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The concept of the good death has been widely considered. However, the perspectives of those affected have not received sufficient attention. In our empirical study, we conducted interviews with 32 people who were confronted with dying; these people were either terminally ill, elderly or else were bereaved carers. The findings show that for this group of people, dying is not just a physical process, but also a psychological, social and spiritual one. From the perspective of those affected, dying is never beautiful, in particular because of the associated pain and suffering. At the same time, people confronted with dying do experience beautiful moments. In the stories they tell of these beautiful moments, it is a beauty emanating from a sense of elevated emotion – of moral emotion – rather than any aesthetic beauty. We conclude that good care of the dying enables beautiful moments and creates reflective spaces for those affected to express what beauty means to them. We show that the public discourse differs significantly from the perspective of those affected and more efforts need to be made to include their voices. Version of record

Altenpflegeheime sind "Frauenwelten". Sowohl die Menschen, die dort wohnen als auch jene, die dort arbeiten sind grosteils weiblich. Es stellt sich daher die Frage, welche Bedeutung Gender und Geschlechtergerechtigkeit in der Organisation Altenpflegeheim zukommt. Die Analyse der Ausgangslage in Bezug auf Geschlechterverteilung verdeutlicht, dass Pflege nach wie vor ein "Frauenberuf" ist. Welche Mechanismen dazu fuhren, dass das soziale Geschlecht immer wieder neu hergestellt wird, diskutieren wir an den empirischen Beispielen der gemischtgeschlechtlichen Teams und Frauen in Fuhrungspositionen. Darauf aufbauend werden Forderungen an die Praxis und Gesellschaft formuliert.

The need for integrated, accessible and person-centred care for people with dementia to foster quality of life and facilitate life in the community has been voiced by health policy. Pharmacies have the potential to provide easily accessible information and support for people with dementia, caregivers and the public. The ‘Dementia-friendly Pharmacy’ programme aimed at re-orienting community pharmacy in Austria, focusing on stronger inclusion of professional counselling into core services. It followed principles of health promotion and person-centred care, aiming at empowering all actors involved, and at fostering quality of life. Methodologically, the programme was based on participatory health research, thus involving all relevant actors and consolidating their perspectives on issues related to dementia care. In the course of the programme, a workshop series covering topics relevant for dementia care in community pharmacy, as well as prototypes for small-scale projects were developed, and measures were taken for securing sustainability. Findings related to programme development and implementation encompass pharmacy staff’s motivation to participate in the programme, counselling knowledge and skills development, experience with building community partnerships and cross-organizational development and sustainability. Furthermore, effectiveness of the programme has been established. These findings are discussed against the background of re-orienting pharmacies.

BACKGROUND: Nursing homes are confronted with a significant change in their client structure. Palliative care gains importance in caring for residents until the end of their life. Relatives play a crucial role in caring for older people in nursing homes, especially in palliative care. As the perspective of relatives on palliative care culture in nursing homes has not yet been studied extensively, research in this field still has an exploratory character. AIM: The aim of the paper is to highlight some of the most important insights into themes and issues that relatives of persons having died in a nursing home find essential, with a view to fostering a well-established palliative care culture. METHODS: Within a qualitative approach, four focus group interviews were conducted. FINDINGS: Findings indicate that good communication is a core element of a well-established palliative care culture. Direct contact with relatives, talking about death and dying and the opportunity to be involved in decision-making all support a good palliative care culture. The fact that residents have a diverse range of social backgrounds, for example, regarding ethnicity, gender and living with dementia, influences palliative care in nursing homes and has to be taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: To create a good palliative care culture, management has to support this approach, continuously develop appropriate structures and act in a competent way.

