The ALZ-Q Project: Utilizing Heritage institutions as Safe Spaces for Adults with Early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease

The growing group of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in Europe is becoming increasingly isolated in an individualist society. Quiosq is the leader of a major new Erasmus+ project, named ALZ-Q, which started this month. Through this project, we aim to offer facilitators, such as guides and adult educators, in small local museums and libraries the skills to receive people who have recently been diagnosed with the disease. This will be done by making use of the knowledge and experience acquired in training adults by employees of professional educational institutes.

The core of the project involves providing appropriate adaptive and innovative training to facilitators/adult educators. This takes place in three small public heritage institutions in three different countries with the help of educational institutes. The skills are then tried out with the target group of people diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Both training and implementation of activities will be thoroughly evaluated and results will be made available online to other interested parties in Europe. The training is modular and fit to be adapted to different local situations. We will also show what effect the application of the new skills has on the target groups. In addition, we believe it is important that the experiences and new skills lead to growing awareness and involvement, and finally to new projects and collaborations within and beyond the participants.

The project is set to run until September 2026, and unites partners from all over Europe:

  • Quiosq, The Netherlands
  • Plunges rajono savivaldybes viesoji biblioteka, Lithuania
  • EduVita, Italy
  • KIE, Portugal
  • Ethniko Kentro Erevnas kai Diasosis Sholikou Ylikou, Greece
  • BEST institut fur berufsbezogene weiterbildung und personaltraining GMBH, Austria
  • Muzeum Slaskie, Poland
  • Centro de Formación del Profesorado E Innovación Educativa de Burgos, Spain
  • CRHACK LAB, Italy

ALZ-Q is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Dutch National Agency.

Cover image by Carlos Torres on Unsplash.