BIZI-ON MISSION
TOGETHER WE COME UP WITH NEW WAYS OF LIVING WITH CANCER IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY
What it is
It is a Mission-based research initiative to extend support beyond the hospital and into the community, where everyday life takes place. It offers support by accompanying people throughout their cancer experience, focusing on what matters most to each person. It fosters relationships, mutual support and facilitates healthy habits (nutrition, exercise and emotional well-being...) with scientifically proven strategies, in order to improve living with cancer.
- Mobilise and empower citizens (patients, carers, former patients, professionals) to define how the Basque society supports cancer.
- Grant holistic care to maintain quality of life throughout the whole cancer experience, including "life after" treatment.
- Extend cancer care from the hospital to the community, building bridges of trust between healthcare and social aspects in order to better serve the needs of citizens.
- Generate knowledge and scientific proof to enable and empower the system.
How we do it
BIZI-ON revolves around three engines to drive transformation and ensure a positive and sustainable impact:
- Research Engine: Foster collaboration and partnerships between individuals, disciplines and institutions with well-defined roles and objectives to generate scientific proof.
- Service Engine: Co-create services to contribute to holistic care and better health outcomes, quality of life and experience.
- Engagement Engine: Mobilise people affected by cancer (patients, former patients, relatives, carers, healthcare and social professionals, activists)
To address this major challenge and complement its capabilities, Euskampus Fundazioa has formed a strategic collaboration with The Care Lab - an organisation of designers specialised in the transformation of health and care systems and the co-creation of new care models in a participative way. We work together to mobilise people, identify and involve key actors to ensure the proper definition and contextualisation of the challenge, identify opportunity niches and be able to jointly set out a strategy and specific actions.
Since 2023, a community made up of more than 16 research groups from the UPV/EHU have formed part of BIZI-ON Akademia, working to provide scientific rigour and, at the same time, enrich their research with what they have learnt alongside other actors. Furthermore, we are constantly searching for new research capacities and involving all relevant social actors.
Motivation
Cancer is the leading cause of death in the Basque Country, affecting 1 in 3 people. The impact of the disease affects all people regardless of age, gender or social status, with a tremendous burden on patients, families and society at large, which extends beyond the duration of medical treatments.
As a challenge, it is one of the priorities on the political agenda of the EU and the Basque Country with the key objective: survival rate of 70% by 2030. Most scientific research on cancer is conducted in the field of bio-health sciences, resulting in an approach to cancer treatment that is still highly medicalised and individual, diluting the potential of behavioural and social aspects. Furthermore, BIZI-ON is aligned with the Basque Country’s Health Plan for 2030 and closely follows the strategic lines of the new Basque Holistic Cancer Plan and the Basque Health Pact, which is currently in the process of being defined.
Living with cancer involves personal challenges, such as the continuity of one’s life project, employment and the availability of resources. Ultimately, it affects the quality of life of the people who suffer from cancer and those who accompany them in the process.
