MELODIC – Mental Health Support for Young Adults with Cancer
RESEARCH TEAMS
Our research team at the University of Turku:
Principal investigator Tella Lantta tella.lantta@utu.fi
Scientific advisor, professor Helena Leino-Kilpi
Project researcher Maiju Björkqvist
Project researcher Shumaila Batool
Coordinator of the project:
PhD Mari Lahti, mari.lahti@turkuamk.fi
Mental Health Promotion, Turku University of Applied Science
https://www.tuas.fi/en/research-and-development/research-groups/promotion-mental-health/
Necessity to support mental health needs for young adults with cancer by healthcare professionals
Cancer is a life-altering event and often has a profound impact on the mental and emotional well-being of those who receive the diagnosis. Young adult (18-35 years) cancer survivors are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health issues after cancer treatments. Yet, many young adult cancer survivors might not receive the mental health support they need during their survivorship care.
Healthcare professionals have a significant role: they are the gatekeepers who should be able to recognise mental health challenges at an early stage. Caring for people affected by cancer, including the family and caregivers, should not limited to specialist units. Increasing and ensuring healthcare professionals´ knowledge and skills to identify and manage the mental health needs of young adults with cancer and their families to enable holistic care during their recovery journey.
MELODIC project
The overall aim of the MELODIC project is to promote the mental health and well-being of young adults with a cancer diagnosis and their families/caregivers by improving screening, early detection, and efficient and person-centred management of mental health needs during the first year after their cancer diagnosis.
Our goal is to develop, test and implement a novel and cost-effective intervention to meet mental health support needs for young adults with cancer and their family members by using a social prescribing approach and physical activity measures in green and blue spaces. In addition to this, we want to support healthcare professionals’ educational needs in mental health support for young adults with cancer by conducting training package and evidence-based recommendations.
The MELODIC project is based on four phases, including solid collaboration with people with lived experience.
Work packages
MELODIC consists of five different work packages. These work packages give us outlines to achieve our objectives during the project timeline 2024-2027.
- WP1: Project management and quality assurance
- WP2: Need assessment
- WP3: Co-design guide and training to decrease health inequalities
- WP4: Improvement of mental health and well-being of people with cancer
- WP5: Communication, dissemination and sustainability
The European dimension of the activities
The MELODIC project is based on the idea of promoting transnational collaboration and models that could be adapted to other EU countries and globally. This project connects together eight European countries (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Romania), and the activities will involve participants from all countries. MELODIC aims to produce evidence-based recommendations that are adaptable to different country contexts and share knowledge and experiences with the more comprehensive European cancer and mental health community during and after the project.
Partners
- Turku University of Applied Science, Finland
- University of Galway, Ireland
- Cancer Care West Company Limited, Ireland
- University of West Attica, Greece
- Cancer Guidance Center-KAPA3, Greece
- Nursing School of Lisbon, Portugal
- Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Netherlands
- Tartu Health Care College, Estonia
- Tartu University Hospital, Estonia
- Varsinais-Suomen Hyvinvointialue, Finland
- European Cancer Organisation, Belgium
- Fundatia Youth Cancer Europe, Romania
The MELODIC project has received funding from the EU4Health programme.