EQUICARES – Community-Driven Healthcare Access and Mental Health Promotion for Inclusive, Equitable, and Resilient European Societies

EQUICARES (Grant Agreement No. 101156500) is a Horizon Europe project running from January 2025 to December 2028. It aims to improve access to mental health and care services for people in vulnerable situations through a combined approach of research, innovation, co-creation, and policy uptake.

Main objectives:

• Understand barriers and enablers: Analyse access challenges and facilitators of mental health services for vulnerable groups (e.g. Roma, migrants, older people, people with disabilities, etc.). Equicares Project+1
• Innovate solutions: Identify, test, and assess cost-effective interventions to reduce inequalities in mental health care. Equicares Project+1
• Engage communities: Use Smart Health Labs to co-create solutions together with local vulnerable populations. eu+1
• Pilot & empower: Run pilot projects in 8 regions across 7 countries, increasing digital literacy, mental health literacy, and empowering people to better navigate care. eu+2cordis.europa.eu+2
• Inform policy: Produce evidence (data, cost analysis, impact assessments) and tools (Atlas, Dashboard, Replication Handbook) to guide policymakers toward sustainable inclusive mental health policies. europa.eu+2ehtel.eu+2

Main beneficiaries / target groups:

• People in vulnerable situations: Roma communities, migrants/refugees, older people, people with physical or mental disabilities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and those facing socio-economic disadvantage. Equicares Project+2Equicares Project+2
• Mental health and care service providers
• Public authorities and policymakers
• Civil society organizations and local communities

Key activities:

• Mixed methods research: Including interviews, focus groups, surveys; applying the Levesque Framework to evaluate service accessibility; digital ethnography; computational social science methods. Equicares Project+2europa.eu+2
• Co-creation through Smart Health Labs to design tailored innovations. europa.eu+2ehtel.eu+2
• Deployment of an AI-based Assistant to help individuals with digital literacy, navigation of mental health services, improving mental health literacy. europa.eu+1
• Pilot solutions in places including North-Central Bulgaria (Pavlikeni & Strazhitsa) where Amalipe will lead local implementation. Equicares Project
• Mapping and visualization tools: an Atlas of innovative solutions; a Policy Dashboard; and a Replication Handbook to scale up and replicate successes across Europe.