Digital solutions for tackling mental health in cancer patients and their families: The ALTHEA project

@article{durosini2026digital,
  title = {{Digital solutions for tackling mental health in cancer patients and their families: The ALTHEA project}},
  author = {Ilaria Durosini and Dario Monzani and Veronica Coppini and Maria Vittoria Ferrari and Chiara Bovolenta and Asia Grigis and Giuseppe Curigliano and Paola Zagami and Elisabetta Munzone and Ida Minchella and Francesca Magnoni and Fedro Alessandro Peccatori and Isabelle Scholl and Marcel Meyerheim and Mieke Van Hemelrijck and Hannah Gsell and Lucija Gosak and Laura Ciria-Suarez and Karl Làvo and Norbert Graf and Marta Pérez-Campdepadrós and Marie Lange and Elisabeth Andritsch and Birute Brasiuniene and Andreas Charalambous and Nataliia Dovganych and Iva Kirac and Haridimos Kondylakis and Kostyantyn Kovalyov and Cristian Ochoa-Arnedo and Manolis Tsiknakis and Béata Juzyna and Ines Vaz-Luis and Philip E. V. Van Kerrebroeck and Nicole Erickson and Margarita Tareyn and Norbert Couespel and Clémentine Rialland and Luigi Grassi and Denis Horgan and Saska Benedicic Tomat and Begonya Nafria Escalera and Delia Nicoara and Claudio Lombardo and Gabriella Pravettoni and the ALTHEA Consortium},
  journal = {PLOS Digital Health},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pdig.0001675},
  url = {https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0001675},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Digital solutions for tackling mental health in cancer patients and their families: The ALTHEA project
AU  - Ilaria Durosini
AU  - Dario Monzani
AU  - Veronica Coppini
AU  - Maria Vittoria Ferrari
AU  - Chiara Bovolenta
AU  - Asia Grigis
AU  - Giuseppe Curigliano
AU  - Paola Zagami
AU  - Elisabetta Munzone
AU  - Ida Minchella
AU  - Francesca Magnoni
AU  - Fedro Alessandro Peccatori
AU  - Isabelle Scholl
AU  - Marcel Meyerheim
AU  - Mieke Van Hemelrijck
AU  - Hannah Gsell
AU  - Lucija Gosak
AU  - Laura Ciria-Suarez
AU  - Karl Làvo
AU  - Norbert Graf
AU  - Marta Pérez-Campdepadrós
AU  - Marie Lange
AU  - Elisabeth Andritsch
AU  - Birute Brasiuniene
AU  - Andreas Charalambous
AU  - Nataliia Dovganych
AU  - Iva Kirac
AU  - Haridimos Kondylakis
AU  - Kostyantyn Kovalyov
AU  - Cristian Ochoa-Arnedo
AU  - Manolis Tsiknakis
AU  - Béata Juzyna
AU  - Ines Vaz-Luis
AU  - Philip E. V. Van Kerrebroeck
AU  - Nicole Erickson
AU  - Margarita Tareyn
AU  - Norbert Couespel
AU  - Clémentine Rialland
AU  - Luigi Grassi
AU  - Denis Horgan
AU  - Saska Benedicic Tomat
AU  - Begonya Nafria Escalera
AU  - Delia Nicoara
AU  - Claudio Lombardo
AU  - Gabriella Pravettoni
AU  - the ALTHEA Consortium
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
JO  - PLOS Digital Health
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pdig.0001675
UR  - https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0001675
AB  - Despite advances in cancer treatment, the growing global cancer burden underscores the need for comprehensive and supportive care to address the needs of patients and their families. However, access to psycho-oncological support remains often limited across healthcare systems. This could be related to factors such as resource constraints and insufficient integration of psychological care into routine oncological pathways. Individual-level barriers also exist, including low awareness of available services, stigma, and heterogeneity in patients’ perceived needs and help-seeking attitudes. Nevertheless, psychological burden can significantly influence patients’ experience of the treatment pathway, influencing cognitive clarity, perceived self-efficacy, communication, risk perception, decision-making, and all areas of daily life. In this context, digital mental health solutions have emerged as promising tools to enhance accessibility, continuity of care, and personalisation of support. In this manuscript, we aim to describe the structure of the ALTHEA project (“tAckling menTal Health cancer patients and their families: digital solutions for bEtter cAre”), which focuses on the development of a novel web-based digital platform targeting cancer patients and their informal caregivers’ mental health across different stages of the care pathway. ALTHEA is distinguished by the presence of screening, classification into different support profiles, and tailored interventions within a single platform, as well as by its co-creation approach involving patients and stakeholders. In this line, the ALTHEA project represents a timely opportunity to integrate digital health solutions into psycho-oncology care, improving mental health outcomes, enhancing patient empowerment, and promoting a more holistic approach to cancer care.
SN  - 2767-3170
ER  -