Josefine Heusinger

Prof. Dr. Josefine Heusinger serves as Professor for Fundamentals and Action Theories of Social Work at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences since 2011 within the Faculty of Social Work, Health and Media. She concurrently holds the university's Anti-discrimination Officer position and serves on the Academic Senate, Commission for University Management and Marketing, and Mosaik h2 discrimination protection network.

Her research spans social work theory, gerontology, and health services with critical focus on:

• Social determinants of aging and generational relationships
• Migrant experiences in elderly care systems
• Participatory evaluation of care interventions
• Gender-specific needs in residential care

She leads major externally funded projects including MIASA (EU migration integration), SEXPEP (2024/25 sexual health in care), and AWiSA (EU housing innovation). Her work consistently bridges academic research with policy implementation through partnerships with German federal agencies and EU bodies.

Prof. Heusinger maintains significant national influence through advisory roles:

• Scientific board of Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie (2019-present)
• Federal Centre for Health Education's 'Healthy Aging' advisory board (2010-present)
• Management Committee of EU COST Network ROSEnet (2016-2020)

Her international engagement features DAAD collaborations with Palestinian, Jordanian, and Ukrainian universities on democracy education and aging, reflecting her commitment to transnational knowledge exchange in social gerontology.