ABOUT US
Super Lingo is a project to create an online English-language learning tool. The program will consist of short, intensive language classes and are designed for healthy adults as well as those have reported Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and people with early stage dementia. The users of the tool will use the online games and role playing scenarios independently for a six-month period.
OUR OBJECTIVES
The Super Lingo project is intended to improve and extend the supply of high-quality learning opportunities which are tailored to the needs of people experiencing cognitive decline and mild dementia. This will be assured by creating an innovative foreign language training program tailored for this target group. A team of language, technology and dementia experts will work with our target population on a continuous basis establishing feedback loops to design, test and refine the training package.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Focus groups analysis, data analysis, design of the training material, design and development of role play games and memory games, training of project’s sample target group, evaluation and assessment are the key activities. Pilot testing, dissemination and use of project’s results and multiplier events will be organized as part of the effort to involve target group members.
ABOUT US
Super Lingo describes a specifically tailored, modern, online English-language learning project incorporating a set of interactive vocabulary games and role-playing scenarios for continued practice. Learning new vocabulary helps retain memory. Role playing is a commonly used language learning exercise which gives students a chance to activate their knowledge in a safe setting. This is a particularly relevant methodology for our target audience of older adults who may have transportation issues, auditory or other health problems, and who tend to process new information at a slower rate and so require more repetitions than provided in traditional learning setting. The recorded relevant content can be listened to as many times as needed. The games will be based on memory practice such as memory card games, putting letters in the right place, hangman etc. Moreover, the adult learners are able to continue practicing their newly learned language skills in a safe and convenient environment which will encourage long-term use and increase their cognitive reserve in the process.
Five partners from 4 EU countries will bring a transnational approach to the project given the heterogeneity of living and caring conditions within the EU. The projects ultimate goal is to be used transnationally as dementia is indeed a transnational issue. By adopting a comparative approach, Super Lingo will be able to “distill” the core needs of the users, which are commonly shared regardless of their nationality. This search for the common “roots of needs” will allow the creation of learning materials exploitable beyond the five national contexts represented by the project.
PROJECT ACTIVITIESDescription of activities:People with SCD, MCI and early dementia will be specifically involved mainly in the pilot testing of the online memory and role play games developed within Super Lingo project and in the final multiplier events. Healthy elderly adults with SCD, people with dementia, family carers, health care professionals and stakeholders will be involved in the final multiplier events.
The activities that will take place during the 28 months duration of Super Lingo are the following:
- Role play games
- Memory games
- Library
- Seminars
- Workshops
- Multiplier events
- Dissemination activities
- Informal meetings
- Social media
Methodology to be used in carrying out the project:Our methodology includes:
a) tasks according to plan and quality criteria,
b) target group involvement and input,
c) promotion and raising awareness,
d) an underlying inclusive approach traceable to all activities,
e) reporting and meetings to discuss,
f) sustainability actions and transferability possibilities of results.
Neuropsychological evaluation pre and post the intervention:
- Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)
- Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) or other relevant test
- Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) or other relevant test
- Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
- The Short Anxiety Screening Test (SAST)
The long-term benefits are to:
⮚ Empowering people experiencing cognitive decline and people living with dementia.
⮚ Potentially delaying the progression of cognitive impairment.
⮚ Developing interactive educational games and activities for people with dementia.
Content for an engaging, short, intensive course and follow-up games and role-playing scenarios. Face- to-face meetings will be the basis for teaching how to continue online the practicing of foreign language exercises of games and role-playing dialogues.
CONSORTIUM
Athens Association Of Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Disorders
Greece
Athens Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (AAADRD) is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 by people with dementia, carers and health care professionals interested in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). It aims at promoting awareness, care and support for everyone in anyway related to the disease. Currently the Association numbers 5.500 official members, has a staff of 50 health professionals and 55 active volunteers and is run by a 7-member elected board.
The objectives of the organization are:
– help and support for people with dementia
– education and counselling for carers
– advocacy for people with dementia and carers’ rights and needs
– increase of public awareness
– scientific research on dementia
The activities of the organization include:
– memory clinics
– psychosocial interventions for people with dementia
– training, counselling and support for carers
– “Care at Home” service
– training of healthcare professionals
– dementia screening and prevention programs in the community
– publication of newsletters, factsheets and booklets
– liaisoning with the community
– participation in European and international research programs
AAADRD runs 4 Dementia Day Care Centres. The projects are supported by European Social Funding and the Greek Ministry of Health. Day Care Centres offer people with dementia the opportunity to enhance their cognitive abilities, socialize and help them maintain independence and enjoy a better quality of life. On a weekly basis approximately 250-300 people benefit from Centre services. A multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals provides a comprehensive array of services. AAADRD informs and supports a great number of people with dementia and their carers.
