GrantWise
HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 1 · Health

Addressing disabilities through the life course to support independent living and inclusion

HORIZON-HLTH-2027-01-STAYHLTH-01 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

Get the free Part B working draft for this topic ↓

ForthcomingRIA · lump sumDeadline 17 February 2027EUR 6 million to EUR 8 million per project

GrantWise › Horizon Europe topics › HORIZON-HLTH-2027-01-STAYHLTH-01

TopicHORIZON-HLTH-2027-01-STAYHLTH-01
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-HLTH-2027-01 — Cluster 1 - Health (Single stage - 2027/1)
DestinationStaying healthy in a rapidly changing society (2026-27)
Type of actionResearch and Innovation Actions · lump sum
Opening29 October 2026
Deadline17 February 2027
BudgetEUR 6 million to EUR 8 million per project · 5 projects expected · EUR 39.3 million in total
Part B page limit45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination “Staying healthy in a rapidly changing society”. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed at, tailored towards and contributing to all the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 Persons with disabilities are empowered and can enjoy their rights to live independently, participate in society and be included in the community on an equal basis with others.
  2. EO2 The scientific community develops innovative solutions with a focus on removing barriers faced by persons with disabilities to live independently and they are provided with community support services where they live in the community.
  3. EO3 Policymakers, health and care services, social and service providers, disability organisations, funders, the scientific community, and other relevant bodies are informed of the research advances and best practices addressing the health and needs of persons with disabilities to support them living independently and being included in society.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

  1. EI1 Citizens, including persons with disabilities and other groups in a vulnerable situation, adopt and maintain healthier lifestyles and behaviours, make healthier choices, and achieve, where applicable, longer healthy, independent, and active lives with a reduced burden of preventable disease throughout the life course.
  2. EI2 Citizens are empowered to effectively manage their physical and mental health and well-being, monitor their health status, and interact with healthcare providers to optimise their well-being throughout life through improved health literacy, increased engagement in and adherence to health promotion strategies.
  3. EI3 Children and young people are aware and empowered to better monitor and manage their physical, social and mental health with a view to lifelong healthy lifestyles.
  4. EI4 Society benefits from reduced economic and health burdens due to preventable illness and premature mortality, with efficiency increased by targeting scarce resources in appropriate, cost-effective ways to areas of high social return, thereby driving improvements in health and well-being for all citizens, and specifically reducing health inequalities.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO3), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Independent living requires a differentiated landscape of quality, accessible, person-centred and affordable, community- and family-based services comprising personal assistance, medical and social care and interventions by social workers, thereby facilitating everyday activities and providing choice to persons with disabilities and their families.”
  • “Research actions under this topic should address at least three of the following areas:.”
  • “Proposals should foster ways to improve autonomy and quality of life.”
  • “Thus, applicants are encouraged to ensure harmonised data collection by using Eurostat standards and existing international sets of questions in their areas of research.”
  • “Persons with disabilities should be involved in the research through their representative organisations as actors in the research process.”
  • “This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, organisations as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.”
  • “Applicants envisaging to include clinical studies should provide details of their clinical studies in the dedicated annex using the template provided in the submission system.”
  • “If proposals concern drug addiction, they are encouraged to liaise with the EU Drugs Agency. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C_202407188.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • Other Eligibility Conditions: “In recognition of the opening of the US National Institutes of Health’s programmes to European researchers, any legal entity established in the United States of America is eligible to receive Union funding.”
  • Other Eligibility Conditions: “Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.”
  • Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes: “The thresholds for each criterion will be 4 (Excellence), 4 (Impact) and 4 (Implementation). The cumulative threshold will be 12.”

