Project Information
Duration: 24 months (2025–2027)
Funding: Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation – Excellence Hubs
Coordinator: Cyprus University of Technology
Consortium: 3AHealth Ltd, Birth Forward Cyprus
About the Project
ALTHEA CY is a pioneering project focused on improving the health and well-being of women after childbirth by promoting breastfeeding, physical activity, and sustained smoking abstinence. The project uses digital health innovation and social network analysis (SNA) to explore how health beliefs and behaviours are transmitted within social communities during the postpartum period.
Recognising the postpartum phase as a critical window for health behaviour change, ALTHEA CY investigates how social connectedness can be used as a tool to shape healthier outcomes — not just for new mothers, but for their wider networks.
Objectives
To develop a digital tool that fosters peer support and promotes cancer-preventative behaviours postpartum.
To investigate the social contagion of attitudes and beliefs on smoking, breastfeeding, and physical activity.
To test how strategically placed individuals in social networks (peer mentors) can influence the diffusion of healthier behaviours.
To create an open-access database of social network and behavioural data to inform future interventions and policymaking.
Methodology
ALTHEA CY adopts a mixed-methods approach grounded in public health, health psychology, and behavioural science.
WP3: Co-design and pilot a mobile app using participatory design with postpartum women and parents’ groups.
WP4: Conduct a longitudinal social network analysis (SNA) study to observe the spread of health-related beliefs and behaviours.
WP5: Run an experimental pilot study testing peer influence based on network centrality.
The research integrates qualitative interviews, validated survey tools, and advanced digital monitoring of social interactions to deliver evidence-based insights.
Target Groups
Postpartum women and their families
Midwives, nurses, and health professionals
Public health decision-makers
Community and parent-led organisations
Impact
ALTHEA CY seeks to:
Enhance postpartum care through digitally supported, community-based interventions
Support the national health system with scalable, user-informed tools
Empower researchers and clinicians to understand how behaviours spread socially
Contribute to cancer prevention through health promotion during a crucial life stage
Community and parent-led organisations
Publications
Team Members
Partners
Funder
“This project is funded by the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation under the RESTART 2016–2020 Programme, Pillar II – Sustainable RTDI System, Programme: Excellence Hubs (EXCELLENCE/0524/0549).”