Training in digital health is key to better cancer prevention and treatment

Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide, as well as one of the most prevalent diseases in developed countries. According to data published by the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 10 million people die from cancer every year. In other words, the disease causes just over one in six deaths worldwide. The most common are breast, lung, colon, rectal and prostate cancer.

Cancer is the second leading cause of premature morbidity and mortality in Europe. In the European Union, 4.7 million new cases and 2.1 million deaths from cancer are recorded each year. It accounts for over €100 billion in direct healthcare costs every year. Unless we do something about it very soon, the rate of cancer in Europe is expected to see a 24% rise by 2035, seriously increasing the challenges facing the healthcare sector and affecting the lives of millions of people.

Information and communication technologies and digitization are playing a key role in the improvement of cancer prevention, detection and treatment. In fact, the EU's plan against cancer stresses the importance of continuing to develop and further implement digital health services in the field of oncology. With this in mind, the UOC is taking part in two new European projects that aim to improve Europe's healthcare systems by providing digital skills training to increase their resilience, accessibility and effectiveness.

Digital literacy in the field of oncology

When used in the right circumstances, digital health can lead to greater access to healthcare services and better clinical outcomes, as well as safer and higher quality care. In oncology, digital techniques have already made it possible, among many other advances, to monitor chemotherapy and administer cancer drugs remotely or control palliative care. Furthermore, the European Parliament has expressed the need to improve healthcare professionals' digital skills to promote effective, responsible and ethical use of digital health.

In view of this, the European DigiCanTrain project, in which the UOC is taking part, was created with the aim of improving the digital skills of both clinical and non-clinical oncology healthcare professionals and of promoting the use of health technology by developing, assessing and publicizing multidisciplinary and professional training for all oncology healthcare professionals.

"The end goal is to develop a programme of study with a micro-credentials recommendation, trainer training and a training package capable of being tailored to European cancer facilities and education providers", said Antoni Baena, director of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Master's Degree in E-Health, member of the Faculty of Health Sciences and collaborator with the eHealth Center. "DigiCanTrain's indirect goals are to improve equality and access to cancer care that focuses on the individual and to increase the resilience and ability of the healthcare system to adapt to changing situations and environments."

The consortium for the project, which will continue until May 2026, is coordinated by Finland's Turku University of Applied Sciences and is made up of 14 universities and research organizations. "DigiCanTrain will have the direct impact by creating a basic digital literacy course for cancer professionals, standardizing the training and making it openly available to every country in Europe, including those that didn't take part in the project," said Baena.

Using digital health to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare professionals

Similar goals are being pursued by TRANSiTION, a project in which the UOC is taking part together with 26 other universities, research networks and centres in Europe, and which will continue until mid-2025. The main aim of the consortium, which is led by the Cyprus University of Technology, is also the improvement of professionals' knowledge and training in the field of digitization applied to cancer.

"From the patient's point of view, digital health gives them a lot more information about their own health and access to tools that bring them closer to the professionals involved in their care and to other patients. These aspects can be very helpful when it comes to approaching the disease in a more comprehensive manner," said Carme Carrion, associate dean for research and professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UOC, and principal investigator of the eHealth Lab research group, which is affiliated to the Faculty of Health Sciences and the eHealth Center. "From the healthcare professional's point of view, digital health provides access to much more information about each patient and ensures that they're always up-to-date with the newest options and latest research."

"TRANSiTION thus aims not only to design openly available and accessible training for everyone but also to put it into practice, to test it in order to make sure it's useful," she said. "This makes the UOC an ideal member of the TRANSiTION and DigiCanTrain project consortia. The reason we're there is because of our experience with online training and digital health research. At the UOC, we have a very interesting mix of people with experience with technology and people with significant knowledge about the world of health."

The two projects are currently being carried out in parallel and are at the stage of collecting the existing evidence to establish what has been previously done in this area and what has been published in relation to professionals' needs. Likewise, the digital initiatives for the treatment of cancer that are already in use are being mapped to ensure that all this information is available to every member of the consortium. Once this task has been completed, training priorities will be identified, and work will continue on the design of two specific training courses to help improve healthcare professionals' digital skills and support the safe use of cancer prevention, treatment and survival tools.

The TRANSiTION and DigiCanTrain projects contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Transition has received funding under the European Union's EU4Health programme under grant agreement No 101101261