We are pleased to share with you the second newsletter of the FRIEND Project, where we take you behind the scenes of our latest activities and milestones.
Over the past months, our consortium has been working intensively across five countries – the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Poland – to co-create the FRIEND Programme together with older adults, professionals, and volunteers. Through 15 iterative focus groups, we gathered valuable insights that helped us refine the methods, techniques, and materials of the programme.
At the heart of FRIEND lies a clear mission: to prevent and reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults by strengthening their social skills and fostering meaningful friendships.
One of the highlights of this period was the launch of our Train-the-Trainer Programme, hosted in Aveiro, Portugal by our partner Aproximar. Trainers had the chance to explore both theory and practice, exchanging experiences and learning hands-on techniques to deliver the FRIEND sessions with older adults. Their enthusiasm confirmed the importance of FRIEND in today’s context, where loneliness is a growing concern.
“During the training, I had the possibility to learn hands-on techniques and how to deliver sessions for older adults… it was an excellent occasion to practice and see how it really works” (Trainer, Poland)
Looking ahead, the consortium will soon begin pilot sessions with older adults in cooperation with local learning centres in each partner country. We can’t wait to share the first results with you in the coming months!
Read the full newsletter in:
English
Dutch
Italian
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
