Advancing the ESCAPE Clinical Trial in Germany

The ESCAPE project, funded under Horizon 2020, is working to improve care for older adults living with heart failure, multiple chronic conditions, and psychological distress through a holistic, patient-centred approach. At the heart of this effort is a large-scale clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of the blended-collaborative care (BCC) model across several European countries.

Germany plays a central role in this work, with four key clinical sites located in Göttingen, Hamburg, Cologne, and Leipzig. These sites have been instrumental in recruiting patients, delivering the intervention, and generating high-quality clinical data.

As the project moves into its final phase, the German team is focusing on completing key steps in the trial process. End-of-treatment (EoT) visits are currently being finalised across all four sites, alongside intensive data cleaning and monitoring activities to ensure the robustness and reliability of the dataset. In parallel, the team in Göttingen is supporting other ESCAPE partners across Europe in aligning their own EoT processes.

On the analysis side, preparations are well underway for evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention. The German team is working closely with colleagues in WP5 to define how EoT data will be used for efficacy analysis. At the same time, they are drafting a scientific publication describing the baseline characteristics of the ESCAPE patient population, which is an important step in understanding the cohort and contextualising future results.

Looking ahead, the completion of EoT activities will pave the way for the next phase of scientific outputs, including publications on intervention outcomes. Alongside this, the team continues to contribute to project-wide reporting following the latest EU review, ensuring ESCAPE remains on track to deliver meaningful insights for improving care for multimorbid elderly patients across Europe.