english

Refugeekids

Refugees, minors, umF, trauma, e-learning, NRW, North Rhine-Westphalia

Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

10/2017-12/2019

Since 2015, the number of refugees who have come to Germany has increased dramatically. A large proportion of these refugees are children and young people. Unaccompanied refugee minors are a particularly vulnerable group, as they have not only had traumatic experiences but also lack important protective factors.

In order to ensure that these young refugees receive adequate support and care, further training is required for professional groups who are in contact with children and adolescents with a refugee background who are under stress, traumatised or ill.

The aim of the project was to create and evaluate an online course on "Intercultural understanding, cultural sensitivity and psychoeducation in dealing with troubled, traumatised and sick refugee children". The target group of the online course was professionals from health-related and educational professions working in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The course and learning materials were initially planned by the project team in terms of didactics and content, external specialist authors were commissioned and learning content was technically implemented.

During the project period, a test cohort of 759 participants took part in the 20-week test course between March 2018 and April 2020. Around 420 graduates completed the online course with a certificate.

The course was regularly evaluated on the basis of the accompanying research in order to improve the learning platform and the learning content. In addition, participants were asked about the knowledge and skills they had acquired. The accompanying research on the online course showed a high level of satisfaction with the online course and its content as well as an increase in knowledge and skills in dealing with stressed, traumatised and sick refugee children.