DiKomP

Digital Competence for Care Workers and People in Need of Care

The care profession is facing major challenges. On the one hand, demographic change is leading to an increased demand for care; on the other, there is a severe shortage of care workers. Additionally, the roles and responsibilities of care staff are evolving. Technology is increasingly supporting documentation and assessment processes, while assistive technologies and telecare help care professionals with routine tasks and enable people in need of care to live as independently as possible.

The primary objective in using these technologies is to support people in need of care and to relieve the burden on care staff. However, there is a lack of training, further education and professional development programmes in the area of digital competence, and digital technologies are often met with considerable scepticism by care workers. Here, the promotion of digital literacy—as a foundation for digital competence—can help facilitate the adoption of these technologies. Care staff can be trained more quickly, better recognise the benefits of these technologies, and become competent partners in the development of future innovations.

As part of the project, and following an initial baseline evaluation, concepts for imparting digital competences in care-related training, further education and professional development will be developed, implemented and evaluated. In order to accommodate the working conditions in the care sector, special emphasis will be placed on time- and location-independent learning, as well as lifelong learning.

People in need of care and their relatives or close associates are to be empowered to participate actively and knowledgeably in decisions regarding the use of healthcare and care technologies. This will be achieved through the provision of essential knowledge about how these technologies work, along with their opportunities, challenges, and risks. Recommendations for action will be developed for municipal stakeholders, and relevant advisory and educational services may be implemented where appropriate.

Project partners

• Caritas-Altenhilfe for the region Konstanz https://www.caritas-altenhilfe-konstanz.de/
• Hochschule Kempten - Bayerisches Zentrum Pflege Digital https://www.hs-kempten.de/bzpd-bayerisches-zentrum-pflege-digital
• Sozialdienste Götzis gGmbH https://hdg-vorarlberg.at/