Cancer prevention does not reach everyone in the same way. Although advances in public health have helped strengthen early detection, preventive behaviours and access to healthcare services, some groups still face significant barriers within care systems. Among them are people experiencing mental ill-health, a population facing greater inequalities in access to cancer prevention and screening.
Coinciding with European Week Against Cancer, which takes place every year from 25 to 31 May and in 2026 focuses on the need to act together against cancer inequalities, the European project CO-CAPTAIN comes to a close after three years of collaborative work.
Funded by Horizon Europe and coordinated by the Medical University of Vienna, CO-CAPTAIN started in June 2023 with a clear objective: to design, implement and evaluate a Patient Navigation model tailored to people experiencing mental ill-health, in order to improve their access to cancer prevention and screening.
A response to an often overlooked inequality
CO-CAPTAIN was created to address a complex and often invisible reality: people experiencing mental ill-health face higher cancer-related risks and lower participation in prevention and screening programmes.
These inequalities are not caused by a single factor. They are linked to greater exposure to behavioural risk factors such as smoking, obesity or physical inactivity, but also to stigma, discrimination, fragmented healthcare systems, lower health literacy, difficulties in accessing preventive services and insufficient coordination between mental health and physical healthcare.
Against this backdrop, CO-CAPTAIN has explored how more integrated, personalised and community-based approaches can help reduce these barriers. The project is aligned with the priorities of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and with the European commitment to more equitable, accessible and person-centred prevention models.
The Patient Navigation Model: accompanying, guiding and connecting
At the heart of CO-CAPTAIN has been the adaptation of the Patient Navigation Model, an approach designed to accompany people through healthcare pathways that are often difficult to understand and navigate.
Within the project, Patient Navigators provided personalised support to help participants access prevention and screening services, better understand care pathways, schedule appointments, overcome practical barriers, strengthen motivation and maintain continuity of care.
However, one of CO-CAPTAIN’s most important lessons is that navigation is not only an administrative matter. Its relational and psychosocial dimension has been one of the aspects most valued by participants. In many cases, navigators became trusted points of contact, facilitators of communication and bridges between health and social care systems that often operate in fragmented ways.
The project has shown that prevention does not depend solely on access to information. It also requires trust, accompaniment, active listening and continuous support.
A process based on co-creation and local adaptation
One of CO-CAPTAIN’s distinctive features has been its participatory approach. The project did not develop an intervention from a top-down perspective. Instead, it involved healthcare professionals, mental health specialists, social workers, NGOs, carers, policymakers and people with lived experience throughout the design, implementation and reflection process.
Through focus groups, stakeholder consultations, mapping exercises, reflexive discussions and collaborative workshops, CO-CAPTAIN worked to identify existing services, analyse implementation barriers, adapt Integrated Cancer Care standards and tailor the navigation model to the realities of each pilot context.
One of the most relevant conclusions from this phase is that standardised prevention approaches are not always sufficient to reach vulnerable populations. To be truly effective, they must be adapted to the social, cultural, communication and healthcare realities of each setting.
Pilots in Austria, Greece, Poland and Spain
The CO-CAPTAIN pilot phase was implemented in four European countries: Austria, Greece, Poland and Spain. In each country, the navigation model was adapted to the characteristics of local health and social care systems, while maintaining a shared objective: to improve access to cancer prevention and screening for people experiencing mental ill-health.
Throughout implementation, the project approached more than 1,300 people, recruited 320 participants, and almost 200 completed the full follow-up process.
The pilots involved recruitment centres, multidisciplinary teams, Patient Navigators, healthcare institutions, NGOs and community organisations. This experience made it possible to identify key lessons on the feasibility of the model, its implementation conditions and its potential to strengthen continuity of care.
Among its main results, CO-CAPTAIN confirms that personalised support increases participant engagement, that continuity of accompaniment matters, and that integrated approaches are feasible even in systems marked by fragmentation.
Main lessons learned from the project
CO-CAPTAIN’s results point to a clear conclusion: reducing inequalities in cancer prevention requires more than simply expanding services. It requires systems that are better coordinated, more responsive to people’s real needs, and able to provide support throughout complex prevention pathways.
