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In this white paper, key recommendations for visitation by children in intensive care units (ICU; both pediatric and adult), intermediate care units and emergency departments (ED) are presented. In ICUs and EDs in German-speaking countries, the visiting policies for children and adolescents are regulated very heterogeneously: sometimes they are allowed to visit patients without restrictions in age and time duration, sometimes this is only possible from the age of teenager on, and only for a short duration. A request from children to visit often triggers different, sometimes restrictive reactions among the staff. Management is encouraged to reflect on this attitude together with their employees and to develop a culture of family-centered care. Despite limited evidence, there are more advantages for than against a visit, also in hygienic, psychosocial, ethical, religious, and cultural aspects. No general recommendation can be made for or against visits. The decisions for a visit are complex and require careful consideration.

The aim of the study is to learn more about the experiences of caregivers who have experienced the violent death of a close person and about the related delivery of the news to children. The KinderKrisenIntervention of the AETAS Children's Foundation (AKS) supports children, adolescents, families, caregivers and professionals after highly stressful events such as a traumatic death, a serious accident or suicide, as well as in the context of larger and complex major events, according to a trauma-specific early intervention approach: Outreach Psychosocial Systemic Emergency Care aims to alleviate acute suffering and promote healthy processing at an early stage, thus counteracting the development of mental illness. Within the framework of this special support service, directly and indirectly affected persons receive early and trauma-specific support, which also includes early recognition of unfavourable processing and developmental processes. Every year, the AKS supports about 300 to 400 families. As part of the initiative "Gewalt los werden" of the Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs, the AKS was granted funds for the research project "Kurswechsel", which aims to survey and improve psychosocial care for the consequences of physical self-related and/or interpersonal violence. The focus is on early and targeted help and the protection of children and adolescents from the psychological consequences of attempted, completed and extended suicide as well as attempted or completed homicide. One part of the project "Kurswechsel" is the analysis of psychosocial care structures and includes the systematic evaluation of care structures for families affected by self-related and interpersonal violence. In order to capture the perspective of those affected, the central questions are: - What experiences did the parents or close relatives have with regard to the delivery of the news of the death of a close person to affected children? - Did they have to break the news to the children themselves or did professionals do this? - If they had to break the news themselves, were they prepared by someone, did they have help in doing so and what was their experience? - How did they find the words to break the news to the children? - What was perceived as helpful and supportive and what was perceived as additionally stressful? - What help and support might they have wished for? The planned study intends to answer these questions with the help of a mixed methods study design, using both a broad online survey and semi-structured interviews.