THE TRAINING THE TRAINER PROGRAMME

The Training the Trainer (TtT) programme of FRIEND is a training programme dedicated to professionals and volunteers who want to implement and replicate the FRIEND programme with older adults. This programme aims to improve the competences and education of local trainers, improving the availability and quality of the FRIEND programme. It includes innovative methods to facilitate learning around busy schedules, using approaches such as active activities, design-thinking tools and the use of scenarios, among others. The participants will gain new skills in organising and adapting the programme to their own places. The training programme for trainers is designed for the specific needs of professionals and volunteers, gathered through focus groups at the various stages of the development of the programme.

This TtT course has been specifically developed to equip professionals and volunteers with the skills and knowledge required to implement the FRIEND Programme with the older adults they work with. To ensure its relevance and effectiveness, the course content presented in this manual was co-created with approximately 30 professionals from the five partner countries. Over the course of three iterative focus group sessions, these professionals provided feedback on the content and activities to be included in the manual.
The course was initially intended to be delivered in a blended learning (b-learning) format, combining online asynchronous content with synchronous training sessions, that may be in-person or online. The professionals involved in the co-creation process suggested that it would be more beneficial to make a set of supporting materials and resources available through the initiative’s official website. This would allow professionals to access the materials whenever needed, particularly when preparing sessions for older adults.
This document contains all the theoretical and relevant information about the of the TtT, including the description of the active learning activities which can be replicated for future Training the Trainer’s editions. It serves as a comprehensive guide to inform and prepare future trainers of FRIEND for their role as facilitators of the FRIEND programme to older adults. For a matter of andragogic model, we adopt the term “facilitator” as the person who leads the sessions and guides older adults in their process.