Spominčica Alzheimer – Slovensko združenje za pomoč pri demenci
Slovenij
www.spomincica.si
Spominčica (Forget-me-not) – Alzheimer Slovenia with its local branches (10), was established in 1997. It is a non-governmental organization with a status of humanitarian organization, aimed at providing support to carers and raising awareness and de-stigmatization of dementia. Through our activities we focus on meeting the growing needs in this field in our society, especially among those living with dementia at home and their families. The main activities of our program “Living with dementia in dementia-friendly environment” are aimed at providing support, information and education for carers and family members of persons with dementia. Throughout Slovenia more than 6000 participants, mainly persons with dementia, their carers and professionals in the field, are involved in our activities – Alzheimer Cafes, training programmes and workshops. Spominčica is maintaining a web site www.spomincica.si with relevant information about dementia, activities and news in the field. Spominčica is publishing booklets, leaflets and posters with information about dementia and first signs of dementia. All published material is distributed nationwide. Spominčica is also organizing round tables on the subject, public events (like Memory walk), Alzheimer Cafes (more than 140 per year), trainings for family members, carers and volunteers and providing volunteer companionship to persons with dementia at home.
Asociatia Habilitas – Centru de Resurse si Formare Profesional
Romani
www.habilitas.ro
HABILITAS Association in an NGO created in 2007 with the aim to contribute to the development of adults’ education. Habilitas delivers professional adult training and implements projects and programs in education and social innovation, at national and European levels. In present time, Habilitas is authorized by the National Authority of Qualifications to deliver professional training for the qualification “Home caregiver for elderly” and to issue qualification certificates, EU available. Habilitas is continuously developing training programs for volunteers, disadvantaged persons, young people in difficult situations, older persons, young and adult family carers, young and adult professional care workers, according to their identified needs (care needs, volunteering, personal development, improving practice, communications skills, improvement of personal skills, human rights, combating Hate Speech, identifying and preventing elder abuse) and has participated in developing several public policies (in the field of volunteering and in the field of public social services). In 2017, Habilitas has elaborated a local strategy for supporting seniors’ volunteering, which was adopted as a Strategy for Bucharest City for 2017-2021 by Bucharest City Hall. Asociatia Habilitas CRFP works in projects focused on enhancing quality of life of different population categories, on stimulating socio-professional integration of vulnerable and marginalized persons, and on raising awareness on social issues. In a continuous development, Habilitas has implemented several projects at local, National and European level and it has established strong collaboration and partnerships with local and national public authorities, other NGOs, trade unions, volunteering centers, employment agencies. Habilitas is member of Networks SenioriNET and INPEA. Currently there are 15 staff members who are paid, and more than 10 seniors volunteers.
Marathon Group
Ireland
Marathon Group is a company that calls itself: architects of knowledge. They provide integrated elearning and mlearning technology, content and implementation solutions. Their teams (10-20 people depending on the project we are involved in) offer the full range of development functions from business analysts to language learning specialists to software development and integration. Their content-focused projects and consulting services include on-line and offline digital applications and print-based publishing projects. Pedagogical product design: Marathon has broad experience developing international projects in a range of languages, for a range of student categories and using a range of learning methodologies. Their experience over the last 25 years has made them aware of the difficulties involved in second language acquisition and has allowed them to mold our solutions (both technical and pedagogical) for students who don’t have the opportunity to speak English outside their learning environment. Multinational experience in the field: The diversity of nationalities on Marathon teams as well as the breadth of their client base means that they have a deep understanding of a many cultures. Their previous and current clients comprise companies all over the world including Berlitz, Disney, Pearson/Longman, Macmillan, Positivo (Brazil) and Deagostini (Italy).
Lingo Flamingo
United Kingdom
Lingo Flamingo is a not-for-profit social enterprise centred on delivering accessible, laid-back and multi-sensory language lessons to older adults and those living with dementia. Working with care homes, day centres and retirement communities all across Scotland, they have delivered thousands of language classes using their bespoke textbooks and materials. At the heart of Lingo Flamingo’s ethos is the belief that language learning should be made accessible to all, and that you are never too late to learn something new. Since its inception in 2015, Lingo Flamingo has used developed a wealth of experience of the best teaching methods and approaches to engaging older adults in language learning, such as its interactive and immersive lesson plans which use techniques to evoke the senses, as well as to evoke reminiscence and nostalgia.
Working with partners such as the University of Edinburgh and Glasgow Caledonian University, Lingo Flamingo have sought to measure the impact of these classes and contribute to the wider knowledge base on the links between language learning and cognitive health. Research suggests that not only does language learning have important cognitive health benefits, but it is also an activity which contributes to improved self-esteem, well-being and enjoyment.
NEWS
The online Super Lingo application is becoming a reality!
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