BackgroundAssuming a lifelong learning perspective, this project aims to increase the intercultural competences of healthcare professionals in Europe, through non-formal training. According to EU SKILLS PANORAMA (2014) report on the prospects for health professionals, healthcare providers in Europe should develop their skills as far as societal trends and influences as well as human ethnicity and culture are concerned. The need for intercultural competences has been stressed out by a lot of academics and researchers in the field. Anand & Lahiri (2009, p.388) argue that the key to an efficient healthcare is the “skills to learn about cultural and personal beliefs in a respectful way”. Spencer (2014) emphasizes the teachable dimension of intercultural skills and the importance of this aspect of professionalism for the satisfaction of the patient and the provider, as well as for the health outcomes. The intercultural competences are a useful tool for all the healthcare providers (doctors, surgeons, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists, nurses, healthcare assistants) in all the stages of practice: prevention, treatment, management of illness and promotion of physical and mental wellbeing. The inability to cope with different perceptions about illness and health may result in misdiagnosis and mistreatment (Ahmed, 2015). Apart from the generally acknowledged need for development of intercultural competences in the healthcare sector, the current wave of refugees and immigrants towards and inside Europe underlines the need for provision of healthcare that is adjusted to the patients’ needs.ObjectivesThe objectives of this project are a) to equip healthcare professionals with the intercultural competences required in order to provide medical and healthcare services tailored to the needs of their patients, b) to provide non-formal educational methods that can be combined with the formal education of the healthcare professionals, c) to promote the efficient provision of healthcare to ethnic minorities that either inhabit or pass through the partner countries, taking into consideration the significance of different perspectives on health and illness for an efficient and cost-effective healthcare system, d) to sensitize the decision makers of educational and health policies in the partner countries concerning the needs of both patients and healthcare providers, e) to set off an international conversation and cooperation between healthcare professionals g) to address current needs and challenges of healthcare professionals.BeneficiariesThe project directly targets all healthcare providers: doctors, surgeons, midwives, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists, nurses, healthcare assistants. Among the indirect target groups that are also addressed through this project are refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, Roma, Pomaks and any other ethnic minorities treated by the western healthcare system.Intellectual OutputsIO1 - Baseline report on Intercultural competences for healthcare professionals: Quantitative, Qualitative and Context Analysis. The main result of the Intellectual Output 1 is the identification of the intercultural competences that should be enhanced from the point of view both of the healthcare providers and their patients. IO2 - The InterHealth (ECVET based) Curriculum for Intercultural Competences of Healthcare professionals. The expected result of Intellectual Output 2 is a Curriculum for the development of the necessary know-how of the healthcare providers who treat patients with a culturally different background. IO3 - The InterHealth Forum for healthcare practitioners and patients in an intercultural setting. The InterHealth Forum aims to promote the active communication among healthcare professionals themselves and among them and the patients on the common ground of the need for intercultural healthcare. IO4 - The InterHealth mobile training application for autonomous learners. The aim of this Intellectual Output is to provide an interactive application that will promote autonomous learning of healthcare professionals on the subject of intercultural perspective on health and illness.IO5 - The InterHealth policy recommendations report. The main aim of this Intellectual Output is to produce a policy, guidelines and recommendations report which will among other matters review the use of intercultural training for the efficient delivery of healthcare to all patients.Results & ImpactThe project is expected to have a multiple impact on participating organizations, participants and stakeholders from the healthcare sector and the immigration-related field. The main results will be the provision of innovative training tools for the lifelong training of healthcare practitioners and the influence on policy makers related to healthcare education and training. Indirectly, migrants and refugees will enjoy personalized healthcare which on the same time will be cost effective and time effective.