MyPal aims to foster palliative care for cancer patients by leveraging PRO systems through their adaptation to the personal needs of the cancer patient and his/her caregiver(s). Through this intervention, MyPal aspires to empower cancer patients and their caregivers in capturing more accurately their symptoms/conditions, communicate them with a seamless and effective way to their healthcare providers and, ultimately, foster the time for action through the prompt identification of important deviations in the patient’s state and QoL. Providing this information in a timely and comprehensive manner throughout the disease course will reinforce the potential for applying a patient-centred and integrated palliative care approach for cancer with the participation of all relevant healthcare providers (i.e. oncologists, specialized physicians, psychologists, nurses), which is necessary to cope with the specific disease. In order to accomplish its mission, MyPal will exploit technological advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) supporting patients, family members and healthcare providers in gaining value through this systematic and comprehensive PRO-based intervention. Overall, the foreseen advancement through MyPal reflects a paradigm shift from passive patient reporting based on conventional PRO approaches to active patient engagement and a closed-loop approach (bridging the gap between patient reporting and timely as well as personalized actions performed by healthcare providers to address the varying patient needs) to cope with the palliative care for cancer. MyPal will demonstrate and validate the proposed intervention in two different patient groups, i.e. adults suffering from hematologic malignancies and children with solid tumours, hence targeting different age groups and cancer types, through carefully designed randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that will be conducted in diverse healthcare settings across Europe.

Sustainable Development Goals

Masaryk University is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to improve the conditions and quality of life on our planet by 2030.