Toolkit to Foster Friendships in Later Life
▶Summary
More than 75 million people in Europe are socially isolated. FRIEND promotes social inclusion of older people by providing them with an evidence-based training that uniquely targets loneliness thr...
▶Objectives
More than 75 million people in Europe are socially isolated. FRIEND promotes social inclusion of older people by providing them with an evidence-based training that uniquely targets loneliness through coping mechanism skills. The training is accompanied by a toolkit for local learning centres that includes a train the trainer programme and best practice guide for sustainable implementation. FRIEND will have a true impact on social inclusion by targeting core skills to connect with other people.
▶Activities
The project will develop the FRIEND toolkit with and tailored to the specific needs of older people, trainers and local learning centers. It will use a blended strategy and innovative online methods, such as bite sized video or animation based learning. The project will run a pilot to directly learn from practice, and continuously improve the train the trainer and FRIEND program in parallel. With a WCS we will promote capacity building and gather best practices to reach isolated older people.
▶Impact
The toolkit is published in 6 languages and geared towards sustainable implementation and uptake by the partners and third party organizations across the EU. Local learning centres have increased capacity to address social isolation, trainers have better competences to introduce the FRIEND programme and older people will obtain better skills to embark on new friendships. FRIEND will impact social inclusion for older people.