Dr Kristina Barczik-Meyer, PhD

Academic Profile

Dr. phil. Kristina Barczik-Meyer holds degrees in Business Administration and Educational Science, specialising in health and media education as well as geragogy. Her work combines research, teaching and knowledge transfer at the intersection of ageing, health and digitalisation. Dr Barczik-Meyer has secured funding for and led numerous collaborative projects, supported by, amongst others, the German federal government, the EU, the Free State of Saxony and local authorities. She publishes her findings in national and international specialist journals and anthologies and presents them at conferences both in Germany and abroad. She is actively involved in professional associations in the fields of gerontology and media education, acts as a reviewer for specialist journals and has held editorial positions. She has received awards for her work, including a young researcher’s prize for her doctoral thesis.

Academic and professional background

Following her diploma in Business Administration (DHBW Heidenheim), a Master’s degree in Media and Event Management (HTW Karlsruhe) and a supplementary course in Vocational Education/Adult Education, Dr Barczik-Meyer was awarded her PhD in 2019 from TU Dresden (magna cum laude) for her research on the acceptance of digital media among older people in rural areas. At TU Dresden, she led numerous externally funded projects (including ZukunfTAlter, FRACTION and DiBBLok) as well as the ‘Geragogy and Gerontechnologies’ research group. From 2022 to 2026, she held the Chair of Health Education at CBS, where she led the BMFTR project DRIVE. Since May 2026, she has been acting Chair of Nursing and Health Management at Dresden University of Applied Sciences. She has also been working as a freelancer in adult education since 2007 and is the founder of the association Gemeinsam Digital e.V.

Key research areas and interests

Dr. phil. Kristina Barczik-Meyer’s research centres on the question of how older people and those working in care and health can participate in the digital transformation. In the field of technological gerontology, she investigates the acceptance, use and uptake of digital technologies and assistive systems amongst older people and in elderly care. In the field of media geragogy, she focuses on media literacy and digital empowerment amongst older people, particularly through peer-to-peer and multiplier approaches. Other key areas of focus include digital health literacy, adult and continuing education, and participation models in rural areas – for example, relating to mobility, care advice and community-based care. Methodologically, Dr Barczik-Meyer adopts a user-centred approach using qualitative and quantitative methods, underpinned by technology acceptance models and concepts of digital competence. In future, she will be particularly interested in measuring digital competences in older people and the use of AI in care and education.

Teaching

Dr Barczik-Meyer’s teaching profile combines health, social and media education in Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes. Her teaching focuses on the fundamentals of health education and educational theory, health counselling, health education and health communication, as well as care management and care pedagogy. In social work, she teaches methodology and didactics, the fundamentals of social work and pedagogy, as well as teaching and lifelong learning. A consistent focus is placed on media education and digitally supported teaching and learning, ranging from early years education through primary school to digital participation in later life. Further areas of teaching include teamwork, team leadership and team development, as well as biographical work and counselling for relatives in the field of gerontotherapy.

Publications (selection)

Kebir, B., Barczik, K., Ferizaj, D., Unkart, A. S., Perotti, L. (2026): Gerontechnology Adoption among Rural Older Adults: A Structural Equation Model of Digital Health Literacy, Technology Beliefs, and Environmental Context. JMIR Aging (in press)

Barczik, K. (2026): The Peer-to-Peer Approach in Media Geragogy; In: A. Hartung-Griemberg, B. Schorb, J. Stiel (eds.), Media Geragogy. A Handbook. (in press)

Barczik, K. (2026): Education for Older People in the Digital Age – Challenges, Opportunities and Best Practice. In: J. Neumann, S. Schulz, M. Hofmann (eds.): Digital Horizons. Education, Technology and Global Impulses. A commemorative volume marking the 60th birthday of Prof. Dr Thomas Köhler. https://doi.org/10.25368/2026.101

Haselbach, R. & Barczik, K. (2025): Acceptance of the ePA (ePA) and implications for increasing willingness to use it – Results of a quantitative study in Aachen-Burtscheid. In: T. Köhler, E. Schoop, N. Kahnwald (eds.): Geneme. AI & HUMANITY: Technology with Social Responsibility

Belkais, K. & Barczik, K. (2025): Navigating the gerontechnological frontier: Innovations and challenges in the care sector. Gerontechnology, 24(1), 1–14.
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2025.24.1.1177.05

Barczik, K. (2024): Training multipliers to strengthen older people’s digital skills using the example of the ‘technology ambassador’ concept; In: T. Köhler (ed.), E-Learning Handbook. 109th supplementary edition, vol. 6.59, pp. 01–16.

Schwender, C. & Barczik, K. (eds.) (2023): Marketing to Older People; Altern & Medien Journal. Journal for Research and Practice.

Barczik, K.; Dyrna, J.; Weinhold, N. (2023): Outreach educational work and digital skills among older adults. Education for Older People and Education for Ageing. In: *Der Pädagogische Blick* – Journal of Science and Practice in Educational Professions 31 (1), pp. 30–44.

Weinhold, N. & Barczik, K. & Jokisch, M. & Doh, M. & Göbl, L. (2023). An introduction to measuring digital skills in older age – a review of the current situation and initial conclusions on assessing digital skills among older people. In: A.-M. Kamin, J. Holze, M. Wilde, K. Rummler, V. Dander, N. Grünberger & M. Schiefner-Rohs (eds.), Yearbook of Media Education 20: Inclusive Media Education in a Mediatised World. Media Education Perspectives on an Interprofessional Field of Research (pp. 581–618). https://doi.org/10.21240/mpaed/jb20/2023.09.22.X

Barczik, K.; Weinhold, N. (2022): A spirit of optimism for ‘Digitalia’? Perspectives of female pensioners and care home residents on pandemic-induced exclusion from the wider world and access to the digital world; Journal of Ageing & Media.

Exhibitions (selection) 

Barczik, K.; Volkland, P., Tschentscher, Y., Obert, J., Wagner, I., Junghans Seefeldt, L., Wiezbowski, M. 2024. Gero-Tech Fair in Weißwasser as part of the BMBF project ‘Future Technologies for Successful Ageing in Rural Areas’. 10–11 April 2024.

Projects (selection)

Project “ZukunfTAlter – ‘Future Technologies for Successful Ageing in Rural Areas’, 2nd funding phase

Project “DiBBA – Digital support and care with assistance for people with dementia, 2026–2028”

Project “MeGA – Mentors in the Healthcare Sector” Regional collaborative project for businesses in the healthcare sector

Project “DRIVE – Digital, Regional, Innovative, Connecting, Committed: Inter-municipal cooperation for mobility solutions in rural areas” (approved)

Memberships

Since 2022: Working Group on Digitalisation, City of Dresden

Since 2021: Expert Committee on Ageing and Technology, DGGG

Since 2021: Geragogy Working Group

2021–2024 Board Member, Centre for Demography and Diversity (CDD), Dresden

2020–2024 Society, Ageing and Media (GAM) e.V.

2019–2024 German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics e.V., Berlin, Ageing and Society

Editorial work

2021–2023 Editorial work for the journal ‘Ageing and Media’

Reviewer

Special issue ‘Digitality | Data | Interpretations. Futures of Media Education’ in the journal *MedienPädagogik. Journal for the Theory and Practice of Media Education* (2025) 

Peer review of conference papers and publications by the Geneme Communities in New Media (2020–2025) 

Educational Gerontology (2023)

Journal of Media Education (2023) 

Digital Worlds of Experience in Discourse, FernUniversität Hagen (2022)