Silke Betscher

Professor Silke Betscher is a Professor for the Science of Social Work with a focus on community work, community development and macro social work at the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) since 2022. She is also a cultural and social anthropologist with extensive experience in participatory community research at the interface of health and social affairs, particularly through her work with the Polyclinic Veddel on the district survey "Veddel - How are you?" and the establishment of a district laboratory.

Her educational background includes a PhD from the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Liverpool (2010) and a Magister Artium in Cultural Studies with a focus on cultural and social anthropology from the University of Bremen (2006). Prior to her current position, she served as Acting Professor for Health and Diversity at HS Gesundheit Bochum (2020-2022), and was a university lecturer for social and cultural anthropology at the University of Bremen (2012-2022).

Professor Betscher's research focuses on community work, flight and migration, anti-discrimination work, participatory research, and multi-perspective casework. Her key competencies include participatory community research at the interface of health and social affairs, ethnographic research in fields of social work, diversity and discrimination-sensitive organizational development, flight and post-migrant society studies, and discourse research. Her work critically examines structural racism, postcolonial perspectives on social work, and the intersection of migration policies with youth welfare systems.

Her recent publications reveal a strong trend toward community health research with a focus on participatory, collaborative approaches that bridge social work and public health. She has pioneered community-based health assessments in diverse urban neighborhoods, particularly through the "Veddel - How are you?" project, which won the Citizen Science Prize in 2023. Her work consistently integrates critical perspectives on race, migration, and structural inequality into community health frameworks, emphasizing the importance of diversity-sensitive approaches in both research and practice.

• 2021 First Prize for Good Teaching, HS Gesundheit Bochum
• Citizen Science Prize 2023 (together with Poliklinik Veddel)

Professor Betscher has secured significant research funding for projects including the "Veddel - How are you?" community health survey, the Bochum-Hustadt district laboratories, and participatory evaluations of care programs for young refugees. Her collaborative approach involves working closely with students, community members, and healthcare providers to co-produce knowledge that addresses real community needs. She has been instrumental in developing diversity- and discrimination-sensitive organizational development frameworks in child and youth welfare services.

She leads the Community Health Laboratory Veddel, a pioneering initiative that represents the first quantitative and participatory community health survey in Germany. This project exemplifies her commitment to collaborative research that bridges academic knowledge with community expertise, creating actionable insights for improving health and living conditions in urban neighborhoods. Her work with the Polyclinic Veddel demonstrates how academic research can directly inform community health interventions and policy development.