Madrid participates in European cancer prevention project

The Co-Captain project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program, has demonstrated that personalized support significantly improves cancer prevention for individuals with mental health issues. The initiative, which involved institutions from Spain, Austria, Greece, and Poland, evaluated the impact of individualized guidance over a three-year period.

In the Community of Madrid, the project reported a 29.2% reduction in anxiety symptoms and an 11% decrease in depressive symptoms among participants. The final report by the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA) indicates that personalized assistance helps patients overcome communication and organizational barriers, facilitating better access to early diagnosis programs and healthy lifestyle habits.

The study provided cancer prevention information to more than 1,300 people, with 320 receiving direct assistance from socio-sanitary professionals. This intervention included educational activities designed to improve health literacy, risk factor understanding, and autonomy within medical systems.