Category: Covid-19

STEP_UP partners wrapped up the project in Frankfurt

The final Transnational Project Meeting of STEP_UP | Stop Epidemic Growth Through Learning took place on the last week of February in Frankfurt, Germany.  We now say goodbye to the consortium that worked together since December 2020 aiming to introduce social care and community stakeholders to the impact of behaviours in the spread of a pandemic/emergency situation and also, on how to prevent and cope with these types of situations. However, the collaboration remains and will continue, to ensure that the project results will be used, exploited and leveraged on further! At the end of this project, we are proud to showcase: This last meeting allowed to go through the final details and think about the sustainability of the project for the future!  It was a huge pleasure for SHINE as project Coordinator to work together with AFEdemy, ISIS, CIPH and Wise Angle….Continue Reading STEP_UP partners wrapped up the project in Frankfurt

Multiplier Event of the STEP_UP project

The Multiplier Event of the European Project STEP_UP: Stop epidemic growth through learning will be held on 9 November 2022, from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, in a face-to-face and hybrid format, at the Nursing School of Coimbra. STEP_UP is an Erasmus+ project, coordinated by SHINE 2Europe, which during the last two years has developed a training tool based on an educational game, which aims to raise awareness of the impact of behaviours in the spread of a pandemic/emergency situation. This training material is aimed at adult education, with particular emphasis on community leaders, informal carers and volunteers, social and health professionals, who can learn about preventive measures and their different impacts at individual, work, family, governmental and other levels. The main objective of this event is to share knowledge and the results achieved during the project: The project will be presented during the morning session by the representative of the Portuguese partner SHINE 2Europe, Carina Dantas, with a presentation on the process, methods and results. In the afternoon session, led by Francesco Camonita from the Spanish partner Wise Angle and SHINE 2Europe, an active methodology will be used to allow participants to experience, through hands-on learning, how the online game works and to access the content first-hand, learn and try out the practical exercises. We intend that a wide community can benefit from this action. Therefore, the event will be inserted in a Conference with an extended programme, dedicated to social innovation, learning and implementation and will count with hundreds of national and international participants interested in these themes, so we invite you to participate in all the other sessions that you consider relevant. The event is subject to (free) registration HERE and you can check the agenda:…Continue Reading Multiplier Event of the STEP_UP project

COVID-19 measures. Results of a survey 

By Willeke van Staalduinen and Jonas Bernitt (AFEdemy)  The need to improve societal communication and the monitoring of measures is one of the main conclusions in the STEP_UP survey. A total of 133 people answered the questionnaire that the STEP_UP project team (WISE, ISIS, AFEdemy, SHINE and the Croatian health institute) shared among social, healthcare and municipal workers. Each project partner shared the survey with one professional group, specifically volunteers, social care workers, healthcare professionals, healthcare workers and municipality officials.  In early 2022, the STEP_UP project team asked healthcare, social care and municipal workers to give their opinion on the COVID-measures we found in literature. We asked their opinions on the following measures: In total the survey received 133 respondents, mainly from Croatia, The Netherlands, Portugal and Germany.  Questions on social measures were answered by 22 social care workers, 10 volunteers and 44 people with other professions. Quarantine and preventive measures were seen by them as best to prevent the virus from further spreading. Tracing apps were seen as not effective and scored negatively on acceptance by society. Especially preventive measures (distancing, hygiene, wearing masks) and quarantine were well accepted by the respondents. Suggestions for improvement included better monitoring of compliance during quarantines and clearer communication when a quarantine should be carried out. Tracing apps could be improved by a better design, higher data protection and more energy efficiency.   31 healthcare professionals and 19 public health workers gave their opinion on healthcare measures. They gave the highest scores to the establishment of a separate COVID-19 station and to preventive measures. On the contrary they had a negative opinion on the cancellation or restriction of less urgent medical services and treatments. In this context seven participants pointed out that healthcare systems need to be available to everyone. Suggestions for improvement were to communicate some measures and their function more clearly or to start earlier with certain measures such as wearing masks.   The last surveyed group consisted of workers in municipalities who evaluated the political measures. As most effective to combat the virus were seen a lockdown, fostering public engagement, the building of a taskforce and mandatory testing. The acceptance of measures by society shows another picture: As fostering public engagement, followed by building a taskforce scored best, mandatory testing was seen as least acceptable. Improvements on the measures included to increase the communication on lockdowns and the number of controls in rural areas.   In the last section of the survey, participants could recommend further measures. Among others they advised: a containment of access rights to people who are unvaccinated, a mandatory vaccination, the development of measures that are suitable for people with hearing issues, the involvement of experts, rules regarding working at home and the continuation of rules after the pandemic to prevent from diseases such as zoonosis. Additionally, respondents provided comments that more coordination with neighboring countries was needed, that there should have been more attention to mental health and that there was in general less accessibility of primary health care.   The detailed survey results including all quantitative results and all open answers are summarized in a Tablebook and an Accompanying presentation, which is highlighting the best and worst rated social-, healthcare- and political measures. Moreover, the full survey results will also be worked out in a scientific article, to be submitted by Jonas Bernitt.  …Continue Reading COVID-19 measures. Results of a survey 

