<< Background >>Professional caregivers for older people play a major role in the physical and mental health, recovery and rehabilitation of the patients. A low quality of life for caregivers, will result in a low quality of life for service users.Caregivers hold responsibilities of intimate nature and work in spaces where hopelessness and staleness may take over the occupation experience, affecting their own mental and physical health to great extent; especially now, with the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic stressing the European Geriatric Sector and professionals who work in the field to unprecedented levels.The stressful work of professional caregivers makes them highly susceptible to burnout, a severe threat to their personal and professional lives with symptoms like:1. Decrease in energy levels or chronic fatigue2. Increased susceptibility to illness3. Self-neglect and lack of satisfaction in the work4. Sense of helplessness and hopelessnessBurnout has lasting effects and if left unresolved, the problem can grow out of control:- Caregivers: burnout can be devastating their professional and personal lives. In extreme cases people fall into depression and have suicidal thoughts. It is important that they are able to identify symptoms themselves and seek help through support systems, preventing further decline of their mental health. The earlier burnout symptoms are identified, the easier it is to combat the syndrome.- Long-term Care Institutions: they face a difficult situation when their staff is experiencing burnout, as the services they offer are compromised. Additionally, they need to secure and dedicate resources for the recruitment and training of new staff.- Ultimately, compromises in healthcare services are a hazard to the well-being, physical and mental health of patients/service users who are dependent on caregivers in order to satisfy even their most basic needs.There are a few ways which we can reduce the risk of burnout one of which is to educate healthcare management about the syndrome, train them to act as mentors and be on the lookout for symptoms among their staff, and to be able to facilitate effective and consistent supervision/mentoring sessions with the use of tools.In the context of this Vocational Education Project, the consortium aims to deliver products that will train managers of Long-term Care Institutions on:A. Becoming mentors and providing support for their staff. This way they will be able to take preventing measures against the burnout syndromeB. To be on the lookout and able to identify its symptomsC. To be aware of how it affects people and their organisationD. Applying methods to monitor and support staff who exhibit/report symptoms of the syndromeE. Implementing new methods during regular supervision sessions and methods with their staff, to promote self-reflection, boost morale and identify potential issues as means of prevention<< Objectives >>PROCARE Project Objectives:1. To raise awareness of the burnout hazard, especially in the field of geriatric healthcare where service users are dependent on professional caregivers in order to satisfy their needs2. To provide quality of life improvements to the occupation of professional caregiving, through the education of management, mentoring methodology and creation of innovative digital tools3. To ultimately improve the quality of life of older adults in the EU, who are depended on professional caregivers4. To develop mentoring methodology and tools, VET curriculum and corresponding training material for LTC management, so they are able to become mentors for their staff, to be on the lookout for burnout symptoms, and secure/manage resources to to support them5. To expand the EU VET providers’ portfolio, to develop a methodology to be used for future training course developments to address the issue of burnout in other sectors of the EU market6. To contribute to the COVID-19 recovery efforts of the VET and LTC fields on local, regional and European levels7. To contribute to the advancement of VET and LTC policies that will promote the inclusion of mentoring skills and practices as an important asset in supporting the development of LTC managers and caregivers<< Implementation >>The PROCARE Main Project Activity AgendaProject Management main Activities:- Four transnational project meetings in Poland, Italy, Greece and Cyprus- Monthly online meetings- Bi-annual internal financial reports- A Project Management and Implementation Interim Report to the NA- A Final report to the Polish NAQuality Assurance Monitoring and Evaluation Activities:- Drafting and implementation of a Quality Evaluation Plan- Evaluation of consortium meetings- Gathering and processing feedback from participants of project activities- Monitoring of project indicators and ensuring high quality of project resultsDissemination Activities:- Preparation and implementation of a Dissemination Plan- Development of the PROCARE project visual identity- Development of a project website and promotional material- Creation of project social media pageC1 - Training of Trainers:The Training of Trainers event will take place in Greece and will also include an online delivery part. For this activity, the partner organisations will designate trainer learners from the VET Training and Education field in order to satisfy the necessary education needs they require to carry out training for LTC managersProject Result 3 Pilot test of the Mentoring Methodology and Curriculum:Participants of C1 will carry out training sessions for 5 LTC managers from all partner countries. The Pilot will serve as means to receive feedback and comments regarding the PROCARE Mentoring Methodology, Tools and Training curriculum.Multiplier Events:Multiplier Event invitations will be sent through the consortium contact networks. The PROCARE Multiplier Events will take place in all 6 partner countries; Poland, Luxembourg, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Slovakia.Invitees will be members of the following groups:- LTC management- Geriatric Healthcare and Social Work stakeholders (nursing associations, associations for older people etc.)- VET Policy makers and stakeholders- VET providers; trainers and organisations- Local authorities (Ministries of Healthcare)- Representatives from the LTC caregiver beneficiaries<< Results >>The PROCARE consortium expects the following Project Results and Outcomes:- The PROCARE PR1 Mentoring Methodology- The PROCARE PR1 Digital Mentoring Toolkit- The PROCARE PR2 Mentoring Curriculum and Training Material- The PROCARE PR3 Policy Paper- The PROCARE Project Management Handbook- The PROCARE Quality Assurance Handbook- The PROCARE Dissemination Strategy Handbook- Six National Findings Reports with research findings, learning needs data and conclusions- PR3 Pilot Mentoring Activity- The PROCARE C1 Activity- The PROCARE project website, social media page and other dissemination material- 5 x Multiplier Events in Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Slovakia and Poland- 1 x Multiplier Conference in Luxembourg