The high and growing global burden of cancer urges the need for effective implementation of primary cancer prevention (PCP) programmes targeting modifiable risk factors. However, evidence-based programmes with proven effectiveness under controlled environments often fail when implemented in the real world due to ineffective adaptation and implementation strategies addressing context-specific barriers, leading to programme failures and public health inequities. The PIECES project will develop, assess, and disseminate a cancer-specific methodological implementation framework, the integrated PCP Implementation Toolkit (PCP-IT). PCP-IT will provide an evidence-informed systematic process for (1) identification, selection, and tailoring of PCP programmes, and (2) developing evidence-informed implementation strategies tailored to local barriers and constraints. The PCP-IT will include a comprehensive repository of PCP programmes, their Theories of Change, and materials for systematically adapting the programmes to local needs and cultural constraints. The project involves 16 consortium members and implementation sites from 10 countries of diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and access to up to 77.7 million inhabitants. PIECES provides an ideal naturalistic laboratory to improve and study the up-scaling and implementation of a wide range of primary PCP programmes targeting major risk factors: tobacco, alcohol, low physical activity, HPV infection, sun exposure, and diet. A multi-site case comparison study will be conducted to assess and optimise implementation outcomes. An in-depth realist evaluation using various sociological theories will be conducted to explain the processes by which the outcomes are achieved. The consortium will employ a high-level external Advisory Board with renowned experts, facilitate continuous engagement with stakeholders, and align with the EU and relevant scientific societies to ensure the future continuity of both the repository and PCP-IT. This action is part of the Cancer Mission cluster of projects on ‘Prevention and early detection’.

The e-Intervention Enhancing Mental Health in Adolescents project, IMPROVA, will co-design, pilot, evaluate, and facilitate the upscaling of a modular eHealth intervention platform that aims to improve mental health and well-being, early detect mental health problems and prevent common mental disorders in adolescents. The IMPROVA consortium includes an international and inter-disciplinary group of researchers and practitioners from health, educational and social sciences in addition to computer scientists, a teacher association and policymakers. The IMPROVA online platform will be co-created with stakeholder groups, including adolescents, parents, teachers, school health professionals and policymakers based on materials already designed and tested in more than 20 projects carried out by the consortium members. The platform will include components for adolescents, parents, teachers, and school health professionals in complementary and synergistic modules. After a series of pilot testing sessions, IMPROVA will be implemented by conducting a randomized Stepped Wedge Trial Design (SWTD) in secondary education schools randomly selected in four countries (France, Germany, Romania and Spain), including 12,800 adolescents. Effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit will be calculated. Using implementation science methodology, IMPROVA will co-design with policymakers and stakeholders transferable evidence-based practices, methodologies and guidance for upscaling of the IMPROVA platform. IMPROVA aims to provide stakeholders and policy makers with an evidence-based, innovative, large-scale, comprehensive intervention, and a scale-up plan to promote mental health and prevent mental disorders in adolescents; empower adolescents and families to make better decisions regarding their mental health; and provide schools and the community with tools to achieve a society with better mental health and lower stigma.

Research done on Drug and Alcohol Helpline Workers and Coordinators across Europe, identified strengths and expertise as well as three key areas where skills and knowledge gaps exist in the field. Three topics to emerge from this research were Burnout Prevention; New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and Co-occurring Substance use and Mental Health Issues (Dual Diagnosis). Following on from previous successful partnership projects, we created an Erasmus+ Key Action 2 project focused on the creation of 3 curricula to address these topics. We put together a project schedule and determined to have 3 Transnational Project Meetings, each focusing on one of the three topics listed above. Each meeting yielded a draft curriculum which listed the desirable Learning Outcomes for the training and development needs of Helpline workers on each topic. For each Learning Outcome we suggested Learning Methods to be used; relevant research; Good Practice and Resources that support this learning outcome. Once complete we shared these curricula across our professional networks and beyond, through email, social media, website postings as well as discussions, team meetings, training inputs inspired by the curricula. Partners were sought from both the Training and Helpline sector and were considered for what they might add to this project. 8 of the project partners were from well established Helpline support services in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the Netherlands. Each partner brought an understanding of the needs of this project but also they had specific experience and skills to share in the creation of the project outputs. The ninth project partner was from the Training Exchange in the UK. This partner brought expertise in training and development and provided invaluable guidance on the Learning Outcomes approach as taking on a key role in the final drafting of the curricula. Three Transnational Project meetings took place, each one addressing one of the three areas of interest. We also had a kick off meeting at the start of the project to help us become acquainted with each other and the learning outcomes approach. At that meeting we also set dates and deadlines and set goals for the project. The final meeting was a dissemination meeting, where we focused not on the curricula but on how to best share our projects work. During this meeting we created several short video outputs that could be shared then but also at points in the future to promote and explain the curricula. There are 3 Short video outputs {https://youtu.be/_w1djnWneeU }{https://youtu.be/bk0uu7emvhs} and {http://youtu.be/nedzzjbEoaY}, 1 Teaser animation {https://youtu.be/wBhx40eMLCQ } and 1 Pecha kucha type presentation {https://youtu.be/Ftl0suWPS9U } that can be shared online as promotional tools now and beyond the project. At the end of the project we had created 3 professionally designed curricula, which are now available to share in both English and Bulgarian. They have a permanent presence on the FESAT website www.fesat.org but also on the partner websites. The SKEPDAH Curriculum for the Training and Development of Helpline Workers on Burnout Prevention ; The SKEPDAH Curriculum for the Training and Development of Helpline Workers on New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and the SKEPDAH Curriculum for the Training and Development of Helpline Workers on Co-occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Issues are all freely available under a Creative Commons Open License and can be downloaded from www.fesat.org

For nearly 900 million people living in Europe, mental disorders constitute the most significant yet most neglected public health problem: depression affects an estimated 30.3 million Europeans, snf psychotic disorders 5 million Europeans. People with severe and enduring mental ill health want the same things out of life as other citizens but are often placed in a vulnerable position and are hence afforded less opportunities to attain their goals and thus experience a lower quality of life, and have a lower life expectancy compared to the general population. For many countries that have undergone mental health services reform or have health systems in transition, efforts to make such comprehensive community-based mental health services available resulted in short-lived outcomes or are still to demonstrate substantial impact. RECOVER-E’s aims to ensure well-functioning community mental health teams in 5 countries in Europe (Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Montenegro), which will serve as the central node for coordination and provision of care for people with SMI. Our project narrows the implementation gap by going beyond infrastructure changes and pursuing the development of human resource capacity and care pathways that can be distilled in a comprehensive pathway to scale for regional and national decision-makers for uptake after the project’s life span. RECOVER-E will: 1) Develop evidence based care pathways and treatment protocols for transition to scale for regional and national decision makers in 5 implementation sites; 2) Establish a peer to peer capacity building partnership in community mental health by linking a European expert panel with key stakeholders in 5 implementation sites to co-create community mental health services for people with SMI) 3) Evaluate intervention elements that will enhance sustainable adoption and implementation of community-based mental health care for people with SMI, by carrying out implementation research.