Fostering Development in Midlife and Older Age

Dr. Irina Catrinel Craciun is an associate professor of developmental psychology, positive psychology, and qualitative research methods at Freie Universität Berlin, where she has also been guest professor of health and gender.  Additionally, she works as a researcher and practitioner in the fields of health promotion and positive development. She received her PhD in health psychology at the Freie Universität Berlin and subsequently held a post-doctoral research grant on resources for positive aging, sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Project findings were published as a book called “Positive Aging and Precarity. Theory, Policy, and Social Reality within a Comparative German Context” (published in 2019 by Springer) as well as in several prestigious journals such as The Gerontologist, Journal of Aging Studies,  Journal of Health Psychology and Journal of Women and Aging. Her research interests include a wide range of topics from fostering development across the lifespan to health communication and exploring ageing, gender, and psychosocial health determinants. Her recent studies focus mainly on ageing, development and health perceptions in vulnerable populations, prevention of gender and social inequalities in health, and representations of ageing on social media.