As part of Work Package 3 tasks, over the course of the 18-month preliminary INTERACT-EUROPE project a full understanding of the needs of cancer centres participating in the future EU inter-specialty cancer training programme (ISCTP) is being sought.

Our consultation with cancer centres on this topic is ongoing, and we therefore are pleased to share with any interested centre a consultation document from the early stage of the INTERACT-EUROPE project to help fulfil an initial needs assessment for participation in the future inter-specialty cancer training programme. Please also find a template response form here.

Read here our final consultative report on early assessment of cancer centre needs associated with the INTERACT-EUROPE inter-specialty cancer training programme.

Submissions can be provided at any time and should be submitted to silvia.romeo@europeancancer.org.

The development of an inter-specialty cancer training programme curriculum is one of the main outcomes that the INTERACT-EUROPE project will generate.

In developing the curriculum, we attempt to answer the question “what is it valuable for trainees to learn in order to work more effectively with different specialties and professions to deliver better care and to provide psychosocial and nutritional support for cancer patients?”

The competency framework is the basis of this consultation process, which is about the delivery of these competencies. The results of the consultation will be used to further develop the IST training curriculum. To participate in this consultation, please find here the template response form.

Responses should be submitted to yasen.naydenov@europeancancer.org.

Stakeholder input wanted for the STRONG-AYA research programme: Gathering the data that matters for evidence-based AYA cancer care and policy across Europe 

If you are a stakeholder organisation or representative with an interest in AYA cancer and/or data-driven cancer decision support tools, then we are looking to receive your input during the STRONG-AYA research project. 

What is STRONG-AYA?  

STRONG-AYA is a Horizon Europe-funded research project led by the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). The project aims at establishing an interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder European network to improve healthcare services, research and outcomes for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) with cancer.  

To this end, STRONG-AYA is developing a Core Outcome Set for AYA with cancer, which will be then implemented in research and clinical practice, via collection of both prospective and retrospective data, at both national and European levels. The resulting STRONG-AYA data ecosystems will be extended and made sustainable, so that they can help healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, regulators, policy-makers, researchers and other stakeholders in better understanding AYA cancers and making better decisions about them.  

What is the aim of STRONG-AYA stakeholder involvement? 

As the 5-year project kicked off in October 2022, a central component of its approach is the ongoing co-design of the STRONG-AYA ecosystem with most relevant stakeholders who will inform, benefit from, and use it in the long-term. In this context, the STRONG-AYA consortium is presently looking to identify all those interested among such stakeholders to take part in shaping the project based on their expertise. This will include providing input on such matters as: 

• Key elements to be included in the implementation of STRONG-AYA Core Outcome Set 
• Ethical issues to be considered for the development of the STRONG-AYA ecosystems 
• Visualisation, analysis and insights made available to future users of STRONG-AYA 
• Opportunities to leverage the STRONG-AYA project to better meet the needs of AYA cancer patients and advance AYA cancer care and policies 

What to expect? 

Following an ongoing mapping and definition of an overarching plan in the first half of 2023, bespoke activities may include for interested stakeholders: 

• participation in public sessions for the presentation of the first achievements of the STRONG-AYA project and in multi-stakeholder consultative meetings; 
• provision of structured written input via surveys; 

• voluntary contribution to supporting the project’s reach towards further relevant organisations and representatives via dissemination of meeting invitations or consultation opportunities 

What to do if interested? 

All interested stakeholder organisations are kindly invited to register their interest via the bespoke page of the European Cancer Organisation (pressing ‘Contact Us’). Any question may be addressed to: norbert.couespel@europeancancer.org.  

The EU-NAVIGATE project

Led by the Free University of Brussels (VUB), EU NAVIGATE is a Horizon Europe project aiming to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a Navigation Intervention (NavCare-EU) for older people with cancer and their family caregivers in different health care systems in Europe based on the existing and successfully tested Nav-Care intervention from Canada.

In NavCare-EU, navigators will collaborate with patients and families to improve quality of life and well-being, foster empowerment, and facilitate timely and equitable access to health and social care services and resources as needed, throughout the supportive and palliative care continuum. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness will be evaluated through an international pragmatic randomized controlled trial among 532 cancer patients aged 70 years and older and their family caregivers, across 6 European countries.

Mapping cancer patient navigation systems – leveraging the existing to inform the future

Within EU-NAVIGATE, Work Package 7 focuses on mapping existing navigation for cancer patients across the EU and beyond, led by Jagiellonian University in Poland.

This aims to broaden the scope of the project to all existing navigation services and the potential and need for navigation by people with cancer of all age groups and their families in the whole of Europe and beyond. Critically, this landmark mapping exercise will inform the project’s recommendations on wider implementation of cancer patient navigation in national health systems moving forward.

The mapping study will consist of:

• An initial scoping review of existing navigation services for cancer patients in 29 European countries, the US and Canada
• A survey and individual interviews with cancer experts acting as country representatives
• An analysis of the needs and potential for navigation in different national health systems

Information required – Get involved!

Working to implement EU-NAVIGATE's vision of developing cancer patient navigation across Europe, we are presently collecting:

• Information on existing cancer patient navigation systems in European countries, the US and Canada, through the following form.
• Expressions of interest from national experts from the cancer community for the role of country representative in the project, directly to couespel@europeancancer.org.

We look forward to your contributions and remain at your disposal for any further question!