One of the main challenges identified was the lack of coordination between oncology, mental health services, primary care and social support systems. Both participants and professionals highlighted that prevention pathways can be especially difficult to navigate for people already experiencing psychological distress, social vulnerability or previous negative experiences with healthcare services.
The project also confirmed the strong impact of mental health-related stigma. This can affect help-seeking, symptom disclosure, participation in screening programmes and relationships with healthcare services.
Another central lesson is the need for flexibility. Prevention strategies cannot rely on one-size-fits-all models. To work effectively, they need culturally sensitive communication, tailored support, flexible delivery formats, knowledge of the local context and participation from those directly affected.
CO-CAPTAIN also explored the role of digitalisation. Tools such as appointment reminders, shared health records or interoperable systems can improve coordination and continuity of care. However, the project also highlighted risks such as digital exclusion, lack of interoperability, fragmented data systems and concerns around confidentiality and stigma.
Recommendations for more integrated and human-centred systems
In addition to pilot implementation, CO-CAPTAIN promoted multi-stakeholder workshops in the participating countries to validate Integrated Cancer Care standards, identify system-level barriers, develop policy recommendations and reflect on the scalability and sustainability of the model.
These spaces highlighted priorities such as stronger health and social care coordination, the sustainability of Patient Navigation roles, multidisciplinary collaboration, support for carers, workforce training, participatory governance and digital interoperability.
One of the most repeated ideas throughout the project is that many improvements do not necessarily require the creation of entirely new systems, but rather a better connection between existing resources, services adapted to local realities and stronger accompaniment mechanisms.
Kveloce’s contribution: communication, awareness and sustainability
In CO-CAPTAIN, Kveloce led WP6: Communication, awareness & sustainability, a key work package aimed at ensuring that the project’s results reached their target audiences and could be sustained beyond the funding period.
From this role, Kveloce contributed to the development of the project’s communication and dissemination strategy, the management of digital channels, awareness-raising campaigns, the creation of materials, the visibility of progress and results, collaboration with European clusters, stakeholder engagement and the sustainability of the messages and lessons generated by the project.
Communication activities included the project website, social media, videos, newsletters, dissemination actions, participation in scientific and policy conferences, collaborations with the Prevention and Early Detection Cluster, stakeholder events and actions linked to European Week Against Cancer and European Mental Health Week.
In a project such as CO-CAPTAIN, communication does not simply mean informing. It means translating scientific knowledge into accessible messages, raising awareness of inequalities that often remain invisible, bringing results closer to professionals and policymakers, and helping evidence become impact.
A closing event in Brussels to share results and look ahead
One of the key milestones in the project’s closure was the Final Conference, held on 16 April 2026 in Brussels in a hybrid format and organised by Mental Health Europe with the collaboration of the consortium. The event brought together policymakers, professionals, researchers, European organisations and pilot participants to discuss how to better protect the physical health of people living with mental health problems.
The conference presented pilot results, implementation lessons, testimonies from beneficiaries and recommendations to move towards more inclusive cancer prevention models.
One of the most meaningful elements was the participation of beneficiaries from the pilot countries, who shared first-hand experiences of how navigation support influenced their prevention journeys.
Preventing cancer also means reducing inequalities
European Week Against Cancer is an annual reminder of the importance of strengthening prevention, early detection, treatment and care. In 2026, its theme, “Together against cancer inequalities”, directly connects with CO-CAPTAIN’s purpose: to highlight that the fight against cancer also involves reducing the barriers faced by people in more vulnerable situations.
The closure of CO-CAPTAIN in this context underlines an essential idea: cancer prevention must be inclusive if it is to be truly effective. To reach those who face the greatest difficulties, healthcare systems need to listen better, coordinate better and offer more human, flexible and continuous support.
After three years of European collaboration, CO-CAPTAIN leaves behind scientific evidence, implementation experience, partnerships, policy recommendations and a solid foundation for advancing towards more equitable cancer prevention in Europe.
For Kveloce, being part of this project and leading its communication, awareness and sustainability activities has meant contributing to a mission deeply aligned with our way of understanding European research: transforming knowledge into impact, connecting science and society, and supporting solutions that respond to real needs.
Because preventing cancer also means looking at those who have not always been at the centre of prevention strategies. And because a healthier Europe must also be a fairer Europe.
