Veranstaltungsprogramm

Ein zentrales Gesundheitsziel bei hochbetagten, pflegebedürftigen Menschen ist der Erhalt hoher Lebensqualitäten. Dazu zählt Schmerzfreiheit beziehungsweise ein Schmerzniveau, das Alltagsaktivitäten und Selbstständigkeit gering beeinträchtigt. Schmerz ist ein subjektives, multidimensionales Erleben, geprägt durch Diversitätsdimensionen wie Alter, Geschlecht, kognitive Beeinträchtigungen, Behinderung, kulturellen Hintergrund oder Kommunikationsfähigkeit. Personen mit eingeschränkter oder fehlender verbaler Ausdrucksfähigkeit sind gefährdet, dass Schmerzen unzureichend erkannt und dokumentiert werden. Eine unzureichende Erfassung kann inadäquate Behandlung und funktionelle Einschränkungen bedeuten. Ziel unserer Studie war die Untersuchung von Prävalenz und Charakteristika dokumentierter Schmerzen in der geriatrischen Langzeitpflege. Die Analyse dient der Weiterentwicklung eines Instruments zur Schmerzlokalisation und -dokumentation über ein diversitätssensibles 3D-Modell im Rahmen des Projekts Embodied Perceptions.

In einer retrospektiven Kohortenstudie wurde die elektronische Routinedokumentation der Pflegekrankenhäuser des Hauses der Barmherzigkeit über zwölf Monate analysiert. Eingeschlossen wurden alle Bewohner*innen. Erfasst wurden Alter, Geschlecht, Pflegestufe sowie Schmerzassessments als Selbst- oder Fremdeinschätzung. Zur Selbstbewertung wurde überwiegend die Numerische Ratingskala (NRS) eingesetzt; für Fremdeinschätzungen das BESD-Verfahren (Beurteilung von Schmerzen bei Demenz), das Atmung, Lautäußerungen, Gesichtsausdruck, Körpersprache, Trost bewertet. Bei beiden Skalen bedeutet 0 kein, 10 maximaler Schmerz.

Insgesamt wurden 610 Personen eingeschlossen (68,5% weiblich). Analysiert wurden 14.301 Schmerzassessments (73,6% Selbst-, 26,4% Fremdeinschätzungen). In 53,9% der Fälle berichteten die Bewohner*innen keine Schmerzen; bei Betroffenen lag der gewichtete Mittelwert der NRS bei 3,9 (SD 2,4). Schmerzen wurden überwiegend als anfallsweise (43,8%) oder dauerhaft (29,9%), stechend (42,4%) oder ziehend (20%) beschrieben. Im BESD-Verfahren wurde in 36% der Fälle kein Schmerz festgestellt. Bei Schmerzbeurteilung lag der gewichtete Mittelwert bei 2,4 (SD 1,8); Schmerzcharakteristika wurden relativ selten beobachtet, z.B.: angestrengte Atmung in 1,3%, unruhige Lautäußerungen in 4% oder Grimassen in 6% der Fälle.

Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Bedeutung diversitätssensibler Schmerzassessmentverfahren in der Langzeitpflege. Visuell gestützte Dokumentationssysteme wie im Projekt Embodied Perceptions können dazu beitragen, subjektive Schmerzerfahrungen differenzierter abzubilden, Kommunikation zu unterstützen und damit Lebensqualität und Versorgungsqualität nachhaltig zu verbessern.

Hintergrund

Der Fonds Gesundes Österreich (FGÖ) orientiert sich u.a. an der Ottawa-Charta, der WHO-Strategie „Gesundheit für alle“, der FGÖ-Strategie „Gesundheitliche Chancengerechtigkeit 2021“ sowie der Gesundheitsförderungsstrategie 2024. Leitend ist die Verringerung gesundheitlicher Ungleichheiten durch Förderung von gesunden Lebenswelten, Chancengerechtigkeit, Beteiligung und Ausbau von Gesundheitskompetenz. Im Sinne der Ottawa-Charta bleibt die Sicherstellung gesundheitlicher Chancengerechtigkeit eine zentrale und hochaktuelle Voraussetzung für Gesundheit – sowohl im nationalen Kontext als auch im globalen gesundheitspolitischen Diskurs.

Methode

Gesundheitliche Chancengerechtigkeit (GCG) ist ein zentrales Qualitätskriterium des FGÖ und prägt die Auswahl der Zielgruppen wie Kinder, Jugendliche, ältere Menschen, Kleinbetriebe und vulnerable Gruppen. Die Umsetzung basiert auf evidenzgestützten Ansätzen, Qualitätsentwicklung und -sicherung sowie Evaluation. Das Capacity-Building-Modell des FGÖ (2016) dient dabei als konzeptueller Rahmen. Dazu zählen das interne FGÖ Capacity Building zur GCG wie kollegiale Beratung, inhaltliche Schwerpunktsetzungen und der Aufbau eines Wissenspools.

