SIVA: Competence development program for informal caregivers.

Together with the reform of SIVA educational institutions, in the creation process, is the development of the competence centre under the SIVA College department.

Within the European Union Recovery Fund investment project is developed competence development training program to ensure that both persons whose functional impairments prevent or could prevent them from entering the labour market and social life, as well as their informal caregivers, as well as social sectors, education sectors and other specialists who take care of or educate persons with disabilities.

The competence training program includes such modules as: Medicine and CareHousehold, Environment and ErgonomicsInformal Caregivers’ Self-careCommunicationRights and DutiesThe content of the modules can be adapted to the needs of informal caregivers. It depends on the disability of the person being cared for:physical disability;vision impairment;hearing impairment;intellectual disability (mental disorders);other disabilities.T

he contents of the competence development training program are designed in such a way that informal caregivers can provide appropriate support and care to persons with disabilities, as well as be able to take care of their own needs and psycho-emotional wellbeing. It is intended that modules can be learnt according to the needs of the informal caregiver, which is, separately from others, combined, or all together. The training contents are adapted to different types of functional disorders and are relevant to modern needs.The training for informal caregivers will be provided by SIVA specialists: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, educators, etc. The training process is intended to be by working 3practically with various practical tasks to improve the skills, competencies and knowledge of informal caregivers. Each module is 30 academic hours long, including even more specific topics depending on the type of disability of the person being cared for (an additional 6 - 8 academic hours). The training programs’ modules include both the theoretical part and the practical part. A major part of the program content (more than 60%) includes practical activities as this is considered to be the best way to bring and strengthen knowledge.The program is part of an upcoming competence centre where informal caregivers, persons with disabilities, and specialists from social, education and other sectors will be able to receive the information, practical support, and opportunities to learn the necessary skills.Responsible Department or Unit Project “RAITI: Rehabilitation. Support. Inclusion. Further education.”department.Target group/s Informal caregivers - relatives, friends, and other close ones ofpersons with a disability.Methodologies and approaches used to develop and carry out the initiative; service/s or activities that were developedIn 2021 SIVA completed an ESF project for persons with severe disabilities and mental health impairments in vocational rehabilitation. As a result, it was stated that there is a lack of support system for relatives and “support circle” of persons with disabilities. It was seen that these persons and so-called informal caregivers need specific knowledge to support their close ones, also because they are living in so-called “their own social bubble” that in reality not always allow them to reach the necessary knowledge and services. Therefore, the idea of creating a competence centre and competence development training program took place, which will allow the informal caregivers to receive the necessary knowledge and skills to be more educated, and independent, and provide better support for the persons they are taking care of daily.Then, the training-providing company (in collaboration with SIVA and NGOs) accomplished field research to recognize the needs of informal caregivers and identify the content of the training program (modules).Training modules have been developed to bring competencies for informal caregivers. The modules are easy and flexible to combine to match the individual needs of informal caregivers and the persons they are taking care of. Elements of innovation and creativity1. With this competence development training program from now on SIVA focuses and provides services not only for the main target group but also broadens the service users group by including a new target group - informal caregivers (relatives, friends and such).2. Until now SIVA has provided formal education training programs according to the vocational education and higher education regulatory enactments. With the mentioned competence development training program as one of the main services, the SIVA’s competence centre is going to be one of the most 4advanced competence centres for the support of persons with functional disabilities in Latvia. 3. Focus on the needs of informal caregivers to “strengthen the strong ones”. There are no such services in Latvia that would focus on supporting the support staff/family members and others so they do not drop out from the labour market and do not burn out, therefore, it is a unique service and program that is developed.How did the initiative demonstrate that it follows a rights-based approach?In the case of the Competence development training program for informal caregivers rights-based approach is the basis of the methodology and is seen in both for persons with disabilities to receive quality support and care, further economic and social planning such as possible employment and participation in social activities, and for the informal caregivers to have enough and fulfilled knowledge on their rights, self-care to not burning out, and educating them about the specifics of different limitations of their close ones to provide a quality care.Staff and resources (skills qualifications, infrastructure, materials) mobilised1. SIVA’s specialists (such as physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers, educators, occupational therapists, and others) are involved in providing training for informal caregivers. SIVA’sspecialists at the moment are attending courses to be prepared to work as lecturers for adult learners. Specialists will share their knowledge with informal caregivers according to the modules, their own competencies and experience, and the goals of the learning process.2. Within the procurement procedures is planned to fulfil the material-technical base with new assistive technologies and tools to educate informal caregivers on how to use them through practical training in the competence centre.3. In order to ensure the quality of services, SIVA will develop the infrastructure, improve the accessibility of the environment, implement the universal design, and create a new service provision standard, which will include not only instructions for the provision of social and vocational rehabilitation services but also regulations for evaluating and maintaining its quality.Were specific needs of the target group/s identified or people with a disability consulted in the realization of the initiative? If yes, how? (co-production approach)As the first step of the development of the training program, research has been made to collect the needs of informal caregivers from several European countries (the needs were observed and collected from such countries as the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania). The content of the training program is developed by the training-providing company that was chosen based on their experience in developing tailor-made training. As supervisors and consultants for the content were involved NGOs that represent different target groups of persons with disabilities.Were other stakeholders or partners (employers, families, associations, informal network, etc.) involved? If yes, how?Several informal caregivers were invited to participate in the discussions on the training programs’ development stage to have their vision and suggestions on the contents and how to provide the training itself. All SIVA employees are being introduced to the project and its outcomes. Especially, the new employees show their interest in 5being a part of the project team and they are kindly welcomed on board.MONITORING AND EVALUATIONWhat have been the mainimpacts on your users/clients, staff and the organisation?The first training for the