Bavarian Ministry of Health provides over half a million euros in funding for two projects at Munich's LMU Hospital

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Gerlach explained: "When children and young people become seriously ill at an early age, it throws the whole family's life off track. Families have to make existential decisions. To ensure that they are not unprepared and left to fend for themselves, the project 'Bavaria-wide introduction of health care planning for children (Advance Care Planning for Children)' initiated by Prof. Monika Führer comes into play."

The minister added: "At the heart of the project is a structured discussion process in which affected families, together with the care team, therapists, and doctors, discuss and document in advance how to act in emergency situations. This leads to greater clarity, confidence in their actions, and less emotional stress for both the families and the treatment team."

Prof. Monika Führer, Head of the Pediatric Palliative Care Center at LMU Hospital Munich: "We are very grateful to the Ministry of Health for supporting this project. The willingness of all seven outpatient pediatric palliative care teams in Bavaria to participate in the project makes it possible to make the MAPPS advance planning program developed at the Pediatric Palliative Care Center at LMU Hospital available to affected families throughout Bavaria, thereby improving the quality of care and the sense of security for all involved. An important element of the project is that those who experience crisis situations with the children and their families, for example as educators or teachers, and who assist them as caregivers or emergency medical personnel on site, are involved in the further development of the program."

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Gerlach emphasized: "In the field of adult palliative care, in addition to conventional findings, the focus is also on the well-being of patients. For the first time, they can use the IPOS app (Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale) to directly transmit their physical symptoms, psychological stress, or practical problems to their patient file without any documentation detours. The palliative care team can use this information to track the current course of the disease and thus respond even earlier to changes or deterioration. The app has already been developed by the LMU Clinic and is now to be used throughout Bavaria."

Prof. Claudia Bausewein, Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Palliative Medicine, LMU Hospital: “Thanks to the support of the Bavarian State Ministry, we can introduce this innovative solution across the board in palliative care units in Bavaria. The IPOS app will help to improve the quality of care in the long term and provide the best possible support for those affected during a particularly vulnerable phase of their lives.”

Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of LMU Hospital, Prof. Markus M. Lerch: "We would like to thank our Minister of Health for supporting two projects for people with incurable diseases. One helps families with affected children to plan care much better. The second gives people at the end of their lives back a large part of their autonomy and self-determination.“ Gerlach added: ”Palliative care is not only a medical specialty, but above all an idea and an attitude. This thrives on us repeatedly bringing it to the attention of the public. The Bavarian state government therefore supports numerous innovative projects to further develop palliative care and make it more widely available."

The Bavarian Ministry of Health is providing approximately €127,000 in funding for the three-year project “Advance Care Planning for Children” developed by Prof. Führer at the Children's Palliative Care Center at LMU Hospital Großhadern.

The “IPOS App” project at the palliative care unit at the Großhadern Clinic, initiated by Prof. Bausewein and also running for three years, is receiving around €420,000 in funding.