Der Transfer von GCG in die Gesundheitsförderungspraxis erfolgt über die finanzielle Förderung von Projekten im Rahmen der FGÖ-Förderprogramme und Initiativen wie „Kinder essen gesund“, „Wohlfühlzone Schule“, Initiativen zur psychosozialen Gesundheit junger Menschen, Programme für Betriebe, Nachbarschaftsprojekte gegen Einsamkeit sowie Mobilitäts- und Bewegungsinitiativen. Über die ÖKUSS-Servicestelle werden bundesweite Selbsthilfeorganisationen unterstützt und vernetzt.

Ein zentraler Baustein des Capacity Buildings sind die FGÖ‑Weiterbildungen „Gesundheitsförderung – kompetent in der Praxis“ für Fachkräfte, Gemeinden und Betriebe sowie begleitende Vernetzungsveranstaltungen wie die FGÖ‑Konferenz 2025 zu GCG. Advocacy, Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und die Stärkung der intersektoralen Netzwerke für GCG sind in der Arbeit vom FGÖ ebenfalls zentral.

Ergebnisse /Schlussfolgerungen

Der FGÖ leistet durch seine Rolle in der Gesundheitsförderungslandschaft als Förderstelle, Kompetenzzentrum und Drehscheibe für Gesundheitsförderung in Österreich einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Förderung von GCG. Der Nutzen der vielfältigen FGÖ-Aktivitäten mit Schwerpunkt auf GCG besteht primär darin die Lebenswelten (Settings) der vulnerablen Personengruppen so zu entwickeln, dass diese bestmöglich in ihren Gesundheitspotenzialen gestärkt werden sowie betroffenenorientierte Aktivitäten konkret zu unterstützen. Wesentlich dabei ist die Förderung von Beteiligung.

Developing modular peer-learning internships in public health nursing education: Addressing internship placement challenges

Facing challenges

In public health nursing education, the availability of clinical placements and limited supervisory resources pose significant challenges. Research indicates that modular training enhances students’ independence, responsibility, and teamwork skills while reducing the transition gap from student to professional. It provides opportunities for peer learning and interprofessional collaboration, supporting the development of clinical competence and communication skills.

Developing new method

To address these issues and enable peer learning modular training model was developed in collaboration with certain healthcare units. New model was developed and applied particularly in school health, student health, and occupational health services. In this model, student complete half of their internship paired with another phn-student under the supervision of a supervising public health nurse and the other half implementing community health promotion activities for a target group. The aim is to strengthen professional growth, increase flexibility in placements, and support students’ ability to work at both individual and community levels.

Outcomes

Students perceive modular training as better preparing them for working life compared to traditional one-to-one supervision, as it promotes reflection and problem-solving in a guided environment. Paired practice further strengthens students’ confidence and improves safety through double-checking. Working in pairs encourages active discussion and knowledge sharing, deepening learning and enhancing collaboration skills for future practice.

The community health promotion component supports students’ understanding of health systems and reinforces their role as health promoters. It develops the ability to design and implement interventions that meet population needs and fosters preventive approaches.

Conclusion

Combining modular and paired practice with community health promotion creates a comprehensive solution to internship placement challenges and supports students’ professional growth in diverse ways. The model offers approach that strengthens both individual competence and community well-being.

Background Substance use disorder (SUD) affects 1.3% of disability-adjusted life years from illicit drugs and 4.2% from alcohol. Music therapy (MT) shows promise for treating SUD by engaging the brain's reward system while fostering emotional regulation. Given high first-year relapse rates, understanding long-term outcomes and measurement instruments is crucial. Objectives This systematic review identified clinical and socioeconomic outcome parameters and tools measuring adverse events in MT for SUD; examined measuring instruments; assessed instrument validity and reliability; and evaluated characteristics for long-term use. Service user interviews ensured patient-relevant perspectives. Methods A systematic literature search (through 2024) identified seven reviews. Fourteen validated measuring instruments were analysed, and nine semi-structured interviews with service users from Austria, Norway, and Poland provided patient insights. Results Various instruments assessed substance use, recovery, craving, motivation, quality of life, mood, and socioeconomic status. Over 50% underwent reliability and validity testing. The 14 selected instruments demonstrated validation and reliability; only the Beck Depression Inventory had an established minimum clinically important difference. Advantages included short administration time (≤10 minutes for 10 instruments) and multilingual availability (4 instruments in >10 languages). Limitations included self-report bias (10 instruments), limited long-term evidence, psychometric concerns, and cultural adaptation challenges. Service users confirmed instruments measured relevant outcomes, identifying social, treatment-related, and socioeconomic parameters as most important. Conclusions Established instruments exist for measuring MT outcomes in SUD, but gaps remain in minimum clinically important differences, long-term evidence, and adverse event reporting. Future research should prioritise establishing clinical interpretation thresholds, generating long-term evidence, and developing standardised measurement protocols.

