EU4HEALTH · 2025–2028
RELIEF
The rise in e-cigarette usage among children and teenagers is a significant concern, prompting calls for more control and educational efforts. The European Commission launched the "European Code against Cancer" to guide people in reducing their cancer risks through twelve recommendations, available in all EU languages. Ongoing tobacco control efforts are necessary to create effective prevention strategies against new and traditional tobacco products, especially since young people often lack understanding about the risks. Parental involvement can play a critical role in this advocacy, as parents influence youth behavior regarding e-cigarettes. Educators are also vital in the fight against tobacco use, particularly in managing emerging products like e-cigarettes. RELIEF is a project aimed at gathering information about young people's views on emerging tobacco products, focusing on students aged 6-12, their parents, and teachers. The project will use various research methods and combine findings from different studies to create a complete understanding that can help in informing policies. Key stakeholders will use this information to develop and assess a campaign to raise awareness and provide training for parents, teachers, and healthcare workers. Additionally, the knowledge gained will be shared on a virtual platform and will include programs for parents and teachers, as well as activities to engage policymakers both nationally and within the EU. RELIEF intends to enhance knowledge sharing and practice in reducing the use of emerging tobacco products. It seeks to study attitudes towards tobacco control in countries like Cyprus, Iceland, Italy, and Spain, understand existing policies, create user-centered intervention tools, and transform evidence into guidelines for policymakers, especially targeting vulnerable groups.
consortium
8 partners · 6 countries
our role
Work Package Leader — WP3
programme
horizon europe
Grant reference
101233613
Date
01/11/2025 - 31/10/2028
Our role
Work Package Leader — WP3
We lead WP3 and build the RELIEF digital health platform— a co-created, multilingual platform for students, parents and teachers with learning toolkits that include gamified learning experiences, collaborative activities, an AI chatbot and more.
Impact and outcomes
• Targeting 500 schools engaged through the toolkit, with at least 80% user satisfaction
• Targeting 1,000 educators and parents trained, with 80% showing improved knowledge at follow-up
• Targeting 3 large-scale events and 10+ policy briefs shared with regional and national authorities
• Digital toolkit to be launched by month 24 and piloted in schools across four countries
The challenge
E-cigarette use among children and teenagers is rising fast, while young people often lack understanding of the risks of emerging tobacco products. Parents and educators play a pivotal role in prevention, but more evidence-based tools, resources and evaluations are needed to inform school-based interventions.
our approach
RELIEF combines surveys, interviews, eye-tracking studies and computational models of misinformation to understand how students, parents and teachers view emerging tobacco products, then turns the evidence into a school campaign, training and policy guidelines. We co-create and build the digital toolkit at its core, piloted in schools in Cyprus, Iceland, Italy and Spain.