EU Joint Action: Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2

Line Foss; Augusto Caraceni; Carlos Centeno; Greta Chlebopaševienė; Stine N Clemmensen; Itske Fraterman; Jesús González-Barboteo; Mogens Groenvold; Barry J A Laird; Mari Lõhmus; Miguel Mateu-Sanz; Anna Reyners; Eva Schildmann; Marianne Jensen Hjermstad; Stein Kaasa

doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009

EU Joint Action: Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2

Line Foss^*
, Augusto Caraceni
, Carlos Centeno
, Greta Chlebopaševienė
, Stine N Clemmensen
, Itske Fraterman
, Jesús González-Barboteo
, Mogens Groenvold
, Barry J A Laird
, Mari Lõhmus
, Miguel Mateu-Sanz
, Anna Reyners
, Eva Schildmann
, Marianne Jensen Hjermstad
, Stein Kaasa

^*Corresponding author for this work

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Palliative care is inconsistently integrated into European cancer care, with fragmentation in provision, accessibility, and education leading to avoidable suffering and inefficient use of healthcare resources. There is a need to improve this through a Europe-wide initiative, the Joint Action on Networks of Expertise on Cancer (JANE-2), which builds on the earlier JANE initiative. Within JANE-2, one dedicated work package-6 (WP6) focuses specifically on palliative care.

METHODS: JANE-2 spans 42 partners across 26 countries, in a cross-national, co-produced approach. As part of this, palliative care will be systematically appraised, aligned and ultimately transformed through one work package with four distinct tasks including: 1) organization and delivery, 2) digitalized care pathways with patient-reported outcomes, 3) education and competence frameworks, and 4) indicators for monitoring integration, using a "networks-in-networks" model designed for sustainability beyond JANE2.

OUTCOMES: These will include scoping reviews, expert consultations, and modular surveys to support cross-country mapping.

CONCLUSIONS: The palliative care work package within JANE-2 will deliver shared standards, pathways, education, and indicators in a sustainable European Network of Expertise that aims to embed palliative care as an inherent component of cancer care.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume	71
Issue number	5
Pages (from-to)	e624-e634
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0885-3924
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009
Publication status	Published - May 2026

Keywords

Cancer
European union
education
health policy
networks
palliative care
patient reported outcome measures
patient-centered care

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Foss, L., Caraceni, A., Centeno, C., Chlebopaševienė, G., Clemmensen, S. N., Fraterman, I., González-Barboteo, J., Groenvold, M., Laird, B. J. A., Lõhmus, M., Mateu-Sanz, M., Reyners, A., Schildmann, E., Hjermstad, M. J., & Kaasa, S. (2026). EU Joint Action: Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 71(5), e624-e634 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009

Foss, L, Caraceni, A, Centeno, C, Chlebopaševienė, G, Clemmensen, SN, Fraterman, I, González-Barboteo, J, Groenvold, M, Laird, BJA, Lõhmus, M, Mateu-Sanz, M, Reyners, A, Schildmann, E, Hjermstad, MJ & Kaasa, S 2026, 'EU Joint Action: Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2', Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, vol. 71, no. 5, pp. e624-e634 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009

@article{b1179c2b03fd42d7816a2bfca666ad5f,

title = "EU Joint Action: Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Palliative care is inconsistently integrated into European cancer care, with fragmentation in provision, accessibility, and education leading to avoidable suffering and inefficient use of healthcare resources. There is a need to improve this through a Europe-wide initiative, the Joint Action on Networks of Expertise on Cancer (JANE-2), which builds on the earlier JANE initiative. Within JANE-2, one dedicated work package-6 (WP6) focuses specifically on palliative care.METHODS: JANE-2 spans 42 partners across 26 countries, in a cross-national, co-produced approach. As part of this, palliative care will be systematically appraised, aligned and ultimately transformed through one work package with four distinct tasks including: 1) organization and delivery, 2) digitalized care pathways with patient-reported outcomes, 3) education and competence frameworks, and 4) indicators for monitoring integration, using a {"}networks-in-networks{"} model designed for sustainability beyond JANE2.OUTCOMES: These will include scoping reviews, expert consultations, and modular surveys to support cross-country mapping.CONCLUSIONS: The palliative care work package within JANE-2 will deliver shared standards, pathways, education, and indicators in a sustainable European Network of Expertise that aims to embed palliative care as an inherent component of cancer care.",

keywords = "Cancer, European union, education, health policy, networks, palliative care, patient reported outcome measures, patient-centered care",

author = "Line Foss and Augusto Caraceni and Carlos Centeno and Greta Chlebopa{\v s}evienė and Clemmensen, \{Stine N\} and Itske Fraterman and Jes{\'u}s Gonz{\'a}lez-Barboteo and Mogens Groenvold and Laird, \{Barry J A\} and Mari L{\~o}hmus and Miguel Mateu-Sanz and Anna Reyners and Eva Schildmann and Hjermstad, \{Marianne Jensen\} and Stein Kaasa",

year = "2026",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009",

language = "English",

volume = "71",

pages = "e624--e634 ",

journal = "Journal of Pain and Symptom Management",

issn = "0885-3924",

publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - EU Joint Action

T2 - Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2

AU - Foss, Line

AU - Caraceni, Augusto

AU - Centeno, Carlos

AU - Chlebopaševienė, Greta

AU - Clemmensen, Stine N

AU - Fraterman, Itske

AU - González-Barboteo, Jesús

AU - Groenvold, Mogens

AU - Laird, Barry J A

AU - Lõhmus, Mari

AU - Mateu-Sanz, Miguel

AU - Reyners, Anna

AU - Schildmann, Eva

AU - Hjermstad, Marianne Jensen

AU - Kaasa, Stein

PY - 2026/5

Y1 - 2026/5

N2 - BACKGROUND: Palliative care is inconsistently integrated into European cancer care, with fragmentation in provision, accessibility, and education leading to avoidable suffering and inefficient use of healthcare resources. There is a need to improve this through a Europe-wide initiative, the Joint Action on Networks of Expertise on Cancer (JANE-2), which builds on the earlier JANE initiative. Within JANE-2, one dedicated work package-6 (WP6) focuses specifically on palliative care.METHODS: JANE-2 spans 42 partners across 26 countries, in a cross-national, co-produced approach. As part of this, palliative care will be systematically appraised, aligned and ultimately transformed through one work package with four distinct tasks including: 1) organization and delivery, 2) digitalized care pathways with patient-reported outcomes, 3) education and competence frameworks, and 4) indicators for monitoring integration, using a "networks-in-networks" model designed for sustainability beyond JANE2.OUTCOMES: These will include scoping reviews, expert consultations, and modular surveys to support cross-country mapping.CONCLUSIONS: The palliative care work package within JANE-2 will deliver shared standards, pathways, education, and indicators in a sustainable European Network of Expertise that aims to embed palliative care as an inherent component of cancer care.

AB - BACKGROUND: Palliative care is inconsistently integrated into European cancer care, with fragmentation in provision, accessibility, and education leading to avoidable suffering and inefficient use of healthcare resources. There is a need to improve this through a Europe-wide initiative, the Joint Action on Networks of Expertise on Cancer (JANE-2), which builds on the earlier JANE initiative. Within JANE-2, one dedicated work package-6 (WP6) focuses specifically on palliative care.METHODS: JANE-2 spans 42 partners across 26 countries, in a cross-national, co-produced approach. As part of this, palliative care will be systematically appraised, aligned and ultimately transformed through one work package with four distinct tasks including: 1) organization and delivery, 2) digitalized care pathways with patient-reported outcomes, 3) education and competence frameworks, and 4) indicators for monitoring integration, using a "networks-in-networks" model designed for sustainability beyond JANE2.OUTCOMES: These will include scoping reviews, expert consultations, and modular surveys to support cross-country mapping.CONCLUSIONS: The palliative care work package within JANE-2 will deliver shared standards, pathways, education, and indicators in a sustainable European Network of Expertise that aims to embed palliative care as an inherent component of cancer care.

KW - Cancer

KW - European union

KW - education

KW - health policy

KW - networks

KW - palliative care

KW - patient reported outcome measures

KW - patient-centered care

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035247751

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009

DO - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2026.02.009

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 41692079

SN - 0885-3924

VL - 71

SP - e624-e634

JO - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

JF - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

IS - 5

ER -

EU Joint Action: Integrating Palliative Care in the EU Cancer Agenda: Insights From JANE-2

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this