According to demographic data, the percentage of elderly people within the population is growing, representing a vulnerable group to the effects of increasing heat, but little attention has been paid to developed adaptation measures. In addition, many older people leave their familiar homes and live in nursing homes. The person-centred care pursues creating spaces of high living quality for these people in nursing homes, to which plants and greenery can contribute. Greening is also considered an effective climate change adaptation measure. To create healthy conditions for this vulnerable group of elderly, both technical and social factors must be considered, and accordingly, a successful solution can only be achieved in an interdisciplinary way. The research and development of the project “Green: Cool & Care” dealt with this outset from a building physics, social, and nursing science perspective, and concepts to integrate greening measures in nursing homes were developed jointly by researchers, planners, staff, volunteers, and residents. For this purpose, measurement campaigns of air quality parameters, individual interviews and focus groups, as well as co-creative workshops were conducted aiming to include the objective building conditions as well as the subjective needs in developing and, in a further step, implementing greening measures.

Partizipation von Menschen mit Demenz am sozialen Leben, am Leben in der Community, an der Gestaltung von Diensten und Angeboten und an der Forschung ist nicht nur erwunscht, sie ist auch zu fordern. Denn Partizipation wirkt nicht nur der Stigmatisierung entgegen, sie fordert auch die Gesundheit von Menschen mit Demenz. In unserem Beitrag zeigen wir die Zusammenhange zwischen Gesundheitsforderung und Partizipation auf und gehen den besonderen Herausforderungen der Partizipation fur Menschen mit Demenz nach. Wir analysieren ausgewahlte Forschungsprojekte der Autorinnen anhand des Stufenmodells der Partizipation in der Gesundheitsforderung. Wie wir mit und uber Menschen mit Demenz sprechen und ob uns als Gesellschaft wertschatzende Diskurse und ein person-zentrierter Zugang zu den Betroffenen gelingt, ist entscheidend dafur, ob das Leben mit Demenz als lebenswert erlebt wird. Die Moglichkeit zur gesellschaftlichen Teilhabe spielt dabei eine zentrale Rolle fur Gesundheitsforderung und Pravention.

Fur partizipativ orientierte Forschungs-Bildungs-Kooperationen sind systemische Spannungsfelder zwischen Universitat und Schule geradezu konstituierend. Aufgelost werden konnen sie aber nicht. Am Beispiel von Forschungserfahrungen im Projekt „Who Cares?“ werden solcherart Spannungsfelder benannt, analysiert und in einem weiteren Schritt Moglichkeiten beschrieben, wie mit ihnen (z. B. Lernen zwischen Reproduktion und Innovation, Umgang mit knapper Zeit, Partizipation unter hierarchischen Bedingungen, Freiwilligkeit und Pflichtunterricht, Mehrsprachigkeit) umgegangen werden kann. „Gleichberechtigte Teilnahme“, „dialogisches Erzahlen“ und das „Konzipieren von machbaren Projekten“ werden als Methoden dargestellt, die zum Gelingen trotz widerspruchlicher Systembedingungen beitragen konnen. Ein zentrales Ergebnis des partizipativen Interventionsprojektes stellt „Empowerment durch die Erfahrung von Partizipation“ dar, das gerade fur den gesellschaftlich nach wie vor abgewerteten Bereich von Care relevant ist. SchulerInnen konnten im Rahmen des Projektes Selbstwirksamkeit erfahren und eine forschende Haltung einuben.

Studies in the context of gender mainstreaming, gender equality policy or feminist issues often face specific challenges in connection with the empirical approach. The Gender Mainstreaming Working Group (AK GM) of the German Evaluation Society (DeGEval) focused on the choice of adequate methods and research designs for the evaluation of gender mainstreaming measures, gender equality policies and feminist evaluation at its spring conference 2017, which took place at the IHS on 11 May 2017 and is documented in this volume.

Living situations (“Lebenslagen”) and gender orders in old age: social relationships and the risk of loneliness from a social scientific perspective The paper focuses on various living situations (“Lebenslagen”) at the intersection of old age and gender. It is based on the theoretical framing and conceptionalisation of living situations (“Lebenslagen”), social relationships and loneliness from a social scientific and gerontological perspective. Three qualitative research projects – each of them located and carried out in Austria – are described to show empirical evidence of different fields: The selected living situations encompass persons living with dementia, nursing home residents and homosexual older women. Hence, Reitinger and Traunsteiner are discussing the common structural effects revealed by their research in relation to their theoretical framework as well as gender and old age to finally conclude with recommendations for social political innovations.

