UC School of Nursing helps develop app to boost cancer screening among vulnerable populations
The mobile app will be co-developed with citizens, healthcare professionals and researchers as part of a European project coordinated by a university medical centre in Amsterdam.
The School of Nursing of the University of Coimbra (ESEUC) is participating in a European project to develop a mobile application to increase participation in cancer screening among people in vulnerable situations.
Coordinated by Amsterdam University Medical Centre (the Netherlands), the project is developing a mobile health (mHealth) application, co-created with citizens, healthcare professionals, and researchers. The app is designed to guide eligible individuals through all stages of screening — from the initial invitation to any follow-up tests — helping them make informed decisions and addressing the real-world challenges faced by different populations.
The project aims to promote equity in healthcare and prevent cancers — such as breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and stomach cancers — from progressing to advanced, hard-to-treat stages. "It will provide a mobile health (mHealth) app to guide eligible individuals through all stages of screening, from the initial invitation to any follow-up tests, helping them make informed decisions", explains ESEUC professor Filipa Ventura.
The app is targeted at groups often excluded from organised screening programmes, such as people facing economic hardship, those with low health literacy, older adults, the homeless, and those facing linguistic or cultural barriers. Information will be provided in simple language, with short messages and visual support, culturally adapted, and available in multiple languages.
The app will complement existing healthcare services rather than relying solely on autonomous use. It will act as a decision-support tool to help users make choices that align with their values and preferences. In Portugal, it will be developed in coordination with the Local Health Unit of Coimbra, the Portuguese Cancer League – Central Regional Branch, and the National Cancer Hub, with a view to future integration into the National Health Service (SNS) through the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health.
According to ESEUC, the most recent harmonised data available for Portugal (2022) show that participation in breast cancer screening is around 50%, while cervical cancer screening reaches approximately 60%.
For colorectal cancer screening, “figures vary depending on the indicator: programme coverage among the eligible population remains low (around 15%), but uptake among those actually invited is considerably higher (around 40%),” notes Filipa Ventura.
In terms of targets, the European Union aims for 90% of eligible individuals to receive an invitation or offer for organised screening (breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers), while national strategies generally target coverage and uptake above approximately 65%.
The project INSIDERS – INvolving underserved Screening Invitees in DEcision-making and Research on cancer Screening, running until 2028, involves ESEUC, RCSI University of Medicine & Health Sciences (Ireland), and Canary Technology Innovations (Romania) as partners.
Coordinated by the Amsterdam University Medical Centre, the project INSIDERS – INvolving underserved Screening Invitees in DEcision-making and Research on cancer Screening, brings together ESEUC, RCSI University of Medicine & Health Sciences (Ireland), and Canary Technology Innovations (Romania) as partners, and runs until 2028.
The project is co-financed by European funds and managed by the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of the Centre (Centro 2030 programme) on an interim basis.
For its participation, ESEUC will receive approximately €127,600 in funding, as part of a total project investment of €150,120.