 2023) was

1) developing the Digital Rehabilitation (DR) competences of university educators, students and working life professionals and

2) expanding the possibilities of mobile learning in the field of DR through theory and evidence-based practice. A Scoping Review regarding Megatrends in DR was conducted with quantitative literature work and qualitative stakeholder group interviews. Focus groups explored needs of these target groups, and how these competences could be learnt via mobile learning. Based on a desktop study with educators, a pedagogical handbook was created and usability tested. 

The main results are: A scoping review on technologies in home-based digital rehabilitation (DR) has been recently published (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37253381 – A scoping review). Additionally, a wiki and definitions related to digital technologies, a DR competence framework, and curricula have been developed as part of the DIRENE project, and these materials can be accessed online (https://www.jamk.fi/en/project/direne/direne-materials). Furthermore, there is a pedagogical handbook available online that focuses on mobile education and the training of disaster recovery. All of these material were implemented in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which is available for five years.

More about the project:  https://www.jamk.fi/en/project/direne 

HEalth Literacy in Physiotherapy Education - Results from the Erasmus+ project HELPE

Limited Health Literacy (HL) effects nearly 45% of European citizens, and is linked to reduced usage of healthcare services, increased hospitalization risk and higher healthcare costs. Clients with limited HL require an individual therapeutic and communication approach. To respond to these needs, physiotherapy students need to acquire solid HL competencies. The Erasmus+ HELPE project participants have developed a handbook for physiotherapy educators. The contents cater to diverse educational needs, facilitating the integration of HL competences into different curricula. Based on a scoping literature review and co-creation design with key stakeholders (physiotherapists, students and lecturers, and clients) a HL framework was developed to ensure a high-quality standard for teaching and training. The HL handbook contains seven courses including "HL lectures", "Digital HL", "Communication skills training", "Project-based learning", "Community-based learning", "Collaboration in interprofessional rehabilitation teams", and "Educational videos with reflection tool". The materials can also be applied to other healthcare studies. 

More about the project: https://helpe.eu.com/intellectual-outputs/ 

SIENHA Project – Strategic and Innovative European Network for Education in Healthy Aging

Addressing health challenges of an ageing population necessitates a upgrade in Europe's social and health policies (WHO, 2020; Rudnicka, 2020). This project emphasizes the Healthy Ageing (HA) paradigm's call for innovation in education, health, and social sectors, and the requisite preparation of professionals therein. It advocates for enhancing higher education and skill development for students and professionals in health and social services across Europe.  The SIENHA project involves a 36-month multilateral academic cooperation between seven Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), funded by the ERASMUS+ program. It comprises four key intellectual outputs: 1) Identification of a professional competences framework in Healthy Ageing (HA), 2) Development of a higher education curriculum, 3) Creation of an innovation and research toolkit in HA, and 4) Production of a dissemination tool, a Handbook in Healthy Ageing. This collaborative effort aims to advance education, research, and practice in the field of healthy ageing.

More about the project: What is SIENHA? - SIENHA

INPRO - Interprofessionalism in action

INPRO is an international project, co-funded by the European Union, in which higher education institutions and rehabilitation centers work in partnership on aligning interprofessional collaboration. Or to state it more concrete: to further enable a smooth transfer from training in health and social professions to the actual work setting. 

Invitation to participate in INPRO closing seminar and fieldvisit on the 30th of November 2023: https://www.inproproject.eu/calendaritem/inpro-closing-seminar-and-fieldvisit/

More about the project:  https://www.inproproject.eu/