Dr. Heidrun Mollenkopf

Freelancer at the Department of Psychological Ageing Research at Heidelberg University (Formerly German Centre for Research on Ageing, DZFA)
Member of the German National Association of Senior Citizens Organisations (BAGSO) Board of Experts
Member of the AGE Universal Accessibility and Independent Living Expert Group

Dr. Heidrun Mollenkopf is a sociologist and gerontologist. She was Senior Researcher at the German Centre for Research on Ageing (DZFA) at the University of Heidelberg, Department of Social and Environmental Gerontology, until December 2004. Her main research focus is the interplay among personal, societal, technical, and environmental conditions with regard to maintaining autonomy and social participation and, by this, quality of life in old age. She has pursued this interest in several large-scale research projects on technology and ageing and on the outdoor mobility of older people, first at the University of Mannheim, then at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and the Free University of Berlin, and finally at the former DZFA.

Among others, she coordinated the EU-funded project MOBILATE Enhancing Mobility in Later Life and was in charge of the social sciences sub-project of the interdisciplinary research project sentha (Everyday Technologies for Senior Households), funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) at the Technical University of Berlin. She has published widely in the fields of ageing and technology, mobility, senior friendly neighbourhoods and quality of life of older people.

In addition, Heidrun Mollenkopf served as a consultant and evaluator in several European bodies of experts such as the European Forum on Population Ageing Research and the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS). She was the German delegate in the EU COST A5 action Ageing and Technology, and the ETAN (European Technology Assessment Network). Since 2007, Heidrun Mollenkopf is member of the BAGSO (The German National Association of Senior Citizens Organisations) Board of Experts and of the AGE (The European Older Peoples Platform) Universal Accessibility and Independent Living Expert Group.

Relevant publications (English only; 2003-2007)

• Mollenkopf, H. (2007). Mobility and Flexibility. In J. E. Birren (Ed.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Gerontology (Second Edition), Age, Aging, and the Aged (pp. 196-204). Oxford: Elsevier Inc. (ISBN (Set) 0-12-370530-4 / 978-0-1237-0530-3).
• Mollenkopf, H., Ruoppila, I. & Marcellini, F. (2007). Always On the Go? Older Peoples Outdoor Mobility Today and Tomorrow. Findings from Three European Countries. In H.-W. Wahl, C. Tesch-Rmer, & A. Hoff (eds.), New Dynamics in Old Age: Individual, environmental and societal perspectives (pp.175-198). Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. & Walker, A. (Eds.)(2007). Quality of Life in Old Age. International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.
  
• Mollenkopf, H., Baas, S., Kaspar, R., Oswald, F., & Wahl, H.-W. (2006). Outdoor Mobility in Late Life: Persons, Environments and Society. In H.-W. Wahl, H. Brenner, H. Mollenkopf, D. Rothenbacher, & C. Rott (Eds.), The Many Faces of Health, Competence and Well-Being in Old Age: Integrating Epidemiological, Psychological and Social Perspectives (pp. 33-46). Dordrecht, NL: Springer.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. & Kaspar, R. (2005). Ageing in rural areas of East and West Germany: increasing similarities and remaining differences. European Journal of Ageing, 2(2), 120-130. DOI: 10.1007/s10433-005-0029-2.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. & Kaspar, R. (2005). Elderly Peoples Use and Acceptance of Information and Communication Technologies. In B. Jaeger (ed.), Young Technologies in Old Hands An International View on Senior Citizens Utilization of ICT (pp. 41-58). Copenhagen: DJOF Publishing.
  
• Mollenkopf, H., Marcellini, F., Ruoppila, I., Szman, Z., & Tacken, M. (Eds.)(2005). Enhancing mobility in later life - Personal coping, environmental resources, and technical support. The out-of-home mobility of older adults in urban and rural regions of five European countries. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
  
• Schaie, K. W., & Mollenkopf, H. (2005). Mobility Issues in the United States and Europe. In K. P. Donaghy, S. Poppelreuter, & G. Rudinger (eds.), Social Dimensions of Sustainable Transport. Transatlantic Perspectives (pp. 50-66). Aldershot, UK/Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. (2004). Aging and technology - social science approaches. In D. C. Burdick & S. Kwon (Eds.), Gerotechnology: Research and practice in technology and aging (pp. 54-67). New York: Springer Publishing.
  
• Mollenkopf, H., & Fozard, J. L. (2004). Technology and the Good Life: Challenges for Current and Future Generations of Aging People. In H.-W. Wahl, R. Scheidt, & P. Windley (Eds.), Aging in context: Socio-physical environments (Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 23, 2003) (pp. 250-279). New York: Springer Publishing.
  
• Mollenkopf, H., Kaspar, R., Marcellini, F., Ruoppila, I., Szman, Z., Tacken, M., & Wahl, H.W. (2004). Quality of Life in Urban and Rural Areas of Five European Countries: Similarities and Differences. Hallym International Journal of Aging, 6(1), 1-36.
  
• Mollenkopf, H., Marcellini, F., Ruoppila, I., & Tacken, M. (Eds.)(2004). Ageing and Outdoor Mobility. A European Study. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
  
• Mollenkopf, H., Marcellini, F., Ruoppila, I., Szman, Z., Tacken, M., & Wahl, H.-W. (2004). Social and behavioural science perspectives on out-of-home mobility in later life: findings from the European project MOBILATE. European Journal of Ageing, 1, 45-53. DOI: 10.1007/s10433-004-0004-3.
  
• Meyer, S. & Mollenkopf, H. (2003). Home technology, smart homes, and the aging user. In K.-W. Schaie, H.-W. Wahl, H. Mollenkopf, & F. Oswald (Eds.), Aging independently: Living arrangements and mobility (pp. 148-161). New York: Springer.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. (2003). Aging and technology. In J. R. Miller, R. M. Lerner, L. B. Schiamberg, & P. M. Anderson (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Human Ecology, Vol. 1 (pp. 41-45). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. (2003). Assistive Technology: Potential and Preconditions of Useful Applications. In N. Charness & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Impact of Technology on Successful Aging (pp. 203-214). New York: Springer Publishing.
  
• Mollenkopf, H. (2003). Outdoor mobility in old age. In J. R. Miller, R. M. Lerner, L. B. Schiamberg, & P. M. Anderson (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Human Ecology, Vol. 2 (pp. 537-542). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.