European consortium tests intervention to improve quality of life of older cancer patients

^{Abridged version in English by Diana Taborda}

An innovative intervention for older cancer patients will be implemented and tested in six European countries, including Portugal, as part of a €6 million research project. It uses a 'navigator' to build a bridge between patients and their families.

The EU NAVIGATE project will be conducted by a consortium that brings together research teams from Belgium (coordinating country), the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Portugal.

In Portugal, the study is coordinated by Bárbara Gomes and Maja de Brito, two specialists in palliative care from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC), who are also members of the Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (ICBR) and the Centre for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB). FMUC Professor Vítor Rodrigues is also involved in the project. He is the current President of the Centre Branch of the Portuguese Cancer League, an organisation that will play an important role in training and coordinating the "navigators".

The project is a programme aimed to provide assistance to older cancer patients, aged 70 and over and their families "throughout the course of their illness, including the end of life, by a person - called a 'navigator' - who is not part of the patients' clinical team, who may or may not be a health professional (can be a volunteer), and whose role is to identify the needs of the patients and their families and to help them meet those needs with existing support, in collaboration with health professionals, other professionals and the local community," explain the coordinators of the Portuguese team.

They go on to say that "the role of the navigator is to promote the quality of life and well-being of the patient and family and to minimise health-related suffering. The navigator also aims to empower patients and their families to access care, social support and other resources promptly and equitably. We want to accompany patients throughout their illness and ensure continuity of care."

In order to assess the impacts of the intervention, such as the implementation process, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, there will be a clinical trial in the six countries participating in the study, involving 532 patients and their family caregivers. In Portugal, 89 patients are taking part in the trial.

The EU NAVIGATE project will run for five years and has been approved with the highest classification in a call launched by the Horizon Europe Health Cluster, a European Union programme to fund research and innovation.