• Institution: Matej Bel University
• Country: Slovakia
• Lecturer: Lada Kaliská, Eva Sollárová 

• Curriculum: Psychology
• Course level: BSc
• Credits: 4 ECTS
• Number of students participating: 76

The project was created to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a collaboration between the Department of Psychology and a senior living facility. During the pandemic, the seniors’ contacts with the outside world were limited, so there was an effort to provide counselling and contact with people in the facility in a different form. The teachers and the organisation prepared a project in which the students – future psychologists regularly offered counselling to the clients in the facility via an online application and developed their counselling skills. Each week, students had group and, if necessary, individual supervision sessions where they reflected on their experiences. The project was implemented over four semesters. Before the actual implementation of the online calls, digital empowerment of the clients was an important part of taking away their fears and being able to communicate via tablet. It was also necessary to develop the students’ skills and prepare them to provide counselling in an online environment. The partner’s role in the project was to organise and connect the clients with the students and provide support to both parties when needed.

The benefits of the project were also analysed in great detail in a separate rigorous thesis prepared by the social worker of the facility, which identified the benefits for the clients in the emotional, cognitive and social domains, the benefits for the students in terms of professional and personal development, and the benefits for the placement itself. However, the project was not continued after the pandemic. The conditions for success were a willingness to cooperate on the project on all sides – on the part of the students, university teachers and the part of the community partner. The project was also offered to other facilities, but they were not interested, primarily due to a lack of staff. Difficulties identified during the project were mainly related to the lack of technical equipment in the facility and shortcomings in the internet connection. Other challenges identified were on the side of the clients, for example, language barrier, speech disability, lack of concentration, and health discomfort – these were identified as disturbing elements, and the students had to deal with them during the counselling. Staff shortages were also among the limitations. There was an unplanned break in the counselling interviews during the project’s operation. This was due to the sick leave of the project coordinator from the facility due to the problematic management of COVID-19, which put the project on hold for five months.