Eldicare 2.0

Re-defining skills in a post-COVID European Silver Economy

Eldicare 2.0 is the continuation of the Sector Skills Alliance project “Eldicare: Matching Skills in a Growing European Silver Economy, which had a great impact on the elderly care sector, since the project contributed to the improvement of skills intelligence, and has provided a clear strategy to address skills mismatches in the elderly health sector. However, since the project was affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 within its lifespan, some expectations were implemented only virtually. At the same time, the situation analysis had already been conducted before the pandemic broke out, and thus the latest developments were not included. Finally, it was found that COVID-19 has influenced the elders more than any other population group since it increased the feeling of isolation and loneliness of the elderly people who either live alone, or in a nursing home and are not able to meet their family.

For all the above findings, and based on many European evolutions in the field of Silver Economy after the pandemic crisis, a new synergy was developed, focusing on the post-COVID era, with the aim to address all the aforementioned challenges and apply the goals of EC related not only to digitalization but to green transition as well. Moreover, this project emphasises the entrepreneurial skills of caregivers, since a plethora of them are working in parallel as exclusive caregivers at patients’ homes, based on findings of the virtual piloting activities of the first Eldicare project.