Healthy ageing: elective course unit
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Introduction
In April 2018, the Comenius Senior Fellows 2018 subsidy was awarded to the project ‘Optional multi-level study programme for existing and future professionals on Healthy Ageing in people with an intellectual disability’.
This research project will result in an elective course unit designed to foster inter-professional collaboration among those working with clients who have an intellectual disability and complex care and support needs. The programme draws people together from different disciplines (healthcare and welfare) and different educational backgrounds. The research is being conducted by the user network: Hanze University of Applied Sciences (schools of Nursing, Health Care Studies and Social Studies), the University of Groningen (Department of Special Needs Education), Alfa College (Healthcare and Welfare) and six healthcare organisations in the north of the Netherlands (Vanboeijen, ’s Heeren Loo, Koninklijke Visio de Brink, Philadelphia, De Trans and Talant).
Benefits to practice
The elective course unit will comprise study guides for the different levels of blended learning. The interim results of the project are:
- A description of the entry requirements for participation in the elective course unit, including explanatory notes and justification
- An outline of the elective course unit, including study manuals for the different levels User-ready online learning environment
- Introduction of elective course unit into the existing educational setting: animated video and symposium (June 2020)
About the researcher
What is your role within the Academic Collaborative Centre related to people with PIMD?
Within the Academic Collaborative Centre related to people with PIMD, I carry overall responsibility for the collaborative Comenius project ‘Optional multi-level study programme for existing and future professionals on Healthy Ageing in people with an intellectual disability’. I also work at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, teaching within the School of Nursing and leading the Knowledge Factory ’Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a disability’. One of the goals of the collaborative relationship between the two organisations is to incorporate research results into education.
What do you hope to achieve?
My ambition is to develop education that encourages students and professionals to look beyond the borders of their own discipline. The complex care and support needs of people with PIMD mean that it is important for all the different healthcare workers involved to collaborate effectively, not losing sight of the broader picture. What motivates me is my desire to get students learning, to keep them learning and to foster their enthusiasm for working with people with an intellectual disability. And I believe that it is important that each person learns to bring their own particular strengths to the collaborative process.