HEALTH Up!

• Project name: HEALTH UP! PREVENTING EATING DISORDERS IN VET
  EDUCATION
  

• Project number: 2024-1-ES01-KA220-VET-000244614

• Duration: 01/12/2024 – 31/05/2027

• Project website: available soon

It is estimated that 20 million people suffer from eating disorders in Europe. These are mainly diagnosed among Young people between 15-25 years old (especially women), although in the last years, an increasing number of cases have been shown in even younger age groups.

An eating disorder, as defined by different European health services, is “a mental health condition where the patient uses food to cope with feelings and other situations”. Eating disorders arise from a variety of factors (social, psychological, physical, environmental…). However, the COVID-19 pandemic, and its social repercussions, caused an alarming increase of cases, together with a negative impact on the recovery of people previously suffering from these disorders.

The pandemic and its social isolation had mental and physical consequences on young people. Around 50% of Young Europeans reported in 2021 and 2022 a lack of adequate support to ensure a good mental health. Other worrying statistics were also collected: young people have decreased the time they spent engaging in physical activity, and the nutrition habits of the European youth population have worsened. The combination of these factors (mental health, nutrition habits, physical habits, and social habits) is key in understanding the increasing rates of eating disorders in the EU.

Therefore, the main target of VET education (young people around 16-25 years old) is also the main target victim of eating disorders. VET centres are the places where students spend most of their time; therefore, they are the perfect place to counteract the factors that are triggering eating disorders. However, they miss the tools to achieve this aim. Different organisations in the EU provide information about eating disorder prevention, but they are usually focused on the youth families, not on the role of trainers.

There is a need to provide VET staff with tools that will help them discern if a student may be suffering from an eating disorder, and how it would be adequate to prevent it. The main MOTIVATION of HEALTH UP! is to solve this need, providing VET trainers with specific tools that will help them correctly understand, prevent and reduce the number of eating disorders in the EU youth population.

The project has the following objectives:

• Reducing the risk of eating disorders among the young population of the EU.
• Promoting the integration of a healthy lifestyle among young people.
• Assisting VET trainers in developing and utilising tools to engage in the prevention of eating disorders and instruct them in spotting potential cases.
• Educating a new generation to face the compounding issues and risks of eating disorders.
• Creating new learning opportunities for trainers and teachers.
• Promoting education and new market opportunities for VET students in the nutrition and physical activity sectors

To achieve them, the consortium will create:

• A guide to educate about eating disorders, from a formal point of view, with clear information and contact points at European level useful to readers.
• Two workshops manuals: one focused on nutrition, and one focused on mental health, social and physical activities. The workshop manuals will include activities to implement in the classroom, at home, and through an app.
• An app to access the content in a dynamic and user-friendly way.

VR4M project builds on the success of our previous Mobilitimeline project, developed in collaboration with VET centres in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain, all actively engaged in mobility initiatives. The Mobilitimeline project allowed us to create online tools to streamline and enhance the pedagogical and administrative support for European mobility projects, benefiting both learners and mobility coordinators.

However, we recognize the vital role hosting organisations (companies and VET schools) play in the vocational training of learners and the challenges they face. Hosting organisations need adequate tools to support and monitor learners effectively before, during, and after their mobility experiences. Additionally, learners often struggle to adapt to life in a new city or country, facing difficulties with practical aspects such as accommodation and local logistics.

Through our experiences as both sending and hosting organisations, we have identified several key challenges:

• Hosting a learner can be overwhelming for companies or VET schools that lack the resources and tools necessary to integrate them.
• Hosting organisations face difficulties in accessing information and providing quality support across all stages of mobility.
• Learners often receive training on workplace safety rules, which is mandatory in some countries like Italy or Germany, but they lack access to specific safety guidelines tailored to international professional mobility.
• Learners encounter significant challenges in finding practical information, such as accommodation, transportation, and other logistical needs in the host city.
• Former learners with successful mobility experiences are not formally engaged as ambassadors or listed as potential contacts for future mobility participants, missing an opportunity to strengthen networks.

To address these challenges, our project aims to exchange good practices and implement the following solutions:

• Develop an online preparation training program to provide hosting organisations with structured and effective tools for integrating foreign learners.
• Create a digital platform incorporating a comprehensive timeline with relevant resources to support hosting organisations throughout the mobility process—before, during, and after the learner’s stay.
• Establish a digital map that identifies potential hosting organisations, leveraging a network of VET mobility alumni, complete with a contact list.
• Design online training modules to educate VET participants on essential rules and safety measures required during international mobility.
• Develop a digital installation kit to assist VET learners with practical information about host cities, covering accommodation, transport, and other logistical needs.

By addressing these gaps, the project aims to strengthen the support for hosting organisations, improve the mobility experience for learners, and foster a more connected and sustainable VET mobility ecosystem.