Introduction: Debates about whether artificial intelligence (AI) will replace or augment health workers have intensified as AI capabilities expand across clinical, administrative, and operational domains. While AI promises efficiency gains, improved diagnostic accuracy, and reduced workload, persistent challenges—such as liability, trust, ethical judgment, equity, and the cultural dimensions of care—raise questions about its appropriate role in health systems. This presentation examines emerging evidence on how AI is reshaping health worker roles and identifies scenarios where technology supports optimization rather than replacement.

Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted in December 2025 and January 2026, drawing on peer reviewed publications, professional association statements, policy analyses, global health commentaries, and publicly available case studies. Sources included recent work discussing AI’s potential to address workforce shortages, reduce medical error, enhance personalization, streamline administrative workflows, and advance telehealth.

Results: The review found broad consensus that AI is most effective as a complement to, rather than replacement for, health workers. Evidence suggests significant potential for AI to alleviate burnout and workforce maldistribution. We illustrate these issues with case studies from North America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. However, unresolved challenges persist: liability frameworks lag behind technological innovation, trust in AI systems varies widely, and structural inequities may be reproduced without intentional governance. Empathy, ethical judgment, and culturally grounded care remain domains where AI cannot substitute for human providers.

Conclusions: AI’s future in health systems is best conceptualized as a driver of optimization and role re alignment rather than substitution. Ensuring equitable, trustworthy, and context appropriate implementation requires proactive policy, investment in training, and ongoing engagement with health workers. Opportunities lie not in replacing health workers but in shaping a hybrid model that strengthens education, employment, and health outcomes globally, and which leverages technology to address inequities in access to quality health care services.

Background: Contrary to many Latin American countries, Chile has made progress in strengthening its health care system; however, achieving equitable access to hearing care remains challenging. This scoping review explored and synthesized the literature on hearing care in Chile to identify key determinants and barriers contributing to disparities in access to hearing loss (HL) diagnosis and treatment.

Method: The Joanna Briggs Institute guidance for scoping reviews was followed and PCC mnemonic (Population, Concept, and Context) guided the development of the search strategy. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, Cochrane and Science Direct databases, limited to articles published from 2000 to June 2025, and supplemented by manual search. Two reviewers independently screened references, assessed eligibility, and extracted data; disagreements were resolved by a third reviewer. A basic content analysis was used to identify the local determinants and barriers. Results were narratively described and presented along visual summary tools.

Results: Of the 940 unique records identified for screening, the full texts of 135 publications were assessed and 50 were included in the review. The principal determinants of hearing care were identified as age, and type and degree of HL. Individuals with severe to profound bilateral sensorineural HL have access to appropriate treatment at any stage of their lives through publicly funded programs. However, youth and adults with mixed or conductive HL do not have a clear pathway to rehabilitation. Barriers to accessing hearing care services in Chile included lower education and income levels, unemployment, limited awareness of treatment options, insufficient family or social support, and residing in remote areas.

Conclusions: Despite public health advancements in providing HL treatment, gaps persist in certain populations. Reducing these disparities requires improving access to services, expanding hearing screening, and providing hearing technologies across all ages and for all types and degrees of HL.

Many older people, even with health limitations, would like to continue living at home in familiar surroundings. Around-the-clock care is usually too expensive, and subsidies are too low. This is where the term AAL comes in. The abbreviation stands either for ambient assisted living or active assisted living, which can be roughly interpreted as age-appropriate assistance systems or environment-supported, independent living. Both expressions capture the wishes of those affected: they want to remain self-sufficient in their familiar environment for as long as possible. Depending on the degree and type of limitation, this is only possible with appropriate technical support, which on the one hand assists people in coping with everyday life, but on the other hand also informs relatives and care staff about exceptional situations when needed. Unfortunately, the term AAL describes only the concept; there is no product that can be bought under this name. This has also led the association AAL Austria to rename itself Digital Health and Care in 2025. This makes it clearer that it refers to a range of devices, systems, and software that pursue a common goal: enabling care-dependent people to live independently in a familiar environment.

