Context The second most common cause of death within the EU is the cancer disease (2 of 10). It is a number that will clearly increase with the aging process. Concerning disparities in care structures for cancer patients can be identified among the EU-members, whereas on EU-level altogether existing nursing services cannot adequately respond to this specific care-need (European Commission, DG Health & Consumers). The demand for hospice care is constantly increasing! One possible solution for this is the establishment of hospice units. However, this is complicated as within the training of health- and social-professionals this topic is poorly taught, if taught at all. On top of that in many cultures Dying and Death are still considered to be taboo issues. Moreover, palliative care per definition calls for the collaboration of multidisciplinary health-care teams but also for inter-institutional cooperation of organisations with different professional background. Consequently for the establishment of palliative care services a multi-modal and comprehensive approach is needed: a learning process that is independent from a specific field of work or profession. Through this project and guidelines for establishing palliative care units, we offer a practice-oriented learning tool which transmits basic know-how and core competencies independently from professional background. In the future the guide will be used by the project partners, so that the developed materials, products represent a significant added value for the organisations, and thus significantly improving the starting position. Objectives General: Improving palliative care within the EU through a practice-oriented education regarding the establishment of hospice-care units for different groups of people in connection with the issue Specific: 1. Development of personal and professional competences of the project partners for the purposes of introducing (RO, PT) and improving (DE, PL) their own palliative care services through European exchange 2. Development of a practice-oriented, multicultural learning instrument for the establishment of hospice-care units suitable for different stakeholders 3. National adaptation of the learning instrument 4. Promotion of the European exchange through an interactive internet platform 5. Securing the achievement of the objectives. Partners The expertise in a particular field of work needed for the project was the main criterion for selecting partners: in-patient hospice (DE), out-patient hospice (PL) and out-patient elderly care (RO) and church institution that needs to rise to needs through volunteering and training (PT), as well as an adult education institution (ES). Main activities & methodology - Project management: 1 Kick -off meeting and 3 transnational project team meetings. - Learning and Teaching activities: 4 transnational short-term joint staff trainings in 4 countries of 5 days, with subjects matching a specific chapter of the guide, total number of participant: 43 - Development of guidelines by the international project group Each of the four transnational Learning and Teaching activities has a key subject, which corresponds to one of the four chapters of the guide. Based on the experiences gained during these training sessions the contents of that specific chapter of the guide will be written down during the available time till the next transnational joint staff training. The guide is improved from a pedagogical point of view by an expert in adult education. - Multipliers events: there will be 3 local events in the partner countries DE, PL, PT addressed to different types of target groups, as well as one European conference in RO, total number of participants: 105. Results & products 1. Practice-oriented and multicultural guide for the establishment of palliative-care units: Versions: an English-speaking multicultural guide, 5 guides in the national languages of the project partners adapted to the national realities (DE, PL, RO, PT, ES) 2. Internet-platform for the European exchange: newly programmed internet-platform facilitating the virtual communication, the exchange of information between project partners, but all other interested parties, including those from non-partner countries. Long-term impact - The developed products will be actively used in the organisations of the project partners and therefore improve their work. There will one hospice-unit established in RO and in PT. - (future to be) medical and nursing staff will be more willing to work in palliative care sector - top-management personnel of health- and social-institutions, as well as decision-makers of church and authorities will be more open to the establishment of palliative care units, and will be more willing for inter-institutional cooperation