A free online course was made available by the Guarda Polytechnic Institute (IPG) to help informal carers maintain their mental health and avoid skill erosion. The management of the most prevalent geriatric syndromes in the elderly population, as well as the health and wellbeing of the carer, will be the main topics of the free, public training which is part of the European project EducAge.

The course, which already has 60 people enrolled, is part of the European project EducAge, of which the Polytechnic of Guarda is the coordinator, and will be offered in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Hungarian, and Czech. The project's worldwide coordinator, Carolina Vila-Chã, an IPG professor, claims that the course uses a hybrid teaching approach that combines online learning resources with in-person classroom instruction. In-person instruction at IPG starts at the end of June, and this face-to-face module instruction will also be provided in Spain, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

The three primary modules of the 32-hour course, which was developed based on the World Health Organization's Integrated Care for Elderly People (ICOPE) principles, comprise seven and a half hours of face-to-face instruction. As Carolina Chã highlighted, “The course structure was designed to provide a broad learning experience, whilst respecting the busy schedule of caregivers. Online study time will be managed by each student-caregiver”.

The module dedicated to the caregiver, also discusses other topics, such as the prevention and management of geriatric syndromes associated with dependence on care, including the risk of falling, chronic diseases, urinary incontinence, skin lesions, and pressure ulcers. The European Union co-finances the EducAGE initiative with around 300,000 euros via the ERASMUS+ programme (k220).