The event was held at the Museum of the History of Medicine (MUSME) in Padua, Italy, on 31st January and 1st of February 2023.

The YOUNG50 project aims to transfer the Italian model of cardiovascular risk and disease screening, CARDIO50, to three European countries: Lithuania, Romania, and Luxembourg. CARDIO50 is a programme aimed at promoting the prevention of cardiovascular diseases by encouraging lifestyle changes and the acquisition of new healthy habits in individuals. In the framework of YOUNG50, this best practice has been implemented and adapted to each country with the goal of ensuring the sustainability and applicability of the programme.

In YOUNG50, Kronikgune has coordinated the task of “Analysis of the situation, assessment of feasibility and needs, and definition of action plans for the implementation of CARDIO 50”. The Institute has been responsible for the description of the baseline situation in terms of epidemiological context and cardiovascular health promotion in the pilot countries. It also carried out the activity of identifying the main features of CARDIO 50 essential to achieve the expected results of the project and defining the adapted YOUNG50 model for each pilot country. As a result, specific Action Plans have been defined for the pilots in Lithuania, Romania, and Luxembourg.

The conference “Young50: sharing excellence in Europe”, held on the first day, aimed to foster networking and exchange at regional, national and European levels in the field of health promotion and screening, with a specific focus on the CARDIO50 programme. The event was attended by the Italian authorities who shared their experience on the CARDIO50 programme, and the European YOUNG50 partners to discuss the transfer process to other European countries. In this context, Kronikgune presented the strategy developed and defined for the adaptation of the CARDIO50 model to the adopting countries, focusing on applicability and sustainability.

The second day was used to hold the penultimate plenary meeting of the YOUNG50 European research project.  It shared the implementation status of CARDIO50 in each adopting country, as well as reviewed the next activities to be carried out before the end of the project in May 2023. During the meeting, the Kronikgune team presented the protocol and actions defined for the evaluation of the implementation and the analysis of the short-term impact of the programme.

If you want to know more about the Young50 project, visit its official website: https://www.young50.eu/