Skills boost in healthcare – 37 employees have taken the step

– Jag tycker att KLiV är jätteroligt och väldigt bra. Det här borde alla som jobbar få göra för att vi alla ska ha samma grund och förståelse för det vi gör, säger hon.

Bakgrunden till det ESF-finansierade projektet KLiV är att rekryteringsbehoven inom äldreomsorg och hemtjänst är stora, många av de som idag arbetar i den kommunala

"I think KLiV is great fun and very good. Everyone working should be able to do this so that we all have the same foundation and understanding of what we do," she says.

The background to the ESF-funded project KLiV is that recruitment needs in elderly care and home care are large, many of those who currently work in municipal home care or elderly care completely or partly lack training, while fewer people choose to train for a career in care.

The project started this spring and has already begun to show results.

"So far 37 people have completed KLiV. Of these, 16 have chosen to start studying or validating care courses, one is already a qualified assistant nurse. During the summer seven participants completed their training, while another eight have started the programme," summarises Kerstin Brännström, project manager at Boden Municipality.

Motivated to study further

Paulina is one of the participants who has just received her certificate. She has had a full-time job at the Sturegården care home for two years. She has lived in Sweden for seven years and says she wanted to start working as soon as possible. She loves her job in elderly care.

"In Nigeria, where I come from, I am used to taking care of the elderly in the family and helping them with everything they need in everyday life. But there I was not allowed to learn to read as a girl, so the alphabet was the first thing I had to start learning here in order to read Swedish."

She has studied Swedish for immigrants and is still studying remotely alongside her full-time job, but thinks that the best way to develop the language is to use Swedish in everyday life at work.

The idea of studying further has been there but was not possible as a single mother of three children. When KLiV came she took the chance to take part and now her goal is to continue training to become an assistant nurse.

"Taking part in KLiV has given me new thoughts, I feel that I work well and have gained a greater understanding of why we do what we do, how elderly people and their illnesses work, how I best take care of them, and also of myself when we lift and help them. I am very happy and grateful that I got this opportunity, it means a lot. I am very satisfied and now I want to move on."

200 participants over three years

Kompetenslyft i vården (KLiV) is a three-year project financed by the European Social Fund, ESF. The project aims to raise quality and secure the supply of skills within the municipality’s health and social care services.

The goal is at least 200 participants by summer 2027.

This autumn the mapping of new participants within both home care and care homes will continue. All participants also receive an individual development plan after completing the training.

"We find that the project has been well received at the workplaces and we have received the support we need from managers and planners to be able to carry this out during working hours. We hope that through KLiV we will get employees who feel more confident with their tasks and hopefully we can also motivate more people to continue their studies towards care assistant or assistant nurse," says Kerstin Brännström.