Research Interests

My research interests are international, social science theory-led and mainly in the field of patient-centered health services research and educational research in the health sector. Starting from my early steps into research during the global AIDS crisis in the early 1990s my main focus is on health, social and nursing care for people with severe chronic illnesses or at the end of their life. My research projects were about the situation and perspective of these patients and their experiences on their way through a complex and often confusing health care system. Furthermore I’m interested in concepts, structures and procedures for health and nursing care for patients with special needs, for example in the field of Palliative Care, High-Tech Home Care or Intensive Home Care / Hospital-at-Home. I’m especially interested in concepts, models and strategies for the organization and management of health and social care for these patients (Case Management, Care Management, Pathways). Moreover therapeutic-technical aspects like home respiration and infusion therapy and questions of integrating patients and their relatives in these demanding forms of care are of interest. Additional aspects of my research are initiatives for fostering health literacy, patient information and education as well as self-management and self-help. Coming from this patient-centered perspective and considering my background in pedagogy I’m concerned about the qualifications health professionals require to answer complex biological, psychological and social needs of their patients. Therefore, during the last years different aspects of health professions education like academization and advanced practice with a main focus on nursing became more important in my work.

Selected Projects

2024-2027 HLS19-DIS-GER - Disaster Health Literacy – Instrument development and pilot survey as part of the HLS-GER3 study / Collaboration with Bielefeld University / Funded by Robert Bosch Health Campus and Institutional Funding Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

2023-2024 nextHPE - next Generation of Health Professions Educators / Institutional Funding - Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

2020 – 2023 AUPIK – Maintenance of home care infrastructures in crisis and disasters - Funded by Federal Ministry of Research / Berlin, Germany

2020 - 2021 MELBERcom - Communication, health literacy and interprofessionality in a global health workforce. MEL/BER Seed Funding Program of the Berlin University Alliance / Germany and University of Melbourne / Australia

2019 - 2021 SAVENT - Safety dimensions of aids supply in home care for ventilated patients. Funded by the Innovationsausschuss beim Gemeinsamen Bundesausschuss (G-BA), Germany

2016 – 2020 SPLASH I / II – Establishing School Nurses at general-education schools in Brandenburg and Hesse – Funded by HAGE e.V. / Frankfurt/Main (SPLASH I) and AWO Potsdam e.V. (SPLASH II)

2015 - 2017 PRIKON - International Review and Comparison of Primary Care Concepts - Funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation; Realized in collaboration with University of Bielefeld, Institute of Nursing Science

2015-2016 VELA-Regio - Health care services for ventilated patients under regional aspects - Funded by AOK Bundesverband (Statutory Health Insurance Fund)

2013-2016 SHAPE - Safety in Home Care for ventilated Patients - Funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research; Realized at Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin