Children’s Health Ireland supports new European project to improve emotional care for children with cancer and their families
Children’s Health Ireland supports new European project to improve emotional care for children with cancer and their families
Feb. 12, 2026
IMPACT-EU (IMprove Psychosocial cAre and soCial supporT) for children and adolescents with cancer and their families to improve quality of life for all.
Children’s Health Ireland, through our Institute of Child Health Ireland, is proud to be part of a new European project that will improve emotional and social support for children and young people with cancer, and for their families.
The project began on 1 October 2025 and will run until September 2028. It brings together 17 partners from 14 countries to make sure that every child with cancer in Europe can access high-quality emotional and psychological care throughout their treatment and beyond.
The project is co-funded by the European Union and is led by partners in the Netherlands and across Europe. It combines research, training and clinical care, and works closely with parent and patient organisations to make sure families’ voices are heard at every stage.
At Children’s Health Ireland, Dr Chiara Besani, Clinical Lead of the National Paediatric Psycho-Oncology Service within the National Children’s Cancer Service, is leading one part of the project. She will oversee a pilot study in five children’s cancer centres in Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Slovakia and Romania.
This study will introduce three proven supports that help to reduce medical traumatic stress and improve emotional wellbeing for children and teenagers with cancer. It will also strengthen how we identify children and families who may need extra support.
“By working together across Europe, we can strengthen emotional and psychological care for children with cancer and their families. When we provide the right support at the right time, we can improve quality of life and reduce long-term emotional difficulties. Our hope is that every child with cancer can benefit from the best possible care for both body and mind.
This project reflects the strong partnership between clinical care and research within the National Children’s Cancer Service. Dr Besani also acknowledged the support of national clinical leaders and the generous donation from Barretstown to support psycho-oncology research. Children’s Health Ireland and Barretstown share a deep commitment to caring for the whole child, not just the illness.
The importance of emotional care is clear in the experience of one family.
Ruairí was four years old when he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia. His parents shared:
“Our son Ruairi was first diagnosed with AML, an aggressive form of Leukaemia when he was 4 in September 2022. As you can imagine, for any family this is life changing. Ruairi and ourselves as parents have accessed support from Chiara since then. It’s hard to describe what watching your child go through such intense chemo and distressing medical procedures is like. It is so difficult as a parent, but you also know that this treatment is imperative to get him well. Chiara’s room was a place where we could stop putting the brave face on for Ruairi and Clodagh (sister) and just be honest about the reality of what we were facing and what was happening. Trying to parent two small children and keep “the show on the road” while you feel the ground beneath you cracking is so hard, Chiara understood all of this and provided us with a safe place to acknowledge those difficult feelings and our fears for Ruairi. When we returned from the UK, Ruairi’s second transplant thankfully was a success. Ruairí had been through so much physically and emotionally. He had been in treatment for so long. The effects were clear to everyone around him. He was very sad and scared when we came home. His mood was very low. Chiara began seeing him individually and was able to support us as parents in understanding what he was going through. Chiara saw Ruairí over a number of months, helping him tell his story in his own words. It was amazing to see Ruairi describe this great battle in his body and how the doctors and medication were fighting it. No family comes out of a cancer journey like ours unscathed, but Chiara’s care (psycho-oncology care) has helped us learn to live again in the new normal.
Over the next three years, the project will:
- Agree shared European standards for emotional and psychological care in children’s cancer services.
- Map what support is currently available across Europe and identify gaps.
- Provide training and practical tools to strengthen the skills of healthcare professionals.
- Test proven supports in five countries to improve children’s wellbeing and reduce trauma related to treatment.
Dr Besani also acknowledged: “This project would have not been possible without the support and co-funding from NCCS and the continue mentorship and encouragement of Prof Cathy Quinlan, Prof Susa Bensler, Mary Lynch and Prof Cormac Owen, Clinical Lead of NCCS and Prof Owen Smith in the NCCP.
At Children’s Health Ireland, we know that caring for a child with cancer means caring for their whole world. Through this partnership, we are working to ensure that no child or parent faces the emotional impact of cancer alone."
