SIENHA - Strategic Innovative Educational Network for Healthy Ageing

The aim of the SIENHA project is to support Healthy Ageing among European countries through the competence development of social and health care professionals, in order to:

a) Increase understanding on healthy ageing as a lifetime process requiring increased attention at all phases of life (from childhood to old age);

b) Transform understanding and support continuous development of competences of students, teachers and professionals to foster Healthy Ageing across Europe;

c) Support the exchange of knowledge across Europe to learn from the best practices in higher education to develop Healthy Ageing;

d) Increase citizens' knowledge and individuals' involvement in supporting personal health and healthy ageing;

SIENHA consortium includes the following higher education institutions:

1. Universitat Ramon Llull, ES (Project Coordinator)
2. JAMK University of Applied Sciences, FI
3. Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, PT
4. Santa Casa Da Misericordia De Lisboa, PL
5. Kolegji Heimerer, KO
6. Stichting Hogeschool Utrecht, NL
7. Hochschule Für Gesundheit, DE

Direct target groups of the project include the participant higher education institutions, their teachers/professors and students in social and health care. Other target groups of the project include the faculty members of partners, other European partner higher education institutions, associate stakeholders, health care organizations of partner countries, working life professionals, vocational level education and further education.

Project results aimed through activities, developed through four intellectual outputs include:

1) A Framework that establishes key healthy ageing (HA) competencies to be achieved by health and social professionals, along with the content and pedagogical guides that ensure its completion;
2) Healthy aging curriculum (EQF level 7) to qualify and optimize health and social services professionals' competences;
3) A Toolkit of innovative and research strategies, as well as priority lines and methods for educational and scientific development in healthy ageing;
4) A Handbook that summarizes contents of the key project results to be usable by all partner HEIs, target groups and end users;
5) A compendia of pedagogical strategies and methods to stimulate the 4th Industrial Revolution competences: 'learnability', critical and fast thinking, emergent decision making, creativity, entrepreneurial skills, co-creation and empathy on professionals;
6) Advocacy and increase of the awareness and understanding of new models for healthy ageing in professionals, end users and stakeholders;
7) A strategic network of sharing best experiences on the concept and actions for healthy ageing, sustainable society and influencing decision-making.