Funding programme

Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. Read more about the Horizon Europe programme here.

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Call overview

This call aims to develop tools to be better prepared for the multiple challenges faced by health and care systems during emergencies.

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Expected outcome

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 4 “Ensuring access to innovative, sustainable and high-quality health care”.

To that end, proposals under this topic should aim for delivering results that are directed, tailored towards and contributing to several of the following expected outcomes:

• Decision- and policymakers have access to modelling tools and foresight studies (including cost studies on the non-access to health and care services) on health and care systems^[1] for anticipating regular^[2] and unplanned health and care demand during large-scale cross-border emergencies^[3].
• Decision- and policymakers and health and care providers can better facilitate and manage access to regular health and care delivery during cross-border emergencies.
• Decision- and policymakers and health and care providers avail of management frameworks including organisational models for handling unplanned health and care demand linked to cross-border emergencies, while maintaining necessary regular health and care provision.
• Health and care professionals have access to training on how to deliver regular health and care services (including by means such as telemedicine) during cross-border health emergencies.
• Health and care professionals, citizens and patients access advanced digital tools enabling managed access to regular health and care services, complemented by other modes of health and care delivery (e.g., telemedicine, self-care, prioritised care).
• Patients can be involved in the co-design and co-production of health and care delivery models during cross-border emergencies and can benefit from better access to regular health and care services during such periods.
• Health and care providers and health and care professionals have access to knowledge and data on, and innovative solutions to combat, decreasing demand for regular health and care services resulting from an ongoing emergency (e.g. patients are avoiding visits to hospitals because they are worried about additional infections or do not want to add extra burden on the health and care systems).

Scope

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, health and care systems have been facing unprecedented challenges. Many systems were overwhelmed and fell short on available supplies, staff, and critical infrastructure. Beyond the initial challenges posed by the pandemic, its prolonged duration has strained health and care facilities and providers, and had a negative impact on regular health and care provision. Disruptions in routine and non-emergency medical care access and delivery have been observed. It is hence timely to take stock and identify lessons for maintaining care delivery.

Another recent emergency situation that has had a great impact on health and care systems is the war in Ukraine and the resulting migration to bordering countries. Also under these circumstances, it is important to have the right tools for maintaining access to regular health and care services, while also accommodating the more urgent needs of migrants, for example.

The goal is to be better prepared for the multiple challenges faced by health and care systems during emergencies, and ensure that necessary access to regular health and care services can be maintained.

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Activities

Proposals for research and innovation should focus on health and care systems, and actions are expected to address several of the following:

• Analysis and evaluation of different epidemics or other emergencies response measures in Member States and Associated Countries aimed at maintaining access to regular health and care services. Cost studies on not maintaining access to health and care services during cross-border emergencies.
• Development of innovative tools and models for maintaining access to regular health and care services during cross-border emergencies – for example developing modelling and foresight tools to assess and anticipate impact of cross-border emergencies on regular health and care delivery; developing novel technical solutions or organisational management models, including training, for regular care delivery in future cross-border emergencies; demonstrating applicability of novel modelling tools, management frameworks and organisational models in selected areas of regular health and care services (e.g. chronic diseases, mental health disorders, trauma care).
• Development and implementation of digital tools and of effective communication strategies based on digital health literacy studies – for example developing, implementing and generating evidence of benefit of novel digital systems connecting health and care professionals, citizens and patients at-scale, helping maintain access to health and care services during emergencies (including but not limited to smart appointment management, chronic disease self-management applications, primary care and/or referral caseload prioritisation and management incl. triage, increasing clinical practice efficiency, management of health care professionals’ caseload, integrated telecare suites complemented by new computational methods such as AI/machine learning, etc.).

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. Interdisciplinary research is thus encouraged, including the involvement of SSH disciplines considered essential for health and care planning and delivery in different social contexts and for the evaluation of health economical aspects.

All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities, as appropriate. Therefore, proposals should include a budget for the attendance to regular joint meetings and may consider covering the costs of any other potential joint activities without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities at this stage. The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase.

Synergies should be sought with potentially complementary research initiatives, data stewards, custodians and research infrastructures such as the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure, the future European co-funded partnerships^[4], such as the partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS), and relevant EU health policy initiatives such as the European Health Data Space (EHDS)^[5] and the nascent Health Emergency Response Authority (HERA)^[6].

Applicants envisaging to include clinical studies should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system. See definition of clinical studies in the introduction to this work programme part.

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Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• countries associated to Horizon Europe;
• low- and middle-income countries

See the full list in the General Annexes.

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Consortium composition

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions, only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
• at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

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Budget

The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 20.00 million.

The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of between EUR 4.00 and 6.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately.