One of the
strategic orientations of the College of Nursing in Celje is, in line with the
development strategy 2014-2018, the acquisition of and integration into a
number of international research and development projects.
In the year
2014 we were successful in applying to the Erasmus+ tender, Key Action 2: Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education.
Together with our partner institutions: Medical University of Lublin (Poland),
University of Oulu, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences (Finland)
and Cooperativa de La Superior Politecnico e Universitário-CESPO (Portugal), we
will therefore in this and the next year implement the project called Healthy Lifestyle for Aging Well (HLAW).
HLAW is an innovative project, through which we aim to contribute towards the
raised awareness of the elderly in the field of healthy lifestyle in order to
enable quality and active ageing.
The old age
is a topic too little talked about, and therefore something we are ill-prepared
for. And yet for an efficient health
care system it is important that elderly people stay healthy, active and
independent. Nurses, who advise the elderly on a healthy lifestyle, also play
an important role in the aging process.
The aim of the project is to improve the
quality of life of the elderly as well as their health through additional
education of health care students, through engaging them actively and raising their awareness towards this problematic. One
of the main aims of the project is to help the elderly function as active
members of the society and to help them stay active in the society as long as
possible.
The two main target groups, which will be
included in the project activities, are the
nursing students and the elderly. In addition to these two,
the project also addresses higher education teachers and researchers, and other
interested parties who wish to obtain and share knowledge, ideas and practical
experience from the areas under consideration.
In the
context of the project, two intensive programmes (summer schools) have been
planned to be implemented at the College of Nursing in Celje. The first summer
school took place from May 25th until June 5th, 2015, and the second one will
take place from May 23rd until June 3rd, 2016. At the summer schools, we will
enable active participation to 18 foreign students and to 9 foreign higher
education teachers as well as to 6 students and to 3 higher education teachers
of the College of Nursing in Celje. In the framework of the intensive programme
the students will be able to:
- gain new expertise, ideas and
experiences and share them with the domestic and foreign students and
lecturers,
- participate actively through the
implementation of various workshops and fieldwork,
- socialize with the elderly and raise
their awareness about a healthy lifestyle,
- strengthen their intercultural
competences.
An important
part of the project will consist of various research activities, which will enable the students to critically and
analytically research the field with the help of higher education teachers and
to compare and share the knowledge, ideas, and examples of good practices with
the participants and participating countries.
The main results of the project will be:
- a new Web portal, which will be devoted
to the health literacy of the elderly
- 5 new optional subjects, which will be
available to the students by all of the partner organisations,
- recommendations for further work in the
field of healthy lifestyle of the elderly,
- guidelines for ethical conduct in the
care for the elderly,
- guidelines for the development of new
programmes for the healthy lifestyle of the elderly
- DVD with footage of physical exercises
(with instructions and recommendations),
- a brochure, in which all the main results
of the project, recommendations and guidelines will be collected.
A lot of
effort will be dedicated to the evaluation of the project and its results, as
well as to the dissemination of the results among the target groups, local
authorities and the general public, with the aim to increase the awareness of
the elderly as well as of the society. The purpose of the project is also to
create and offer long-term benefits in the form of the results of the project,
which will be freely available to everyone.
With the
purpose of building good foundations for further cooperation there was on
Monday, November 10th, 2014, at the College of Nursing organized the first
meeting of partnering organizations. We were very pleased with the execution,
as we successfully discussed the project management and meticulously outlined
all the further activities.