informal caregivers will start in November 2023. Therefore the impact on the informal caregivers can’t be evaluated at the moment. During courses SIVA’s specialists have developed their skills - how to set up learning goals, how to effectively organize the learning process and deal with difficulties, how to effectively receive and give feedback, how to communicate with adult learners, how to keep learners engaged and motivated, how to keep lessons relevant, etc. It certainly strengthens the skills of specialists and is useful in daily communication with other clients. New knowledge adds new values to the team and services that are being provided by SIVA.How are you measuring/assessing whether the service/initiative is implementing some or all the key factors characterising the rightsbased framework? Do you have any evidence or studies to show the impact?One of the competence development training includes several criteria with aims to minimise the risks of dropping out from employment of informal caregivers that go through such modules as information sources, rights, self-care, and others. After completing the training participants will be asked to fill out a survey to evaluate if necessary knowledge, skills, and expectations are gained and if the aim of the training is achieved.What are, in your experience, the “success factors” or support measures which allowed your organisation to realize users’ inclusion, independence, participation and access toservices?SIVA has more than 30 years of experience in providing services for persons with disabilities. The staff members are professionals in their occupation, such as health care specialists (physicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, caregivers), psychologists, social workers, career counsellors, educators, etc. It was possible to combine their experience, gather feedback from relatives and close ones to persons with disabilities, and in cooperation with NGOs define the focus of the competence development training program. SIVA's strategic approach and experience allow considering that the developing competence centre and developed training program will have the foreseen success.What were, in your experience, the biggest hurdles or problems which made implementing rights-based approach to service creation, production and deliverydifficult to be developed or put in place?On the training program modules’ development stage, more and more topics turned out to be relevant (additionally to the stated ones within the research). As a result, the provided materials, resources, and scope of methodology are deeper and wider than expected. Nevertheless, this implementation obstacle has turned out to be an additional option for lecturers to diversify and combine modules and materials more effectively. However, it is impossible for SIVA to provide all informal carers with the specific information they need. Each informal caregiver has its own needs and a developed methodology isn’t the comprehensive tool to replace support from other institutions and fill all the gaps in 6the system. This methodology is just a way to decrease the lack of help that informal caregivers are not able to receive daily. Our focus is to include SIVA specialists as those who will implement the competence training program and its modules. When developing the training program, a lot of thought was given on the way how to involve the existing team and how specialists can make the best contribution to strengthening the competencies of informal caregivers.At the same time, it was crucially important to develop training programs’ modules so that they are done more effectively in possible little time. This is necessary because of informal caregivers' daily schedules and their involvement in supporting their close ones so that they can participate in the training and not interrupt the care process of their loved ones.FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS AND TRANSFERABILITYHow do you see the initiative developing in the future?In the future, the competence centre will develop even more together with the training modules. For the program to be recognised informal caregivers will be able to apply for training as soon as they need to (compared to the current situation when trainees are the ones who have been providing care for several years and have their own experience of care). Also, it is planned to offer training in the regions, closer to the place of residence of the informal caregivers so they do not interrupt the care for their close ones by coming to SIVA facilities for the training.We see the methodology as a successful support service for informal caregivers.What are the major future challenges you see in relation to the initiative, for your users/clients, staff and organisation and for employers? How does your organisation try to overcome them?1. Due to staff changes all the newcomers should be trained to provide the training.2. Keeping in mind the rapid development of assistive technologies and tools, it will be necessary to regularly renew the materialtechnical base of the competence centre, which will require an additional budget.3. Planning and organising the training to be available in regions closer to the informal caregivers and the persons being cared for place of residence. The staff training on how to provide training programs’ modules can be solved by the internal training of specialists by including it as a must-do activity during the adaptation period of new staff members.The update of the material-technical base should have a more detailed and scrupulous budget planning.Continue working on planning to provide training opportunities for informal caregivers in the regions. Do you think the initiative could work in another country? If so, which aspect/s and why?The competence development training program could be surely adapted and implemented in other countries as it was seen that among the countries that were taken into account to define the needs of informal caregivers, there are quite similar needs. Therefore, the developed methodology could work in other countries as well.During the field research process, portraits of informal caregivers’ needs in Latvia and Europe were created. Which were quite similar 7among different countries. Therefore, programs based on Latvian informal caregivers are applicable also to caregivers in Europe and worldwide. Modules are easy to combine, content can be easily adapted for specific groups of caregivers, content can be delivered to groups of all sizes, face-to-face groups and some parts of content even for online groups.POLICYHow would you describe your organisation’s cooperation and dialogue with policy makersand/or public authorities as to adaptations you had to make?Daily, SIVA cooperates with the managing ministry (Ministry of Welfare of the Republic of Latvia), and there were no major obstacles in cooperation with the ministry to implement the project activities. Considering the experience in social and vocational rehabilitation services provided by SIVA specialists and the ability to bring excellent services, the idea and concept of a competence centre was approved by policymakers and financially supported by the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Latvia.Have there been changes in legislation or regulations that positively or negatively affected the realization of rights-based services? If so, could you briefly describe what changed and with what effect for your users/clients, staff, organisation and employers.N/a.What would need to change in funding, policy and regulatory frameworks to better support people with disabilities’ rights?As was seen in Latvian regulations and available services in general, there is a lack of professional assistants (as available specialists to provide care). In real life, most relatives and close friends of persons with disabilities are officially registered as their assistants. Mostly, these people have no specialized education, specific knowledge or skills to provide quality care and assistance. Nevertheless, they do their best in the name of goodwill and sometimes because not having any other options. Therefore, a supporting system is necessary to be developed for these people to provide quality care, not to burn out, and as a result better assist persons with disabilities to fully participate in social life and the labour market