In a scenario marked by the progressive ageing of the population and the increase in life expectancy, Long Term Care (LTC) poses a series of important challenges for our society. European Welfare States are combining their efforts to provide answers to the care challenges arising from demographic change, transformations in family and social structure, technological development and the need to ensure the quality of care provided to meet the socio-health needs of people in a situation of dependency. In this context, informal carers, that is, people (usually family members or friends) who provide unpaid and continuous assistance to a person with a disability or chronic illness, are the first line of support for this dependent population. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that 60% of older people receiving care at home rely on informal care that is mostly provided by women. In this line, evidence confirms that those who take on the role of caregiver face a chronically stressful experience that can lead to adverse outcomes for quality of life and overall health.

Given this fact, the European project DanceCARE -Dance Movement Therapy and Conscious Movement as innovative tools in emotional education and support for long term caregivers- is aimed at addressing these challenges by reducing caregiver burden and improving quality of life through the design of digital tools based on Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) and Wise Motion (WM) techniques. Under this overall objective, the consortium of this project consists of six partners from five different European countries. The main expected outcome of the project is to develop an innovative and flexible training course, available through a digital platform, adapted to the real needs of LTC informal caregivers.

A sequential mixed methodology based on literature review and questionnaire technique has been implemented. The literature review aimed to understand the main emotional needs of caregivers and the related soft skills that could be developed through the implementation of the DanceCARE programme. Subsequently, a questionnaire was designed for DMT experts with the aim of identifying the most effective DMT-based techniques and interventions to reduce the burden of long-term care provision.

The results of the literature review have highlighted the need to promote in caregivers the improvement of interpersonal skills related to empathy, communication, problem solving, digital skills and self-awareness as a key aspect to improve the quality of care provided and to encourage the relationship between caregiver and dependent person to be conceived as a bond that must be mutually nurtured for the well-being of both. The main needs identified to be addressed in the educational programme are to promote self-confidence, decrease social isolation and improve emotional well-being. The results of the questionnaire carried out with DMT experts confirm that DMT is an effective psychotherapeutic intervention model to promote stress reduction, resilience and emotional awareness in caregivers. Its application contemplates the development of sequentially structured sessions in different phases, where through the use of music and artistic and instrumental materials among others, and the application of approaches mainly based on movement and body-mind interaction, it can contribute to the improvement of the caregiver's well-being and quality of life.

Keywords: Dance Movement Therapy, Long Term care, informal caregivers, older people, educational program.