"Doing gender" plays an important role in nursing interactions in long-term care settings.The aim of this article is to focus on the experiences of staff and management in a long-term care setting on the social categorization of gender and to reflect and discuss these findings against already existing research.Within a qualitative study, one to one interviews and group discussions with a total of 28 participants were conducted.The results show how "doing gender" as a social practice effects interactions with residents, within the working team and in the context of management and hierarchy in the long-term care setting. In interactions with residents, gender-specific behavior can be observed. Within the working team gender-specific differences with respect to division of labor and working hours are reported. Concerning management and hierarchy it can be observed that male executives react more strongly in correspondence with the expectations of their gender role whereas female executives show more discrepancies between the expectations towards their position and gender role.

Community based housing for people with dementia is gaining importance. In co-operation between the people concerned, their relatives, professionals and volunteers, person-centred care, nursing and guidance can be realised within small units. Questions regarding end of life, dying, grief and the role of palliative care form the basis of the exploratory qualitative study presented here. Coping with end of life, ethical decisions and the relevance of hospice and palliative care in the field are highlighted. The results of the study show that "shared flats for people with dementia" are good places for death and dying. Close relationships, good communication with relatives and highly motivated professionals can be regarded as powerful resources. So far only few co-operations between hospice and palliative care exist. Areas of improvement encompass clinical issues and coping with bereavement.

Fragen nach der angemessenen Unterstutzung und Sorge fur hochaltrige, demenziell veranderte und sterbende Menschen sind immer in ihrer grundsatzlichen gesellschaftspolitischen Bedeutung zu reflektieren und zu verstehen. Die Zukunft einer „sorgenden Gesellschaft“ (Caring Society) hangt wesentlich von der ethischen Verantwortlichkeit der Politik ab. Die pluralen Wertorientierungen und Lebensentwurfe der spaten Moderne erfordern die Entwicklung von politischen Prozessen, die den ethischen Diskurs zur Organisation gesellschaftlicher Sorge fordern. Eine solcherart gestaltete „Politik der Sorge“ nimmt sich Fragen des gerechten Zugangs zu Sorgeleistungen, der gesellschaftlichen Verteilung von Sorgearbeit, der Sorgeokonomie und damit der erforderlichen Rahmenbedingungen einer „Demokratisierung der Sorge“ an. Wir sehen es als Aufgabe der Wissenschaft diese Fragen in unseren partizipativen Forschungsprojekten in Palliative- und Dementia Care aufzunehmen und in den gesellschaftspolitischen Diskurs einzubringen. Entlang von drei konkreten Forschungszusammenhangen werden die Moglichkeiten und Grenzen dieses Anliegens diskutiert. Fur die zukunftige Gestaltung partizipativer Forschungsprozesse in Palliative- und Dementia Care leitet sich daraus ab, die zivilgesellschaftliche Beteiligung zu starken, sowie die Interventionen in politische Diskurse zu intensivieren. Damit verbunden ist ein Paradigmenwechsel im Verstandnis gesellschaftlicher Problemlosungsstrategien: Von der Hoffnung in die Entwicklung von ExpertInnenorganisationen und spezialisierten Professionen hin zum Vertrauen in die Potentiale zivilgesellschaftlicher Beteiligungs- und Demokratisierungsprozesse.

This chapter focuses on communities, their resources and organizational structures, and their procedures aiming at 'increasing their community's resilience, support, and openness toward those affected by death, dying, and loss'. It describes issue of dementia-friendly community pharmacies, as a frame of reference. The main responsibility of a community pharmacy is to provide medicines to the general population, which includes the management of pharmacotherapy, health education and counselling. The chapter overviews situation of community-based dementia care in German-speaking countries, as well as on the health and social care system in Austria and its uptake of issues related to dementia. Palliative care plays an important role in dementia care. The chapter speaks about 'direct participation' when for example caregivers and pharmacy staff meet in person to speak for themselves. It concludes by discussing some implications for further engagement of healthcare settings like community pharmacies in the development of compassionate communities.