Impact pathway and traps

  • The topic asks for social sciences and humanities (SSH) expertise. Evaluators look for SSH partners with a real role in the methodology, not a token task.
  • Standardisation is mentioned. Name the committees or bodies and the partner who engages with them.
  • The gender dimension is named in the topic. Show how sex and gender analysis enters the research content, not only team balance.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

The focus of this topic is human-centred on persons with long-term disabilities -physical, mental, intellectual or sensory- aiming at supporting independent living across the life-course from a health perspective. Persons with disabilities have an equal right to live independently and be included in the community. Independent living requires a differentiated landscape of quality, accessible, person-centred and affordable, community- and family-based services comprising personal assistance, medical and social care and interventions by social workers, thereby facilitating everyday activities and providing choice to persons with disabilities and their families. The objective of this topic is to explore new ways to promote independent living and inclusion in society of persons with disabilities, reducing to the maximum possible the impact of barriers faced in their daily lives, and supporting the transition from institutions to living in the community while addressing all-encompassing aspects of personal support, such as community transformation, service provision, assistive and accessible technologies and environments. Research actions under this topic should address at least three of the following areas: Health related research addressing disabilities that stem from health conditions and health conditions associated to disabilities. Thus, research may look into finding the causes of the disease(s) leading to the disability and/or disease treatment with the purpose of supporting independent living. Innovative solutions could also include among others diagnoses, medicines, treatments, protocols, technologies, digital tools, low-tech solutions, etc. helping to improve the autonomy of persons with disabilities. Children with disabilities from the perinatal period, and/or young people with disabilities transitioning to adulthood, and/or older persons. Proposals should foster ways to improve autonomy and quality of life. Access to habilitation and rehabilitation services, including psychological rehabilitation and innovative rehabilitation with assistive technologies when appropriate, to increase, maintain, substitute or improve functional capabilities of persons with disabilities or for, alleviation and compensation of impairments, activity limitations or participation restrictions contributing to increasing independence. Prevention of disabilities through the life-course. Different aspects that could have an impact on persons with disabilities may be addressed, such as gender, age, socio-economic background, ethnicity, detection of risks factors leading to a loss of autonomy, the risk of overweight/obesity and related co-morbidities (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases), hospitalisation, nutrition (e.g. mother and child nutrition from pregnancy), high level of inactivity/sedentary lifestyle and related co-morbidities (e.g. frailty), physical activity/sports, screen-time dependency, smoking, drug use, alcohol use, stress, psychiatric and somatic diseases, loneliness and/or isolation, etc. Conditions for a successful transition from institutions to living in the community, including different tools to achieve it, such as needs assessments, service provision, budget and resources, management plans, monitoring, quality control, etc. Community support services to live independently may include personal assistance or support for decision-making, and/or disability inclusive and accessible community-based services -medical, technological, digital or other supportive initiatives- ensuring prevention of isolation or segregation and supporting deinstitutionalisation. Special attention is to be paid to children and young people transitioning to adulthood and older persons to facilitate they remain living at their homes. Innovative solutions, care models and strategies for high quality person-centred, accessible and targeted social and healthcare services to prevent barriers and to support independent living, including if possible, self-care to empower persons with disabilities, as well as different choices of care across the life-course. For many persons with disabilities, the lack of support and care services and insufficient support for families and unavailability of personal assistance undermines their independence and inclusion in the community. Data collection is essential to understand the living situation of persons with disabilities and remains a challenge to collect data disaggregated per type of disability, sex, and age. In addition, data collected often lacks comparability as it follows different definitions in each Member State and Associated Country. Thus, applicants are encouraged to ensure harmonised data collection by using Eurostat standards and existing international sets of questions in their areas of research. Persons with disabilities should be involved in the research through their representative organisations as actors in the research process. Research can also involve their families, friends, colleagues, supporters and carers and other service providers. Policymakers and public authorities, social services, and civil society organisations, could also be considered. The relevant European research infrastructures in the area of health may be exploited for available digital tools and services for dataset creation, standardisation, data discovery, secure access, management, visualization, harmonization, analysis and other functions as appropriate. This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, organisations as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. Projects are also encouraged to explore potential complementarities with projects funded under topic HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-09: “Good practices for increased autonomy of persons with disabilities, including physical,…

Other topics in HORIZON-HLTH-2027-01

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.