[End-of-life decision-making].

The article begins with a reflection on the intertwined nature of life and death; this reflection should also serve to sensitize us to the proactive and reactive expressions of a person's life at the end of life. It will be shown that attachment to life can also manifest itself in the case of depression, fear and exhaustion: One must not lose sight of their potential existence. The existing commitment to life allows us to better understand why the remaining time of life may be perceived as something precious; this may be in contrast to statements made in the living will.

Glutamatergic dysfunction in Schizophrenia.

The NMDA-R hypofunction model of schizophrenia started with the clinical observation of the precipitation of psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia exposed to PCP or ketamine. Healthy volunteers exposed to acute low doses of ketamine experienced mild psychosis but also negative and cognitive type symptoms reminiscent of the full clinical picture of schizophrenia. In rodents, acute systemic ketamine resulted in a paradoxical increase in extracellular frontal glutamate as well as of dopamine.

Validation of the Adapted German Versions of the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool 2, the Dementia Attitude Scale, and the Confidence in Dementia Scale for the General Population.

Background: There are almost no validated tools in German that assess dementia knowledge, attitude toward dementia, and confidence in the general population.

Objective: Translation and validation of the German version of the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool 2 (DKAT2), the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS), and the Confidence in Dementia Scale (CODE).

Methods: Instruments were translated into German and adapted for the general public.

Informal Caregivers' Attitude Toward Dementia: The Impact of Dementia Knowledge, Confidence in Dementia Care, and the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of the Person with Dementia. A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Dementia is rapidly increasing worldwide due to demographic aging. More than two-thirds of patients are cared by family members. The quality of care depends on the caregivers' attitude toward dementia influencing patient care decisions.

Rethinking a Traditional Method of Participation: "Town-Hall Meetings" to Support Family Carers of People with Dementia.

A growing number of people with dementia, a simultaneous decline of professional caregivers, and changing family structures clearly illustrate the societal relevance of the question of how dementia care can be arranged and delivered in the future. The demand for innovative solutions especially to support family carers requires a deeper insight into their life situation and a focused perception of their needs. This article presents the main hypothesis that specific forms of social integration and participation based on an equal dialogue between family caregivers, the public, and policymakers is needed to achieve that.

I-CARE-An Interaction System for the Individual Activation of People with Dementia.

I-CARE is a hand-held activation system that allows professional and informal caregivers to cognitively and socially activate people with dementia in joint activation sessions without special training or expertise. I-CARE consists of an easy-to-use tablet application that presents activation content and a server-based backend system that securely manages the contents and events of activation sessions. It tracks various sources of explicit and implicit feedback from user interactions and different sensors to estimate which content is successful in activating individual users.

Evaluation and Effectiveness of Dementia Staff Training Programs in General Hospital Settings: A Narrative Synthesis with Holton's Three-Level Model Applied.

Background: People with Dementia (PwD) are frequently admitted to hospital settings. The lack of proper dementia knowledge, poor communication skills, negative attitudes toward dementia, and lack of confidence affects the quality of care, thus development of dementia trainings has increased. Nevertheless, literature regarding the effectiveness of training implementation is limited.

[The method of "town hall talks": a study protocol].

Background And Aim: Society is responsible for strengthening "caregiver-sensitive" communities based on the principle of social services to the public and are thus oriented towards the appreciation of caring relatives (CR) of people with dementia (PwD), their capability for self-care and participation. This requires methods to emphasize the social value of informal care and to re-evaluate existing support services. The article aims to present the method of "town hall talks".

Hospital Staff's Attitudes Toward and Knowledge About Dementia Before and After a Two-Day Dementia Training Program.

Background: The outcomes of hospitalized People with Dementia (PwD) are likely to be negative due to, among other key causes, negative staff attitudes and limited staff knowledge regarding dementia. Targeted interventions have been shown to positively change the attitudes of the hospital staff while also increasing their overall knowledge of dementia. However, training effects are often short-lived and frequently long-term effects are not examined in studies.

Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests, Deacons, and Male Members of Religious Orders in the Authority of the German Bishops' Conference 1946-2014.

This study explores the extent of sexual abuse of minors by members of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is the first comprehensive study to examine this extent in a European country. The goals of this study are as follows: (a) to analyze whether the extent and characteristics of sexual abuse in a European country are comparable to those in the United States and Australia and (b) how discrepancies can be explained.

