Supporting caregivers in palliative and geriatric care
A French team from Hospices Civils de Lyon is a partner in the winning project of the European Erasmus+ program: SPES4Caregivers. This training project, based on research methodology and data, aims to prevent caregiver burnout.
Formal caregivers (professionals) and informal caregivers (family, friends...) who work with the elderly or in palliative care are particularly exposed to a high emotional load, chronic stress and an increased risk of burnout. For those with few social, educational or economic resources, and limited access to appropriate training, this vulnerability is compounded. This phenomenon can be observed in several European countries.
The ambition of the SPES4Caregivers project is to strengthen the psychosocial skills of these carers, to help them prevent isolation and maintain a sufficient level of social inclusion1 , to prevent them from burning out. This is a Europe-wide project that was a winner in 2025 of the Erasmus+2 call for projects. It is coordinated by the Fondazione ANT Italia Onlus and brings together four partner teams from Italy, Greece, Romania and France (Hospices Civils de Lyon).
The main aims of the project are to prevent burnout and psychological distress among caregivers in palliative and geriatric care; to develop their soft skills in stress management, self-care and emotional regulation; to provide the most vulnerable caregivers with an accessible, flexible and inclusive training offer, and finally to produce open educational resources that can be disseminated on a large scale.
The methodology of the SPES4Caregivers project is based on experience and scientific data. Firstly, a series of qualitative interviews will be conducted with caregivers in several European countries. The data gathered will be used to develop case studies for a learning method based on practical experience (experiential training). This will be followed by the development of digital teaching resources such as e-books, audio and video supports. Hybrid face-to-face and distance learning will be implemented with caregivers. Finally, there will be a phase of scientific evaluation of the training and analysis of the results, to ensure the transferability and sustainability of these actions.
The French team from Hospices civils de Lyon is in charge of the work package (Work package 3 - Designing of the course material), which aims to design the educational content based on clinical experience, research data and the needs expressed by caregivers.
"By their commitment to this project, Hospices Civils de Lyon are reaffirming their desire to support caregivers, strengthen the European dimension of their actions and promote a humanistic, evidence-based approach to palliative and geriatric care," concludes Guillaume ECONOMOS, team manager.
Contact :
Guillaume ECONOMOS
Maître de conférences - Praticien Hospitalier
Centre de Soins Palliatifs - Hôpital Lyon Sud
Member of the board of the Plateforme nationale pour la recherche sur la fin de vie
guillaume.economos@chu-lyon.fr
Photo caption: hospices civils de Lyon team from left to right: Lise GOICHOT, Guillaume ECONOMOS, Irina ANTOCHI
Published February 2, 2026
Through external contacts and activities
Erasmus + is a European Union project that financially supports a wide range of actions and activities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport. https://info.erasmusplus.fr/erasmus/102-qu-est-ce-qu-erasmus.html