News & Media
Stay tuned for the latest project updates and exciting events. Discover insights from our experts, learn about upcoming conferences, and explore the impactful work our team is doing.
Credit: Daniel Nuderscher
Österreichischer Frauenpreis geht an Teammitglied Mona Dür
Wir sind unglaublich stolz darauf, mit einer der innovativsten und herausragendsten Forscherinnen und Unternehmerinnen Österreichs zusammenzuarbeiten - und erfreulicherweise wird dies auch von der Öffentlichkeit anerkannt!
Das österreichische Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Wirtschaft (BMAW) hat den Grete Rehor Preis in der Kategorie „Bildung, Wissenschaft und Arbeitswelt“ an Priv.-Doz.in Prof.in (FH) Mona Dür, PhD, MSc verliehen. Der Preis würdigt ihre herausragenden Leistungen als Pionierin der österreichischen Gender-Medizin und als eine der führenden Persönlichkeiten auf diesem Gebiet im deutschsprachigen Raum.
Bevorstehende Veranstaltungen
Am 15. April findet die Jahrestagung der „Interessengemeinschaft pflegender Angehöriger“ in Österreich in Form eines Online-Meetings statt. Mitglieder des CROB-Teams werden an der Konferenz teilnehmen, um mit dieser wichtigen und wertvollen Gruppe in Kontakt zu bleiben.
Unser Abstract wurde als Beitrag für das FH-Forschungsforum 2025 angenommen und wir freuen uns, dass Evelyn Haberl dort die ersten Ergebnisse unserer qualitativen Forschung präsentieren und gemeinsam mit Stefanie Lentner an der Konferenz und den Vernetzungsmöglichkeiten teilnehmen wird.
​The use of creative methods helped us to structure our numerous ideas for designing interventions for informal caregivers. We were able to define concrete next steps, focusing on co-creation and user involvement. Cornelia Amon, a visual artist from IMC's Media Lab, supported us by creating visuals and bringing our ideas to life - we are thankful for her contribution!​
​As we enter the final year of the CROB project, we discussed forthcoming publications, potential follow-up projects and ideas for future activities to ensure the sustainability of our GFF-funded partnership. These enjoyable and productive days have further strengthened our commitment to continuing this valuable research partnership in the future.
.png)
CROB-Team Workshop, 2025
In March 2025, the CROB team members from Sweden and Austria met for a two-day workshop in Krems, Lower Austria. The meeting started with an update on the latest developments and findings, which allowed for fruitful discussions and intensive brainstorming. Having our goal - promoting the occupational balance of informal caregivers - always in mind, we got never tired of critically scrutinising ideas and constantly developing ourselves further by working together as a team.​
.png)
Credit: Cornelia Amon
​To foster both project progress and team well-being, we integrated our discussions with a 'walk-and-talk' session during a short hike in Dürnstein. This allowed us to actively advance our project goals while benefiting from the inspiring natural surroundings, enhancing our collaborative spirit and generating fresh perspectives.
Participating project members:
​
Karolinska Institutet:
Susanne Guidetti
Mandana Fallahpour
Duervation:
Mona Dür
Michael Schön (not on the picture)
IMC Krems University of Applied Sciences:
Hanna Köttl
Larisa Baciu
Stefanie Lentner
Evelyn Haberl
Credit: Cornelia Amon
SORGENETZ Symposium, 2024
The 3rd SORGENETZ Care Symposium took place from 27.11.2024 to 28.11.2024 in the Ankersaal of the Brotfabrik in Vienna. Under the title ‘From Caring Communities to Caring Society! On the road together: health promotion, social work, care and care policy’, interested parties from German-speaking countries came together to exchange experiences and ideas.
In addition to numerous exciting presentations, a ‘marketplace of care initiatives’ and an extensive range of specialist literature and information material, there was also plenty of opportunity for networking and exchange.
Evelyn Haberl took part in the conference as a representative of the CROB team and was not only able to make valuable contacts, but also publicise the idea of the CROB project and distribute invitations to the online survey.
CROB actively participated the 1st Occupational Therapy Europe Congress in Krakow, 2024
The CROB research collaboration was represented by the participation of Larisa Baciu (IMC Krems) and Michael Schön (Duervation) at the ‘1st Occupational Therapy Europe Congress’. The international conference took place in Krakow from 15-19 October 2024 with almost 1000 participants.