In the context of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), smart home technologies are used specifically to support older or care-dependent people in everyday life and enable them to live as independently as possible in their own homes. The only practical solution, therefore, is smart home solutions that were designed conceptually to support residents, but not with a focus on people with limitations. A smart home is understood as a living environment in which technical components such as lighting, security systems, sensors, and communication devices are networked and can be controlled centrally or automatically. In this paper, various concepts are compared and evaluated on the basis of practical implementations.

Background:Our eating habits depend on food preferences, which are

determined by biological, psychological, and social factors. At the brain level,

food preferences are regulated through the reward system, which is activated

by foods rich in fat and sugar. During adolescence—a critical stage for the

development of the nervous system and the consolidation of habits—these

preferences become particularly relevant, as a disruption in their regulation can

interfere with academic performance.

The goal was to analyze the relationship between food preferences (sweet or

salty) and academic performance in high school students.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study conducted in two high schools in the

Region of Murcia. A total of 40 first-year high school students participated.

Validated questionnaires (LFPQ and YFAS 2.0) were used, both administered

through the UCAM Health® online platform, along with academic and

anthropometric data.

Results: Explicit preferences were observed for low-fat sweet foods (fruit,

cereals…), while implicit preferences leaned toward salty and high-fat foods

(croquettes, hamburgers…), indicating a mismatch between implicit and explicit

preferences. A higher preference for sugary drinks was associated with poorer

academic records, whereas healthy foods like carrots were linked to better

performance.

Conclusions: The results confirm the hypothesis of a significant association

between certain food preferences and academic performance. This relationship

suggests the value of identifying risk patterns from school nursing to influence

food consumption behavior.

Background

In Germany, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language therapy are primarily taught at specialised vocational schools. Professionalisation is driving academisation and increasing demand for professors at universities of applied sciences (UAS). This demand is difficult to meet due to the still low proportion of academically qualified professionals. At the same time, there is a lack of empirical analysis of the qualifications and career paths of professors at German UAS in the health professions.

Methods

Publicly available CVs of 340 health professions professors at German UAS were systematically collected and analysed (November 2023–December 2025). The study included individuals who had initially trained in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, and medicine (excluding those with professorships in human medicine and dentistry). Data were analysed descriptively and inferentially. Educational and career trajectories, as well as professional experience, were analysed. This was supplemented by subsample analyses by gender and occupational group.

Results

Educational and career trajectories were highly heterogeneous. Nursing was the largest group and more often held diploma qualifications. Therapy-profession professors predominantly held master’s degrees. Among professors, non-medical occupational groups were predominantly female, while medical groups were predominantly male.

Half of male professors originated from nursing/medicine and half from therapy professions, whereas women were equally distributed between nursing and medicine/therapy professions. Women more often held profession-related professorial titles and showed lower title diversity. Time to doctorate differed significantly, reaching up to 15 years in women versus 10 years in men. Medical professors published more frequently and primarily pursued additional medical qualifications after their doctorate. Non-medical professors more often acquired management and teaching qualifications and reached professorship more quickly.

Conclusions

The findings reveal occupation- and gender-specific pathways to professorships and provide an empirical basis for transparent qualification models. Future research will compare these findings with Austria to contextualise national differences.

Background: There is a vast micro-cosmos of small national patient associations (PAs) around rare diseases in Europe. These work on a voluntary basis, under their national law, and are loosely connected across countries. The European Union aims to provide support by funding alliance networks like EURODIS. However, this does not automatically create a shared European legal basis for Union-wide joint funding for research on therapies, which imposes significant challenges. Here, we report on ways to alleviate these.

Experience: In 2010, six national Western European Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) PAs agreed on founding the Federation of European HSP Associations (Euro-HSP) in Paris under French law, with an international directive board. Facilitated by online meetings, international networking increased during the pandemic, and new ideas for collective projects emerged like (1) donating a best paper award for outstanding contributions to therapy development. The first was awarded in 2020 to researchers from the Italian CNR laboratories for developing the concept of Spastin recovery therapy for the most frequent HSP subtype SPG4. Since then, Euro-HSP has continued to support these R&D activities for promoting translation of finding from the cell lab to drug formulations being tailored to the needs of HSP long-term therapy. In 2025, (2) the support of a drug development project was started at the Paris Brain Institute for complicated subtypes of HSP. Both projects were funded by private donations from Europe amounting to 350.000 Euro. The Dutch Euro-HSP member Life4HSP created a joint fundraising platform which partially allows for tax deduction of donations between different European countries.

Summary: European support networks provide some help for private national PAs. However, to support the development of therapy on an international level, PAs must actively search and hike new avenues. The Euro-HSP experience provides practical insights for many stakeholders in the field of rare diseases.