ABSTRACT
The Caring Community Köln (CCK) is part of a systematic approach in a city of more than 1 million inhabitants to improve death and grief literacy, both on the side of professionals as well as the citizens. This chapter outlines the overall Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle of the systematic approach and summarises the various ongoing interventions of which CCK is one. In detail, we will describe how CCK was set up, how its structure works, how we have gathered support and what topics the current working groups and projects are addressing. These include bereavement and last aid at the work, the innovative buddy intervention, projects in schools, death café and the care city map.
CCK also was a major factor why in the process of implementation of the National Charter for the Care of the critically Ill and the Dying in Germany, where this topic of caring communities was prioritised for 2024/2025, and Cologne was chosen as the place for the first separate congress of the German-speaking countries in November 2025 on this subject. This chapter will include the lessons learnt so far and conclusions we draw for future development of CCK.
