Short biography

Kathrin Boerner heads the newly established Division of Prevention and Rehabilitation Research at the Department of Health Services Research in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. She is also a Fellow of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston in the USA, where she was Professor of Gerontology and Graduate Program Director of the Department of Gerontology until the end of 2023. Prior to that, she was a Senior Research Associate at two eldercare facilities with their own research departments in New York City, where she conducted studies related to healthcare/services for older adults, first in an rehabilitation agency for adults with age-associated visual impairment, and then in a geriatric health care system covering the full range of possible care needs.

Prof. Boerner completed her academic training in Germany. After studying psychology at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel and the University of Trier, she completed her doctorate at the FU Berlin, while holding an academic affiliation to Harvard Medical School.

Her research covers the topics of coping with age-associated chronic diseases from middle to old age, challenges in the care of very old people, experiences and needs of family caregivers and professional caregivers, as well as coping with loss and optimizing experiences related to the end of life. Current research focuses on:

• Social isolation and loneliness among older adults as a health risk factor
• Prevention and healthcare in the social context of older adults into very late life
• Professional and family caregivers and the optimization of care teams in the care of older people

Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=3_CEXyIAAAAJ

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1huwZa7C-emke/bibliography/public/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kathrin-Boerner-2