Overview

WHAT?

e-QuoL (e-Health tools to promote Equity in Quality of Life for childhood to young adulthood cancer patients after treatment/survivors and their families) is an European project that will provide children, adolescent and young adults who have survived cancer with e-health tools designed specifically for and with them to help them manage their health.

WHY?

e-health tools are already available for follow-up care of adult cancer patients, providing them recommendations; however, such tools do not exist yet for pediatric patients who have specific needs and questions regarding their health (puberty, sexuality, etc.)

The overall goal of e-QuoL is to use e-health tools to promote equality in quality of life for children, adolescents and young adult cancer survivors in Europe.

HOW?

Our strength relies in participatory research as we aim to develop e-health tools for and with the patients.

FOR WHOM?

  • For children, adolescents and young adult cancer patients and survivors in Europe and their families.
  • For health care professionals.
  • For patient associations.
  • For a supportive network (education providers or work colleagues).
  • For the research community (social scientists, cancer researchers, epidemiologists).
  • For public health authorities and policy makers.
  • For European platforms.
  • For the general public.

Expected impact

Better understanding of the needs of children, adolescents
and young adult cancer survivors and their families in terms
of supportive care and personalised counselling approaches.

Increased/more equitable access to
survivorship passports/a new electronic tool
within EU Member States.

Increased digitisation of cancer care,
with potential benefits for follow-up,
research and innovation.

Better support for healthcare professionals, support workers
and counsellors working with children, adolescents and young
adult cancer survivors.

IN SUMMARY:

Improved quality of life for children, adolescents
and young adult cancer survivors and their families.

More integrated cross-country cancer strategies within
the EU, leading the way to consolidated EU health care
and equity across the EU for children, adolescents and
young adult cancer survivors.

Work Packages

e-QuoL aims to provide children, adolescents and young adults who have survived cancer with e-health tools designed specifically for and with them to help them manage their health

To achieve its objectives, the project is structured into 8 Work Packages (WPs): one focuses on the collection and assessment of the needs of children, adolescents and young adult cancer survivors and their families; another one focuses on the adaptation, innovation and development of e- health tools for them; two interlinked WPs are dedicated to the implementation of these tools and the evaluation of their effectiveness; and three other WPs address ethical and social challenges, ensure project coordination and maximise project impact through communication, dissemination and exploitation activities.

WP1
Coordination

LEAD

The purpose of WP1 is to provide efficient management and coordination of the project and the consortium and to ensure the progress of the project towards its planned objectives. Its tasks include strategic steering, project monitoring, risk and quality management, establishment of management tools, progress monitoring, risk monitoring and administrative and financial support.

WP2
Specification

LEAD

This WP aims to collect the needs in terms of unmet supportive care and assess how digital tools could improve the quality of life of children, adolescents and young adult cancer patients, survivors and families. It will consider ongoing projects (national and European ones) to collaborate with them, avoiding duplication. Overall, their objectives are to review the current state-of-the-art of e-health tools and technologies and to assess and describe the psychosocial needs of children, adolescents and young adult cancer survivors and their families.

WP3
Adaptation, Innovation, Development

LEAD

All partners in WP3 work together to reach our three primary objectives: adapt and co-develop new content for a digital supportive care application, in collaboration with users; adapt an existing platform (Resilience) to accommodate this tool; and develop a web-based information tool for families and local support network members.

WP4
Implementation

LEAD

WP4 aims to implement cancer survivor passports in at least three different countries. Other specific objectives are to explore the technical integration between the new electronic tool for personalised supportive care and the passport systems; implement this electronic tool; and scale-up and ensure sustainable maintenance of this tool over time.

WP5
Effectiveness Evaluation

LEAD

The main goal of this WP is to test the effectiveness of the electronic tool in at least five countries (France, Italy, Hungary, Germany and Norway). It will design and conduct a prospective cohort study of 240 children, adolescents and young adult cancer survivors.

WP6
Ethics and Social Challenges

LEAD

WP6 will ensure that e-QuoL adheres to the highest ethical standards during its development, implementation and evaluation. It will ensure compliance with relevant regulatory and legal requirements related to data protection and privacy of all groups involved in e-QuoL. In addition, two reflection groups will be established to stimulate reflection on the ethical and social challenges associated with the global e-QuoL project and to address them during the project.

WP7
Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation

LEAD

The main objective of this WP is to maximise the project’s visibility and impact by raising awareness about quality of life in children, adolescents and young adult cancer patients, survivors and their families and how the project can contribute to fill their unmet needs, and disseminating the project’s results to the different target groups who may use the results for their own benefit.

WP8
Ethics Requirements

LEAD

WP8 is under the responsibility of the project coordinator, GCS HUGO. This WP was added by the European Commission before the Grant Agreement signature, in order to put the emphasis on the importance of ethics issues in the framework of pediatric oncology. As such, all ethics deliverables are to be produced under this Work Package.