DUB-IN: The Transformative Power of my Voice. Charting Future Directions on Social Skills Training for People with Psychosocial Disability.

DUB-IN project is specifically addressed to people with psychosocial disability (PwPD), suffering from severe mental health issues as schizophrenia. This group of diseases is characterized by cognitive, psychophysiological and interpersonal deficits, which make more difficult to acquire and develop new skills and which require the adaptation and accommodation of learning/training opportunities. PwPD also show a decrease in motivation, interest and pleasure, but if there is a deficit that characterizes it, it is low social functioning. Usually PwPD suffer from affective flattening indicated by unchanging and unresponsive facial/voice expression, aprosodia and diminished communication. Besides, they are difficulties at the levels of social connection (social problems resolution, initiating/maintaining/finishing conversations, express opinions, make/accept critics, etc.). That puts them in a high risk of social exclusion. DUB-IN is an improved way to deliver social skills training in terms of effectiveness and applicability, but also provides trainers, practitioners, researchers and designers with new prospers and approaches to address the emergency of improving social functioning of PwPD that service provider can try instead.

DUB-IN has as ultimate goal to build an inclusive society, where there will be room for everyone and where everyone including PwPD, can participate. It will be done by ensuring that they have the skills to connect with others and, they use them in a certain way that provides the personal stability needed for a satisfying life in their communities. Specific objectives are: (1) To provide trainers and practitioners working with PwPD with comprehensive training solutions to address the lack of social skills of their target groups (2) To design a unique and attractive training program, based on dubbing and the real social/communication needs of PwPD, easily applicable in other MH organizations, which has the potential to improve the results of psychosocial rehabilitation at EU level. (3) To jointly design an innovative training model which provides PwPD with real actualizing opportunities in regards to their social skills and which allows them to: - Join into effective and attractive learning opportunities to improve social skills; Facilitate the transfer of the skills learnt; Connect training with real life; Increase their representation as voice actors, increasing the diversity of existing voices and reducing their invisibility.

1. Monographic study defining the real social needs perceived by both teachers, trainers, practitioners from the MH sector and by PwPD. It explores key and more demanding situations, evolution, impact, quality of existing interventions and trends in social skills development. This was carried out by using interviews, focus groups and panel discussions together with a desk research and as a result we identified relevant case scenarios and generalization techniques to further develop training units and the DUB-IN APP. 2. Design and development of the Online Training Service. DUB-IN Training service includes: Dubbing Director Curriculum: to enable professionals to apply this model within their own organizations, finding here all the information and results needed. - Mayor Player Programme and Workbook: Addressed to PwPD, it is a practical training on Social Skills which with a variety of cinematographic dubbing exercises designed by experts in Mental Health and Dubbing. It includes additional learning materials and evaluation exercises. 3. Design and development of the DUB-IN APP addressed to PwPD to repeatedly practice social skills and abilities following the structure of the Mayor Player Programme and to apply them in their real life with different people and situations from their own environments. 4. Training of the trainers in Athens on the use of dubbing techniques to train social skills and on the use of the DUB-IN tools. 5. Transnational pedagogical tests of the DUB-IN Online Training Service and the APP (including the traineeship period). Pedagogical tests followed the piloting protocol which contains all practical and logistic information, including indications about how to schedule and organise the pilot training. Different evaluation tools were designed to assess the adequacy of the training program, its effectiveness and impact using a pre/post scale, ongoing surveys and personal interviews, discussion tables, etc 5) Organization of the dissemination campaign including: - Design and production of appealing project identity, leaflets, website, press releases, etc. - 6 Multiplier events - social media feeds - Demos developed during the Internship periods.

(1) DUB-IN Director Programme, a sector specific, challenging situations and highly practical training about enhancing social skills of PwPD using Dubbing. Participants learnt from voice speed and verbal fluency, empathy, assertiveness or resilience using previously selected scenes to be dubbed as leading methodology. This Director programme is a tool for educators/trainers and practitioners working with PwPD. It is fully available to any practitioner or mental health setting beyond DUB-IN project's life. (2) The Mayor Player & Workbook: This is a valuable and a complementary resource to the sessions for those involved in the training (PwPD). Purpose of each session, theoretical material, evidence requirements (for assessment), exercises, suggesting further readings, tips, etc. are included and described in an accessible language; The workbook constitutes an essential learning guide for participants. (3) 16 trainers/practitioners from partners’ organizations underwnt the DUB-IN Training. (4) 42 PwPD involved in the pedagogical tests, conducted by the previously trained practitioners as tutors, under the supervision of experts partners (in dubbing and social skills). In this training, PwPD challenged the negative symptoms of the illness by acquiring and practicing new communication skills which lead to social competence and its associated rewards (boosting self-esteem, empowerment and hope) through dubbing. (5) The DUB-IN APP developed to support one of the most important objectives of this (and any) social skills training which is generalization. (6) Six local awareness-raising campaigns to extend the use of DUB-IN project. 500 organizations received tailored information carefully edited for them about this training, information which have been complemented with training demonstrations, seminars and conferences.