OnkoRiskNet helps families at risk of genetic cancer, ReHaTOP supports job seekers with mental health problems
Great joy for the team of OnkoRiskNET: Dr. Johanna Tecklenburg (second from the left) and Professor Dr. Anke Bergmann (third from the left) receiving the award from State Secretary Frank Doods (left) and Health Minister Dr. Andreas Philippi (right). Copyright: Lars Kaletta
Award for an excellent project: Health Minister Dr. Andreas Philippi (second from the right) celebrates with the ReHaTOP team. Copyright: Lars Kaletta
Double success for Hannover Medical School (MHH): at yesterday's award ceremony for the 13th Lower Saxony Health Prize, it won two out of three prizes. In the category "Chronically ill and well cared for", it won with the cooperation project ReHaTOP. In the category "eHealth - New Opportunities in Healthcare", she impressed with the cooperation network OnkoriskNET.
The Lower Saxony Health Prize is endowed with a total of 15,000 euros and is awarded every year for innovative contributions to prevention, health promotion and healthcare. It is under the patronage of Dr. Andreas Philippi, Lower Saxony's Minister for Social Affairs, Labour, Health and Equality.
ReHaTOP: New perspectives for the unemployed
Many unemployed people are affected by mental illnesses which, among other things, prevent them from gaining a foothold in the world of work. The ReHaTOP project exists for these people. Three partners work together across all sectors: The Jobcenter Region Hannover, the MHH Clinic for Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and the Bildungswerk der Niedersächsischen Wirtschaft (BNW). The aim of the twelve-month program is to improve the lives of jobseekers with mental health problems. In the long term, they should be able to lead a life without social benefits and find their place in the world of work again.
The project combines various support services under one roof.The special feature is that psychologists and a doctor from the MHH are based directly in the training building.This enables participants to receive individual medical-psychological specialist diagnostics, therapeutic services and, if necessary, crisis counseling. "With our support, health, life satisfaction and social participation can be improved and long-term employability can be promoted or even restored," explains Professor Dr. Kai Kahl, Senior Consultant at the Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.
Parallel to the psychological support, participants can create their own personal program from almost 100 modules. The modules include health and creative topics as well as joint activities with other participants. Social pedagogues and specialist instructors from the BNW and case managers from the job center support the participants throughout the entire period.In addition, the MHH team conducts extensive research into the reintegration process of unemployed people with mental illness. "We are very pleased about the recognition for our cooperation project and hope that our project idea of providing low-threshold and intersectional support to unemployed people with mental illnesses will also catch on nationwide," says Dr. Ivo Heitland, psychological psychotherapist and head of the medical-psychological team.
OnkoriskNET: Care close to home and telemedical advice
If there is a suspicion of a hereditary cancer risk, early clarification is important for those affected.In Germany, however, there is a lack of nationwide access to human genetic care, especially in rural areas.The innovation fund project "OnkoRiskNET", led by a team from the MHH Institute of Human Genetics, has tackled this problem and set up a cooperation network. It provides local care for patients with a genetic tumor risk in Lower Saxony and Saxony."In Germany, around half a million people are diagnosed with cancer every year.At least one in ten has a change in their genetic make-up that carries an increased risk of cancer and can lead to the development of tumors," says Professor Dr. Anke Bergmann, specialist in human genetics and head of the OnkoRiskNET project. "With this project, we want to ensure access to genetic counseling, diagnostics and risk-adapted prevention for genetic tumor risk syndromes in structurally weak regions." Professor Dr. Brigitte Schlegelberger, Director of the Institute of Human Genetics until May 2023, adds: "We see that cancer patients in this stressful situation often cannot find the long way to an institute of human genetics. It was therefore clear to us that there is a very significant gap in care here."
OnkoRiskNET developed structured treatment pathways.In a network with oncologists in private practice, it now offers support in determining indications and interpreting findings and gives patients access to telemedical genetic counseling."We want to reach those affected and their families where they are and prevent them from slipping through the system and not being noticed until they have cancer. The fact that this is now working is our greatest success," says Dr. Johanna Tecklenburg.The former employee at the Institute of Human Genetics is a co-initiator of OnkoriskNET."To now receive this award for the project is fantastic."
In addition to the MHH, the Institute for Clinical Genetics at the Carl Gustav Carus Medical Faculty in Dresden, the Institute for Journalism and Communication Research at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, inav - Privates Institut für angewandte Versorgungsforschung GmbH, AOK Niedersachsen and the patient organization BRCA-Netzwerk e.V. are also involved in OnkoriskNET.
The prize, endowed with a total of 15,000 euros, is awarded jointly by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Equality, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport and Digitalization, the AOK Lower Saxony, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Lower Saxony and the Lower Saxony Chamber of Pharmacists. The prize is coordinated by the State Association for Health and Academy for Social Medicine of Lower Saxony.