Ethics and gender issues in palliative care in nursinghomes: an Austrian participatory research project. International Journal of OlderPeople Nursing 9, 131–139. doi:10.1111/opn.12049Background. The development of palliative care in nursing homes in German-speaking countries has gained in importance within the past 15–20 years. Ethicaland gender issues are core aspects of a palliative care culture and should therefore bebetter understood.Aims and objectives. The aim of this study was tohighlight insights regarding ethicaland gender issues, based on the experiences of professionals in nursing homes.Design. A 2-year participatory action research study was performed in collaborationwith three nursing homes in Austria.Methods. The article focusses on 10 group discussions with interdisciplinaryprofessional teams that were conducted to generate ethical narratives. Thematic andnarrative analysis was undertaken both individually and within the interdisciplinaryresearch team. Findings and interpretations were validated with practitioners andresearchers.Findings. Atotalof36narrativeswerecollectedandsummarisedwithineightthemesconcerningthetheoreticaljourneyofanursinghomeresidentwithrelativesfromentryinto the house until death. The most burdensome ethical dilemmas are not the onesaround death and dying but rather those relating to small-scale everyday work/lifeissues.Sharingexperiencesandfeelingsinethicaldiscussionsprovidesrelief.Emotionsare important facilitators of insight into ethical dilemmas. Gender issues can beobservedincaresituationsaswellasintheorganisationalstructureofnursinghomes.Conclusions. Opportunities to share experiences and perspectives around ethicalquestions in interdisciplinary group discussions help professionals to betterunderstand difficult issues and find appropriate ways of managing them.Implications for practice. There is a need for communication structures such asfacilitated ethical discussions that enable nursing home staff to reflect their everydaydecisions. Expression of emotions should be encouraged in ethical decision-makingprocesses in nursing homes. Gender-sensitive reflection supports the development ofpalliative care as organisational culture.Key words: ethics, gender, long-term care, palliative care, participatory research

Background Inspired by the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, which is a major point of reference also for the “Compassionate Communities”, we would like to propose that communities consolidate various settings like schools, workplaces, and health care organisations like community pharmacies, all of which might be included in a compassionate communities approach. Aim We aim at enabling community pharmacies to offer informal consulting and support for people with dementia and their informal caregivers. Furthermore we want to support pharmacies to reach out in the community through various activities. By this means the project seeks to contribute to de-stigmatising dementia. Method The project is based on the approach “Participatory Health Research” (Hockley, Froggatt, Heimerl 2013; Wright et al. 2010). The core elements of the approach are participation, action and reflection. Approximately 40 staff (almost exclusively women) in 18 community pharmacies actively participates in the project, i.e. needs assessment, interactive workshops, practice projects and evaluation. People with dementia and their informal care givers are included in the needs assessment and in different steps of the programme. Results Community pharmacy staff raised several issues, closely related to communication, counselling and providing advice in a community pharmacy setting: They believe further development of professional practice to be important, since dementia care will become a more prominent issue for the community pharmacy. Moreover, a high frequency of contact with people living with dementia and their caregivers was reported by the majority of staff. Professional competencies related to dementia care are a key issue, and community pharmacy personnel viewed their practice with a critical eye: Communicating with disoriented persons poses some challenges, as does communicating with caregivers. Conclusion In the still ongoing project the raised issues are being dealt with in practice projects that are performed by the pharmacies with the support of the project staff. Several projects reach out to the community through self-help groups, cinema performances, public presentations and discussions. Informal care givers have engaged in direct contact with the included pharmacies and become part of selected practice projects. People with dementia have been included in the needs assessment and the design of the project logo.

Emotions clearly play an important role in living and working in nursing homes. Therefore research in cooperation with nursing homes or other long term care settings has to find a way to deal with these phenomena. This paper presents emotions as an integrated part of doing organisational research. The paper draws on transdisciplinary collaborative research with nursing homes on gender, ethical decisions and needs management. Feelings and emotions are core dimensions for knowledge construction and theory building on these issues. Working within a qualitative paradigm and a relational approach, it will be argued that care ethics serves as important source of basic principles.