Pal-Cycles - PALliative Care Yields Cancer welLbEing Support

Projekt identification number: PAL-CYCLES 101057243

Projekt time frame: 09/2022 – 08/2027

Projekt website: https://palliativeprojects.eu/palcycles/

What is Pal-Cycles?

Pal-Cycles is an EU-funded project, led by Prof. Jeroen Hasselaar (Radboud University Medical Centre, the Netherlands), which aims to develop a palliative care transition programme between hospital and the community for patients with advanced cancer.

 The project will facilitate patient-centred communication and continuity of care, reducing unplanned hospital admissions and improving quality of life at the end of life.

What are the specific needs that triggered this project?

Many patients with advanced cancer leave the hospital with uncertainty about how to proceed with their treatment and aftercare. Communication between healthcare professionals in different settings is often not optimal, resulting in poor continuity and coordination of care, negatively impacting quality of life and increasing avoidable hospital admissions.

Unfortunately, palliative care teams are not involved in hospital discharge when needed, which can hinder personalised and holistic care planning focused on the specific needs of individuals requiring palliative care.

 That’s where the Pal-cycles programme comes in!

It’s a unique programme that brings together various stakeholders to ensure that people with advanced cancer receive palliative care in the community. This means less time in hospital and more time investing in quality care and life. With Pal-Cycles, we’re not just demonstrating how to integrate palliative care into the continuity of care – we’re leveraging good care planning in collaboration with hospital oncology.

Project details

The five-year project will involve 14 clinics in seven countries (Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Portugal, the UK and the Netherlands). The Hungarian national research is coordinated by the Department of Hospice-Palliative Care of the Institute of Primary Care of the University of Pécs Medical School, led by Dr. Ágnes Csikós, director of the institute.  The clinical work phase will be carried out between 2024-2026 at the Oncotherapy Institute of the University of Pécs and the National Institute of Oncology in Budapest.

Fund: Pal-Cycles is funded by the European Union. Views and opinionsexpressed are however those of the author(s) only and do notnecessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health andDigital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the grantingauthority can be held responsible for them (Grant No 101057243). The UK team are funded under the Innovate UK Horizon EuropeGuarantee Programme UKRI Reference Number 10038822’