Award-winning dissertation
Dr. Cordula Endter, deputy professor at the HSZG, has received the prestigious Cäcilia Schwarz Award for Innovation in Elderly Care from the German Association.
At its general meeting, the German Association for Public and Private Welfare (Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V.) awarded its “Cäcilia Schwarz Prize for Innovation in Elder Care”—with a total prize fund of 10,000 euros—for the seventh time. The award was presented to Dr. Cordula Endter, acting professor of Social Gerontology in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the HSZG, for her PhD thesis “Assisted Aging: The Development of Digital Technologies for and with Older Adults,” as well as Dr. Henrike Voß, a sports and exercise gerontologist from Heidelberg.
"In their award-winning dissertations, both prizewinners have presented important findings in two relevant subject areas for ageing policy and specialist practice in elderly care. From different perspectives, they contribute to enabling older people to live independently for as long as possible and thus promote their well-being." Dr. Irme Stetter-Karp, President of the German Association for Public and Private Welfare (Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V.)
”The patron of the 2021 Incentive Award is Christine Lambrecht, Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth. Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences congratulates Dr. Cordula Endter on receiving this award.
The process of digitization is also influencing and changing the daily lives of older adults. Dr. Cordula Endter examines the use and development of assistive technology systems for older adults from a cultural anthropological perspective. Whether digital products and services support independence in old age and can be used effectively depends crucially on whether older adults can use them competently and have access to the Internet, even in specialized living arrangements. The Federal Government’s Eighth Report on Aging therefore calls for ensuring that all older adults have access to the internet and digital devices and for giving older adults greater consideration in digital strategies.
Dr. Cordula Endter’s work expands this perspective to include questions regarding older adults’ participation in the development of digital technologies and services. Based on several years of field research, she analyzes how perceptions of aging and ideas about old age held by key stakeholders in funding policy, technology development, and among older users themselves influence the development and use of digital technologies. As a result, Dr. Cordula Endter succeeds in demonstrating that, in addition to the acquisition of skills, the participation of older adults in technology development is also necessary.
The PhD thesis “Assisted Aging” has been published in the “Aging and Society ” series by Springer VS Verlag.
The Cäcilia Schwarz Award recognizes important scientific work whose findings contribute to enabling older people to live independently for a long time. The German Association for Public and Private Welfare (Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V.) awarded the Cäcilia Schwarz Prize for Innovation in Elderly Care for the first time in 2005.
The prize was made possible by a donation from the estate of the person who gave the prize its name, whose aim was to help improve the lives of older people. The German Association is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
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