The most recent EUVECA partner meeting took place in Luebeck, Germany, hosted by the Universitaetsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein Akademie (UKSH) and the Universitaet zu Luebeck. Bringing together 20 partner organisations from seven European countries, the meeting served as a forum for updating one another on the progress of our regional and inter-regional activities. Discussions centred on practical steps and tangible results of the project, such as the continuous development of the European Platform for Vocational Excellence in Healthcare and the Regional Vocational Excellence Hubs.
Over the course of the three days, the consortium continued collaborating to foster innovation and advancement in the healthcare sector, getting closer to the EUVECA objective of providing progressive training and 21st century skills to health and care professionals. The discussions revolved around how to define the necessary skillset for both current health and care professionals and students, giving them a comprehensive understanding the future obstacles and timely solutions. EUVECA overarching objective is to fortify Europe’s readiness within the health and social sector, empowering it to respond effectively and promptly to emerging needs.
The December meeting was particularly focused on two objectives: firstly, establishing regional competence networks in the health and care sector; and secondly, the continued development of the European Platform. The envisioned platform aims to facilitate knowledge-sharing and foster collaboration on future-oriented skills tailored for both students and health and care professionals. The ultimate goal of EUVECA is to create a European standard for healthcare education, offering an EU perspective on various healthcare areas, and clearing the way for cross-border connections.
In the pursuit of these goals, the partners were divided into six working groups, each dedicated to exploring a megatrend identified by EUVECA:
- The ageing population
- Growing importance of chronic diseases and co-morbidity among patients
- AI in healthcare
- Personalised medicine
- The modern health consumer
- Climate change
During the meeting, the consortium reported on the work done over the past months on how the megatrends could be integrated into the EUVECA Platform. Furthermore, they presented the topics and training methods – such as simulation training and e-learning – that are linked to these six megatrends which could be incorporated into the European Platform. The partners shared their progress and learnt from one another’s unique approaches. For those interested in exploring these megatrends further, detailed information can be found on the EUVECA website.
This was another productive and intellectually stimulating meeting with many interesting and insightful discussions and exchanges among the partners. Looking ahead, the EUVECA consortium will reconvene in June next year in Enschede, the Netherlands. We are already excited about continuing our efforts and fostering connections and synergy with other programmes that seek to enhance education and skill development for healthcare professionals and health managers!
EUVECA is an ERASMUS+ project designed to support the development of future-oriented skills within the health and care sector.
