ELLAN – European Later Life Active Network - Transnational development of an agreed Core European Competencies Framework for working with older people

The need for cooperation throughout Europe to meet new challenges in professional work with older people seems to be undeniable. In this context a competency based education is considered as crucial. Therefore, it is regarded... [ view full abstract ]

The need for cooperation throughout Europe to meet new challenges in professional work with older people seems to be undeniable. In this context a competency based education is considered as crucial. Therefore, it is regarded as essential to build on both, inter- and transnational partnerships between Higher Education Institutes and transprofessional partnerships, including older adults on the one hand and students on the other hand, as experts of their own experience. In this context the EU-funded Project ELLAN (2013 – 2016) takes place with a consortium of 28 partners from all over Europe.

The overarching aim of ELLAN is to develop a European Core Competencies Framework for working with older people (ECCF) in the horizon of positive ageing and social cohesion. Moreover, the ECCF is being developed as an instrument for transnational curriculum design in this field. Consequently, the project is designed to share good practice and innovative approaches of both, the work with older adults and competency based learning.

An underlying Europe-wide literature review to explore competencies required for working with older people has been conducted. Accordingly, qualitative research has been carried out to explore the older people’s ideas about required and desired competencies of professionals. The exploration of the older people’s perception has been completed by a mixed method’s research related to the professionals and the student’s outlooks, accompanied by innovative educational approaches. Finally, the results will be consolidated in the ECCF.