Start: 1 September 2023
End: 31 August 2026
A number of member organisations of The CARe Network has successfully applied for EU Erasmus+ funds to enrich the training opportunities in our network. The project team consists of the Czech Centre for Mental Health Development, the Estonian Psychosocial Rehabilitation Association, Tartu University, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and Windesheim University of Applied Sciences. We build on existing resources but also develop a new leadership programme. The results will be:
1. A training module introducing principles of and knowledge about mental health recovery and recovery-focused care. This includes basic knowledge about personal recovery processes, recovery factors, experiential knowledge and principles of recovery-focused care.
2. A training module educating professionals with different educational and experiential backgrounds in basic competencies to deliver recovery-focused services.
3. A training module for service leaders. This module focuses on the development of community-based services, like outreach teams, supported living and supported employment. And on the role of service leaders in the implementation of recovery-focused care.
4. A train-the-trainer programme for educators. This module supports educators to become specialist trainers in recovery and mental health service development.
The coming three years, this project will give a boost to our activities, offering training opportunities to professionals, experts-by-experience and service leaders in a number of countries. The funds also enable us to organise one or two conferences.
Detailed overview of the project
1. Modular educational programme
The objective of this part is to educate professionals in mental health care throughout Europe (as well as Central Asia) in the principles and methods of person-centred and human rights-based recovery-focused care / psychosocial rehabilitation. This will be achieved thanks to the development of a modular educational programme, and it will contribute to the overall project objective of shifting from institutional to community-based care.
During the development of the programme, a diversity of professionals, service leaders and service users will participate. For them, the objective is to coproduce educational modules (courses) and at the same time to learn about principles and to acquire competencies.
The results of this work package will be:
1. A training module introducing principles of and knowledge about mental health recovery and recovery-focused care. This includes basic knowledge about personal recovery processes, recovery factors, experiential knowledge and principles of recovery-focused care.
2. A training module educating professionals with different educational and experiential backgrounds in basic competencies to deliver recovery-focused services.
3. A training module for service leaders. This module focuses on the development of community-based services, like outreach teams, supported living and supported employment. And on the role of service leaders in the implementation of recovery-focused care.
4. A train-the-trainer programme for educators. This module supports educators to become specialist trainers in modules 1, 2 and 3.
For this work package, a core team is composed of experts from all the partner organisations. The Centre for Mental Health Development (CMHCD) will be the leading partner, coordinating the activities of the team. The universities will provide content knowledge and educational expertise. The Estonian Psychosocial Rehabilitation Association (EPRA) and the CMHCD will provide content and training expertise. For each module, a working group will be arranged. The specific expertise of the different universities will be incorporated. Utrecht University of Applied Sciences will contribute knowledge about recovery, relational care and experiential knowledge. Windesheim University will contribute knowledge about experiential expertise and community care. Tartu University will contribute knowledge about community inclusion, recovery and open dialogue.
2. Educational resources
The objective is to increase the knowledge of our target groups about person-centred recovery-based and community care. We do this by:
1. Creating publications about the topics relevant to this project and the cooperation partnership
2. Creating a series of video clips about different topics related to mental health care and recovery.
3. Creating a toolbox consisting of tools that can be used in mental health care
All three outputs will also serve as training resources.
The main results will be:
1. Publications in English about the topics relevant to this project and partnership: recovery-based mental health care, community-based services, person-centred care based on human rights, social inclusion, dialogical and relational care. 2
2. A series of videotaped knowledge clips with presentations by experts that can be used for educational purposes.
3. A toolbox consisting of tools that can be used in mental health care.
The activities in this work package will complement the training activities and also serve to enhance international cooperation.
The three universities are responsible for the production of the publications and the video clips. They will form an editorial team. This team is led by HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. The Centre for Mental Health Development and the Estonian Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation are coordinating the creation of the toolbox. This will be done in collaboration with the team of trainers and training developers in work package 2. The CARe Network associated partners will provide input for the whole work package.
3. Communication and transfer
The main objective of this work package is to spread information and knowledge to our target groups, thereby enhancing awareness and knowledge about recovery and community-based mental health care.
The specific objectives of this work package are:
1. To ensure proper communication in the partnership and beyond.
2. To share knowledge about recovery-based community care and promote the use of experiential knowledge of service users and professionals.
3. To disseminate training modules and knowledge resources among mental health educational institutes, mental health care providers and service user organisations.
The results will be:
1. A communication and dissemination plan and a diversity of communication and promotion activities, including the use of social media, posts on the websites of the partnership and the websites of the partners, a newsletter, and implementation plans of all partners. Also the pilot trainings and the conference will be used as media for communication and transfer.
2. A website with resources developed in other work packages. Resources include literature sources, educational tools for trainers, narratives, and examples of good practices.
3. A conference that serves as a multiplier event in the last six months of the project.
The CMHCD is primarily responsible for communication activities. The CARe Network is primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of the website. All partners have the task to provide input for communication and the website.
All partner organisations are involved in the preparation and realisation of the conference. An organising committee will be formed with representatives of all partners. The CMHCD will have a coordinating role for the conference.