Expectations of nursing personnel and physicians on dementia training : A descriptive survey in general hospitals in Germany and Greece.

Background: The number of dementia training programs in hospital settings is steadily increasing. The way training sessions are designed influences the way the learning content is implemented in practice. To develop a successful training it is important to meet the needs of the target group; however, not much is known about staff preferences and expectations relevant to future dementia training programs in hospitals in Germany and Greece.

[Advance care planning (ACP) in the context of dementia : Development of an instrument for exploration of perspectives of affected persons].

Background: Since 2015, the Hospice and Palliative Care Act has defined the entitlement of nursing home residents to preventive planning in the final phase of their lives. Nevertheless, the advance care planning (ACP) concept has not yet been sufficiently researched in Germany. The deficient evidence on this topic appears to be even more considerable in connection with dementia.

Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Catholic Clergy.

Background: When cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church became known, the German Bishops' Conference (Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, DBK) commissioned a study by an interdisciplinary consortium to determine the frequency of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Germany (the MHG study).

Methods: Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used and the subject matter of the study was analyzed in seven component projects. To determine the frequency of sexual abuse, 38 156 personnel files of Catholic clergy from the period 1946 to 2014 were studied, and the epidemiologic findings of these evaluations are presented.

[Self-design and prevention potential for older people in institutional long-term care].

Healthcare in inpatient long-term care facilities (nursing homes) should not be limited to medical curative measures, but should also include strengthening social participation, autonomy, self-responsibility and joint responsibility of the residents. Prevention and rehabilitation should therefore be even more integrated into care concepts.This article first introduces various areas of prevention physical activity, nutrition, cognitive competence, psychosocial health, abuse, and freedom-removing measures and then discusses their evidence.

[Sexual Abuse of Minors: Development in Light Field Statistics and Dark Field Research Since 1953 and Implications For The Health Care System].

Data on sexual abuse of minors can be obtained from official Police Crime Statistics and from dark field surveys. This article deals with the longitudinal development of the offense in the last 63 years in Germany. The criminal offenses of sexual abuse of children according to § 176 StGB (German Criminal Code) in the Police Crime Statistics show a decrease of frequency in the reporting period (1953-2016).

[How Active is the Catholic Church in the Prevention of Sexual Abuse? Preliminary Results of the MHG-Study].

Objective: A subproject of the study "Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons in the authority of the German Bishops' conference" deals with aspects of prevention.

Method: Structured questions were used to record objective data on preventive work. The questionnaire was completed in all 27 dioceses of Germany.

[Gerontological policy advice : Possibilities and limits of scientific counseling].

In the first part of this article a comprehensive understanding of political advice is explicated. In this context reference is made to the value judgement dispute in German sociology and a differentiation between an enlightening and a critical function of scientific policy advice. Development of social scientific policy advice is considered against the background of the distinction between technocratic, decisionistic and pragmatic models of counseling.

Sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions : A literature review.

Sexual violence against children remains a global public health problem. The health sector has an opportunity and responsibility to be part of the multisector collaboration to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of minors. The following article presents a critical analysis of hitherto published empirical studies that examine the extent and variety of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church and other institutions.

[The special requirements of old age in terms of dying].

It is expected that the rising average life expectancy will leave ever more people with chronic progressive diseases of the body and brain. This then means not only having to deal with increasingly longer periods of care, but also possibly distinct neurocognitive disorders in the years prior to death and dying. The aim of this study is to report epidemiological data on the causes of death, as well as on the places of death.

Impact of childhood asthma on growth trajectories in early adolescence: Findings from the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS).

Background And Objective: Understanding the associations between childhood asthma and growth in early adolescence by accounting for the heterogeneity of growth during puberty has been largely unexplored. The objective was to identify sex-specific classes of growth trajectories during early adolescence, using a method which takes the heterogeneity of growth into account and to evaluate the association between childhood asthma and different classes of growth trajectories in adolescence.

Methods: Our longitudinal study included participants with a family history of asthma born during 1997-1999 in Sydney, Australia.

[Social inequality, health and nursing care in old age].

Background: Health and care services are an important aspect of public services as a basic obligation of the welfare state. Particularly in old-age, social inclusion, relatedness and integrity become the aims of health and care services beyond independence and autonomy.

Objectives: Provide an overview of inequalities related to socio-economic status, gender, and immigrant background in the context of health and care services.