Facial expressions really matter

In May 2022, AFEdemy performed interviews with 2 female and 2 male policy makers from municipalities and ministries about the STEP_UP character Britta Johnson. The interviews took place online; the scenes of the game were presented to the interviewees. In general, the interviewees were very interested in the game and found the scenes very attractive. The policy makers suggested to change the facial expression of Britta Johnson. They value her facial expression as a little shy or sad and not quite convincingly to fiercely lead the island out of the crisis. This was a very eye opening comment: facial expressions really matter to convince the player of the right direction of the game. Also it was advised to change the position of the hands before the belly into hands next to the body. The designer is asked to propose new facial expressions. Other comments regarded the complexity of the presented minigame, the explanation of the scores and the colours to indicate the evolution of the virus. With the further building of the game, these issues will be solved….Continue Reading Facial expressions really matter

In Portugal, nurses and carers saw for the first time the results of the STEP_UP game

Following the work done over the past year, SHINE 2Europe has once again relied on the support of nurses and formal carers of older adults to see for the first time the outcome of the STEP_UP game, an educational game that promises to teach how to minimize the damage and risks of a pandemic. In the last year, these same participants were involved in the first workshops and through their contributions helped to delineate in a real way the characters and scenes of what will be the game “STEP_UP | Stop Epidemic Growth Through Learning. This game is one of the results of the STEP_UP project, of which SHINE is a partner with 4 other international partners, and which aims to develop a training tool for the social sector and community stakeholders, teaching the best ways to prevent and deal with pandemic situations, through an educational game. This time, the first scene of the game with the character Rosa Santos, a caregiver of a residential structure for older people, was presented to the nurses and formal caregivers. In this phase of the workshops, the main goal was to validate the understanding of the game scenes, how it’s played, how it goes to the following phases, or the effectiveness of the mini games presented. Since the participants had been a key support in structuring the game, they were pleasantly surprised to see their ideas materialized. Players will learn the right measures to proceed during a pandemic through multiple choices of right or wrong actions, mini games to distinguish fake news from true information or realize the importance of government measures. In recent years it has been proven that “gamification” improves learning skills, particularly for young people and people with low qualifications. The game will be aimed at professionals in the social sector but can also be used by any citizen and will be an important tool in adult training….Continue Reading In Portugal, nurses and carers saw for the first time the results of the STEP_UP game

New Vigilance and Control Strategy against COVID-19 for Spain. Seeking the “fluisation” and “endemisation” of the Virus.

[This document represents a summary of the current Spanish strategy for fighting against COVID-19 (as available at the end of April 2022) produced by the Spanish researchers of the Erasmus+ STEP_UP project]  At the end of March 2022, the Spanish government finally presented and activated the new national “Strategy of Vigilance and Control against COVID-19 after the acute stage of the Pandemic”, co-produced by the Health Ministry of Spain and the Carlos III Health Institute. The strategy acknowledges that the very high levels of vaccinated residents of Spain – over 92% of the population by the strategy’s publication date ­– and the lower-than-expected rates of hospitalisations during the country’s sixth wave of the virus have now determined a key possibility for turning the tables on the interpretation of the pandemic and over how to deal with it. The Spanish press has already named this (political) process as the “fluisation” of the virus (from the Spanish “Gripalización del virus”, to consider the virus as the flu) or even as the “endemisation” of the disease. This is conceived as a stage in which the COVID-19 disease will be increasingly treated at medical level as more common flus. Nonetheless, the strategy considers that there are exceptions to the new rules (i.e., vulnerable community residences) and that the population must not forget to maintain a careful hygiene, prevention and responsible control strategy for spreading the virus. Read more information here….Continue Reading New Vigilance and Control Strategy against COVID-19 for Spain. Seeking the “fluisation” and “endemisation” of the Virus.

