ResPECT – Generative AI Assistant: A Paradigm Shift in Burden Assessment for Cancer and Mental Health Care
ResPECT is a European research and innovation project aiming to develop a trustworthy, multilingual and GDPR-compliant virtual assistant powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI). The project connects patients’ lived experiences with clinical decision support and health system intelligence to improve cancer and mental healthcare.
People living with breast cancer or depression often experience physical, psychological, social and financial burdens that remain unrecognised or insufficiently addressed in routine care. ResPECT will enable patients to describe their symptoms, concerns and needs in their own words. The AI assistant will combine these narratives with relevant clinical information and guideline-based knowledge to generate structured, clinically relevant summaries. The aim is to improve communication between patients and healthcare professionals, support timely and personalised care, and reduce the documentation and cognitive burden on healthcare professionals.
The virtual assistant will comprise two complementary components: a Medical Assistant, supporting patients and healthcare professionals in individual care, and a Policy Assistant, using aggregated patient experience data to identify unmet needs, inequalities and potential gaps in healthcare. The resulting insights will support comparisons across regions, patient groups and healthcare systems, informing more responsive and evidence-based health policies.
The four-year project brings together 22 partners from eight European countries. The solutions will be clinically evaluated in a multicentre randomised controlled trial involving patients with early-stage breast cancer and patients with moderate-to-severe depression. ResPECT is also part of the GenAI4Health Cluster, which promotes the responsible use of generative AI in medicine and healthcare.
The Institute of Oncology Ljubljana participates as a partner in this international consortium, bringing together clinical centres, researchers, AI and digital health specialists, patient organisations, health economists and health policy experts.
Further information:
The project is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme (Grant Agreement No. 101287711). The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA).
