Supporting professionals working with and people living with Parkinson’s disease through an integrated care approach: a digital training program

Parkinson's disease (PD) is possibly one of the most complex and varied pathologies, which difficult their treatment. Its neurodegenerative nature means that individuals living with the disease and their loved ones have to cope continuously and over many years with different symptoms and difficulties associated. In this sense, it is crucial for members of multidisciplinary care team of Parkinson to have the most detailed knowledge of the pathology as possible, of the advances in its treatment and the applications that new technologies make possible in this field. Therefore, "Improving the availability of high-quality learning opportunities for adults" was a deeply thought-out choice and aimed to reflect the need to provide professionals with quality knowledge and skills in the field of PD and to facilitate their access by taking advantage of the opportunity that new teaching methods (e-learning) offer, thus being able to reach a wider and more diverse audience (different countries, cultures...).

The SUPER project aims to provide digital multidisciplinary training to address several challenges related to Parkinson's disease (PD), including the expected increase in prevalence, the impact of PD progression on health and care systems, the lack of knowledge on Integrated Care (IC) models, and the poor digital skills of people with Parkinson's (PPD). By improving the knowledge and skills of multidisciplinary care teams, the project seeks to enhance the quality of life and autonomy of PPD and their families, while also increasing the effectiveness of care delivery. Specific objectives include designing a co-validated training course and e-learning platform, increasing knowledge on IC models, encouraging collaborative work among professionals and PPD, promoting empowerment and digital skills among PPD and their families, and raising awareness among stakeholders. Ultimately, the project aims to have a positive impact on the lives of those affected by PD and improve the capabilities of care providers across the EU.

The main activities implemented in the SUPER project were: - Development of a deeper understanding of the exact training needs, gaps and requirements of health and social care professionals have regarding the IC on PD (R1). And also, development of the basis of the training curriculum (R2) and e-learning platform requirements (R3) by co-design sessions with main actors. The report highlights shortages, needs and good practices and discuss the training requirements that professionals need and should be taken into consideration when designing the training course. For this aim, the main activities were: 1) Review of available training opportunities and programs for professionals in Italy, Spain and other European countries, and 2) Focus groups with health and social professionals and people living with PD/relatives and caregivers. - Development of the contents and materials of the training course about IC for PD addressed to health and social care professionals. Based on R1 and a narrative literature review carried out by the consortium, the training course was provisionally structured under the following learning modules: 1) PD (clinical aspects, health and social care, resources for dealing better with the disease); 2) IC (new care model focused on the person, new roles and professional skills for the IC, digitalization in the health sector); 3) IC applied to PD (Working with a person with PD from the IC, communication skills, how to manage complex situations with the PD patient and families/caregivers, professional self-care in the PD context). - Design of an e-learning platform containing the training course for health and social care professionals (R3). It also includes quizzes, scores, badges, certificate, history of previous sessions, optional leaderboard (ranking system).

The SUPER project produced the following outputs and results: - A map of person-centred, integrated care programs for families living with PD in Europe and beyond. An ecosystem mapping and training methodological framework: Integrated care in PD (R1). This was carried out by exploring the existing training and specific needs as well as knowledge gaps as perceived by social and health care professionals, and families living with Parkinson’s. This project intended to develop online training, the report includes shortages, needs and good practices concerning IC and digital skills in PD. In addition, this result was accomplished by completing participatory sessions including 84 members of multidisciplinary teams, and families living with Parkinson’s in three different European countries (Spain, Netherlands, and Italy). SUPER project encouraged the empowerment and the sense of responsibility of the target groups through the participatory method, and it allowed care teams to focus and meet perceived and objective needs. - SUPER training course about IC for PD (R2): The training course was developed on the basis of the aforementioned result and meeting the needs of all target groups. It includes comprehensive training content supported by other sort of tools such as videos, case studies, exercises, and/or reading material. Specifically, the course provide knowledge on PD, transformation towards IC, professionals competences to properly deliver IC, and care delivery from an integrated perspective. This course is innovative to different professional profiles across Europe since there is a lack of training and learning opportunities for health and social care professionals on IC for PD. In addition, specific guidelines for the implementation the training course (R2) allowing transferability and scalability of the course to other health and social care contexts was developed. - SUPER e-learning platform (R3) including the training course for members of multidisciplinary care teams constitutes an added value as it will allow professionals (and other people interested in the field of IC and PD) access to quality training freely available. The e-learning platform may be useful for a wide range of professionals, patients and caregivers in the partners' countries. In addition, other stakeholders from European countries (and beyond) facing the burden of PD not represented in the consortium will be benefited. - A co-validated training course (on-line modality). To this aim, 106 health and social professionals from Spain, Italy, and other EU and non-EU countries (from the IFIC network) was trained on IC in PD and gave their feedback on the effectiveness, utility and quality of the materials and results produced as well as any possible modifications or improvements. Validations allows the applicability, transferability and scalability of the SUPER products across Europe. – Awareness raised on the PD and IC model through the development of several dissemination actions at national and international level mainly addressed to all those people linked to the disease and other chronic/neurological conditions, integrated care or healthcare services policy and/or research. Specifically, a total of 386 professionals attended the multiplier events, participated in the validations action and were involved in the participatory sessions. SUPER project also reached stakeholders from different dissemination actions such as presentation of the project in specific events and social media activities (blogs, press releases, promotional videos).