STEP_UP project partners in Croatia

Representatives from the partners of Step-Up consortium attended the third transnational meeting of the project, which took place on 5 and 6 April in Zagreb, Croatia. This project, whose main result will be an educational game to raise awareness of how to deal with a pandemic, aims to develop adult education tools with particular emphasis on the social sector and community agents. Portugal coordinates this European ERASMUS+ project, through SHINE 2Europe, with the remaining partners being AFEdemy from the Netherlands, ISIS from Germany, Wise Angle from Spain and CIPH from Croatia. It was the latter, the Institute of Public Health of Croatia, the host of the meeting, in which was presented the current state of the development of the game and where it was possible to see the first images of the characters that compose it, scenarios and interface. The final results of a wide-up survey on the measures used in the various countries to deal with the pandemic and which will be soon published were also presented. This questionnaire was completed by physicians, caregivers, volunteers, nurses, political representatives, among others. There was also an opportunity to present the progress in the manual of social and political interventions and in the trainer’s toolkit that are being developed within the scope of the project. The partners of the STEP_UP project received a warm welcome from the Croatian partner, who prepared a pleasant surprise at the end of the working meeting: a historical tour guided by a witch, who was in fact a historian who captivated the attention of all participants with its historical and fantastic version of the city of Zagreb. The project partners will continue work to bring their educational game to the public STEP_UP | Stop Epidemic Growth Through Learning….Continue Reading STEP_UP project partners in Croatia

Long-term strategy with Corona, The Netherlands

By Willeke van Staalduinen, AFEdemy, Academy on Age-Friendly Environments in Europe B. V. (willeke@afedemy.eu). On April 1st 2022, the Dutch government released its view on the long-term strategy for COVID-19. The government considers that in March 2022, most corona rules went away and The Netherlands is open again. The government would like to keep it that way. At the same time, the virus is not going away. Therefore a strategy is needed. Read more information here….Continue Reading Long-term strategy with Corona, The Netherlands

TELL US YOUR VIEWS – EVALUATION OF COVID-19 MEASURES

PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/STEP_UP_evaluation_survey Can you share your experiences with us on working with the Coronavirus outbreak and the measures for containing it? The aim of the STEP_UP e-survey is to learn more from your experiences on working during the pandemic period and the measures that were taken or recommended to contain the spread of the virus and the consequences of isolation. We want to include your feedback and recommendations as part of the STEP_UP manual. The questionnaire will take about 10-15 minutes to complete. The collected data will only be used for scientific purposes and the participation in the survey is voluntary. You will remain anonymous. Thanks for your support!…Continue Reading TELL US YOUR VIEWS – EVALUATION OF COVID-19 MEASURES

STEP_UP scenarios for politician well received by stakeholders

Almost one year ago, the STEP_UP game project started (Stop epidemic growth through learning, Erasmus+ KA2 Action, 2020-2023). Coordinator is SHINE 2Europe and as partner AFEdemy is responsible for the production of the Manual on social and policy interventions. The project team will develop an online serious game in which the learner can follow a chronological path from early detection to exit strategies from pandemics. The learner can also choose between playing different roles in the game: to step in the shoes of a prime minister, volunteer, nurse in a long term care institution, manager of a primary care organisation or being an epidemiological or public health expert. AFEdemy developed the scenario of Mrs. Britta Johnson. Vice prime minister and minister of Health on a fictive island who is confronted with the detection of a strange virus in Europe. Because the prime minister is absent for a longer period, she needs to take the decision to isolate the island and to take measures regarding the population and visitors of the island. AFEdemy discussed the scenarios with a (former) politician and several policy officers from municipalities and ministries. All experts found the scenarios really good and added some comments to improve the scenarios. The most important lesson AFEdemy learned is that it is very important to have a dedicated team of experts around you and to focus on the communication. Communication must be transparent and providing true realistic messages to the public and avoid fake news. The main target group of the game is social and health workers, volunteers and supporting workers at municipalities….Continue Reading STEP_UP scenarios for politician well received by stakeholders