In this context, Larisa Baciu presented the qualitative study on the experience of the occupational balance of informal caregivers of stroke survivors. One major and remarkably underexplored concern in the context informal care of stroke survivors is the difficulty to balance roles and tasks related to caregiving activities and other meaningful everyday activities. The qualitative study provides insight on the occupational balance experienced in their everyday life by informal caregivers of persons with stroke
​
​Michael Schön represented Duervation at the 1st Occupational Therapy Europe Congress in Krakow and contributed to the event with two lectures and a poster presentation. One highlight was his presentation of a sub-study of the Collaborative Research on Occupational Balance (CROB), in which an instrument for measuring the occupational balance of family caregivers of stroke patients was validated. This research is particularly important as it helps to better understand the challenges of this often overlooked group of people and to develop targeted support options. With his contribution, Michael Schön showed how important practical research is for the further development of occupational therapy and the improvement of the quality of life of those affected.
Survey on informal caregivers’ occupational balance
We are looking for participants for our surveys who meet the following requirements for participation:
- Informal caregiver of a person after a stroke
- 18 years or older
- Caring activity: At least 3 months
- Resident in Austria / Sweden
We are looking forward to your participation!
Survey for residents in Austria (10-15 min, anonymized)
Research Forum 2024
Under the motto “LET’S APPLY SCIENCE! Forum for Research, Business & Impact”, the 17th FHK Research Forum took place at IMC Krems on April 17 and 18, 2024. In a contribution submitted by Larisa Baciu and Cornelia Lischka, the validation study of the OBI-Care questionnaire among informal caregivers of stroke survivors was presented as part of the CROB project. In addition to exciting inputs and substantive discussions, the research forum also offered a good opportunity to talk to other scientists in a relaxed atmosphere.
Long Night of Research 2024
Families were able to spend a special evening at IMC Krems University of Applied Sciences during the “Langen Nacht der Forschung 2024” on May 24th! Visitors to our stand were able to get to know the CROB project in a playful way and reflect on their own occupational balance with Stefanie Lentner, Barbara Prinz-Buchberger and Larisa Baciu. The children were allowed to represent their meaningful activity with Lego or a creative ball.
.jpg)
Annual Meeting 2024 of the ÖGGG (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Geriatrie und Gerontologie)
At the annual conference of the Austrian Society for Geriatrics and Gerontology (ÖGGG), which took place from April 4-6 at the University of Vienna, Stefanie Lentner presented the first results of the qualitative survey on the occupational balance of informal caregivers. Cornelia Lischka also used this interdisciplinary setting to emphasize the relevance of occupational balance.
Team Workshop 2024
In February 2024 we took two days to dive deep into the topic and discuss our research results so far. Using innovative methods like Lego Serious Play ®, we got creative and planned our next steps towards an intervention development for informal caregivers of persons after stroke.
Team members from Sweden and Austria got together for this occasion:
Karolinska Institutet: Susanne Guidetti, Mandana Fallahpour
Duervation: Mona Dür, Cornelia Lischka, Sarah Kleindienst (intern)
IMC Krems: Larisa Baciu, Stefanie Lentner;
Not on the picture: Evelyn Haberl, Hanna Köttl.
Hanna Köttl is currently on maternity leave. We wish Hanna all the best and look forward to her return! Larisa Baciu is taking over the project lead until Hannas return – thank you!
ÖGSF Annual Meeting of the Austrian Stroke Society 2024, Vienna, Austria
The annual conference of the Austrian Stroke Society (ÖGSF) took place in Vienna from January 18-19, 2024 under the motto “Building bridges”. Stefanie Lentner took part in this multi-professional, interdisciplinary, integrative and cross-functional event and presented preliminary results of the CROB project. Her presentation on “Occupational balance after a stroke: an expert survey on the situation of informal caregivers” enriched the event in particular by focusing on the social environment of stroke survivors.
Konferenz Age and Care Graz 2023: Aging in a Caring Society Theories in Conversation
From September 20-22, 2023, the conference Age and Care Graz 2023: Aging in a Caring Society Theories in Conversation, organized by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Ageing and Care (CIRAC), took place for the first time. Over 150 international participants from a wide range of disciplines took the opportunity to gain knowledge, exchange ideas and build contacts. Evelyn Haberl presented the paper “Occupational Balance in Informal Caregivers: A Focus Group Study With Experts” submitted by her, Stefanie Lentner, Larisa Baciu und Hanna Köttl as part of a panel on “Relationships, Emotions, and Attitudes of Caring”.
Occupational Science Europe Conference 2023, Odense, Denmark
From 24-26.8.23 Hanna Köttl and Larisa Baciu attended the Occupational Science Europe Conference 2023 in Odense, Denmark. Hanna Köttl presented the interim results of a systematic literature review investigating interventions to promote occupational balance in adults. Larisa Baciu presented the first results of the qualitative data collection on occupational balance among informal caregivers