Due to the increased incidence, prevalence and mortality of chronic diseases and multimorbidity, the need of palliative care (PC) resources is a challenge for health and social care systems. However, currently, access to PC remains inconsistent and, due to the ageing population, it is expected an increase in the rate of people requiring this kind of care over the next 25 years. The project Patient-centred pathways of early palliative care, supportive ecosystems and appraisal standard (INADVANCE) proposes a novel model of PC based on early integration and personalized pathways addressed specifically to older people with complex chronic conditions. Thus, the overall aim of INADVANCE is to improve the benefit of PC through the design of effective, replicable and cost-effective early PC interventions centred-on and oriented-by the patients. Interventions are defined for/orientated on patients, families, informal caregivers, and front-line care professionals. In order to achieve this main goal, INADVANCE will produce the following evidence-based outputs to assist care professionals, service managers and policy and decision-makers in their scalability and replicability: a) stratification tools to identify potential beneficiaries of early PC actions; b) optimized interventions co-designed by needs and preferences from patients and their relatives; c) eHealth tools addressed to empower palliative patients ecosystem; d) policy recommendations and clinical guidelines addressed to service providers and policy and decision makers; e) an appraisal standard and dashboard facilitating a critical and comprehensive comparison between actions and interventions derived from the project. The INADVANCE consortium brings together leading interdisciplinary academic, clinical and technological partners from EU organizations actively responding challenges from health and social care systems and policy-makers in the field.

The project aims enhancing cross-sector, international and interdisciplinary collaboration in the area of social robotics technology for care. Are robots ready for society, and is society ready for robots? How can social robots can be included in people’s lives? Robots are increasingly being used in the healthcare sector as a potential solution to the current and future challenges faced by the healthcare sector. Due to the global population ageing, by 2035 the world is projected to lack 12.9 million healthcare professionals (WHO: 2013). Social robots may benefit the quality life and wellbeing of patients, their families and healthcare professionals. Evidence and much of the needed knowledge are still lacking. Strong interdisciplinarity and cross-sectorial research and innovation activity is needed. A knowledge hub for social robotics will be created with a threefold aim: (1) To enhance the competencies of involved staff members, refining and focusing their skills; (2) To build a tri-sectoral network involving academia, industry and users of technology, and (3) to create an enduring network that will outlive the grant funding. The core of the project includes some of the strongest actors in international research, SMEs and user organisations, focusing on three activity lines: technological, sociological, care-and-welfare. To be able to understand the impact of introducing social robots in care, the three areas that will be affected by this technical evolution will be researched: (1) care provided as medical practice; this is the care given to patients in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centres and other medical facilities. (2) residential care - this area refers to all care institutions accepting patient/clients as residents: elderly homes, nursing homes, special needs schools for children or adults, etc. (3) family care, investigating how social robots can be implemented in the home, and as a part of domestic life.

Older adults typically prefer living at their homes as long as possible. However, they often need to be institutionalized due to the age related problems. Homecare can benefit today from a range of existing technologies including smartphones, sensors, etc., however, their effectiveness is limited by the sense of fear and uncomfortableness that many older adults feel. Most current technologies, in fact, are often not designed for older adults, least of all for users with memory impairments. The derivative limitations become a major barrier, severely limiting use of technological assistance in a home environment. CAPTAIN proposes a “transparent” technology designed to turn the home of the older adult into a ubiquitous assistant specifically designed to compensate for their physical and memory impairments during their daily living. To do so, it leverages on a few state of the art technologies, as follows: “Projected augmented reality” to project, through use of micro-projectors, contextualised (directly on walls, floor, tables, etc.) information and instructions on top of the real environment. Real-time 3D sensing technologies to comprehend the “indoor space” (nature and position of objects and actions of the persons) and to allow transforming it into a ubiquitous tangible interface. 3D sensing, together with speech analysis, will allow device-free comprehension of the environment and of the behaviour of the adults (including its changes). Non-invasive physiological and emotional data analysis from facial micro-expressions and human body pose thanks to scalable, robust, and accurate deep learning and artificial intelligence. The coach will leverage on a motivational engine to promote correct nutrition, physical activity, cognitive and physical training, risk avoidance, and social participation. To achieve this CAPTAIN will foster a truly user-centered co-design philosophy -based on constant involvement of older adult in the design, development, and testing stages.

Digital endocrine medicine is revolutionizing healthcare by integrating technology, data, and personalized treatment, enabling more precise, efficient, and accessible care that disrupts traditional medical models. Advancing digital endocrine medicine to the next level of knowledge and translational value demands an ‘integrative’ approach that departs from the conventional ‘sum of monothematic experts’ towards the ‘merging of multiple themes in one expert’. In this fast developing field, interdisciplinary experts can better communicate across topics as dispersed as clinical medicine, data science (incl. machine learning and artificial intelligence), mathematics, engineering, biochemistry, biotechnology, ethics, law, while adapting academic findings to real word needs. ENDOTRAIN is poised to fill in the gap of interdisciplinary experts needed to advance digital endocrine medicine research and clinical application. This doctoral network joins leading researchers and entrepreneurs from 8 countries to train 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs), along with 4 DCs funded by Switzerland (SDCs), across different disciplines and sectors. Exceptionally trained in digital endocrine medicine, these versatile DCs will be prepared to face broader challenges beyond endocrinology and become the next generation of clinicians, scientists, and innovators, equipped to enhance Europe’s capacity to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of digital medicine.

Advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment have been groundbreaking, and we are now considering some cancers as chronic disease rather than fatal illness. This moves the point of focus in the fight against cancer from sustaining life towards maximizing functional capacity and quality of life (QOL). A critical element in this shift has been the rise of active rehabilitation in the management of cancer. In the past 10-15 years we have seen the emergence of significant evidence for the clinical effectiveness of active rehabilitation in cancer care, both in maximizing functional capacity and QOL, and preventing secondary recurrence. However, many barriers to implementation of active rehabilitation in cancer care exist due to its profound physical and psychological implications. Technology advances such as gamification based on biofeedback, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation, can help address some of these barriers but much must be done before we can effectively marry the technological capability to the unmet clinical need. In particular we need to understand specific challenges and patient journeys associated with cancer care and how we can help patients to leverage psychological tools to better engage in their own care. We then need to optimize technological tools to meet patients’ rehabilitation needs, and finally, to understand how to bring resultant solutions to market where they can have maximal impact on quality of care. This can only be done by a multidisciplinary programme of research involving close collaboration between researchers in academic, clinical and industry settings. CATCH is a deep collaboration across academic, business and clinical sectors. Students will benefit from intersectoral secondments, interdisciplinary communication skills, public engagement and outreach while working on a programme of interrelated core research projects addressing gaps in the knowledge and evidence base for technology enabled cancer rehabilitation mentioned above.