Portrait Kerstin Hämel

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kerstin Hämel

Contact Details

Department of Nursing Science
Alser Straße 23, 1080 Vienna, Austria
Top 12 / Room 1.11

T: +43-1-4277-49802 or mobile phone: +43 (0)660 89 60 673
E-Mail: kerstin.haemel@univie.ac.at 

Research Interest
  • Innovations in primary health care and long-term care
  • Patient and community participation in the context of chronic diseases and long-term care needs
  • Interprofessional collaboration, expanding nursing roles, and working environments in nursing
  • Cross-country and comparative research
Profile

Kerstin Hämel focuses her research on primary health care and long-term care. She was appointed full Professor of Nursing Science at the University of Vienna in 2024. Kerstin Hämel earned her doctorate in social sciences at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen with a study on integrating nursing homes into the community. From 2010 to 2014 she was postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Nursing Science (IPW), Bielefeld. In 2014, she was appointed Professor of Health Sciences with a focus on nursing care research at the School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, where she lead the Department of Health Services Research and Nursing Science from 2018 to 2023.

Kerstin Hämel has lead several research projects and networks of nursing and health services research. She has internationally published on developments in various health systems. Her research activity includes several research stays in Brazil, where she also conducted a DAAD-lectureship at the National School of Public Health (ENSP/Fiocruz), RJ, and Universidade Franciscana, Santa Maria, RS, in 2019. She is member of several boards and was member the Executive Board of the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics from 2016 to 2020.

Through her work, she produces knowledge for needs based primary health care and long-term care of persons with chronic illnesses and care requirements, addressing social determinants of health and developing roles and tasks in nursing and interprofessional teams.  

Curriculum Vitae

Other Websites and Links

ORCID

ResearchGate

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Courses

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Publications (Selection)
  • Franco, C. M., Bula, D., Toso, B. R. G. d. O., Giovanella, L., & Hämel, K. (2025). Nurse‒physician interprofessional collaboration in the context of expanding nursing practice in primary health care: A comparative qualitative study of Brazil and Germany. BMC Nursing, 24(1), 259. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-02885-5
  • Enebeli, M. O., Saint, V. A., & Hämel, K. (2024). Nurses’ health promotion practices in rural primary health care in Nigeria. A qualitative study. Health Promotion International, 39(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae120
  • Luisi, D., & Hämel, K. (2024). Understandings of community participation and empowerment in primary health care in Emilia-Romagna, Italy: A qualitative interview study with practitioners and stakeholders. PLOS ONE, 19(9), e0310137. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310137
  • Heumann, M., Röhnsch, G., Zabaleta‐del‐Olmo, E., Toso, B. R. G. de O., Giovanella, L., & Hämel, K. (2023). Barriers to and enablers of the promotion of patient and family participation in primary healthcare nursing in Brazil, Germany and Spain: A qualitative study. Health Expectations, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13843
  • Heumann, M., Röhnsch, G., & Hämel, K. (2022). Primary healthcare nurses’ involvement in patient and community participation in the context of chronic diseases: An integrative review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78(1), 26-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14955
  • Hämel, K.*, Röhnsch, G.*, Heumann, M., Backes, D. S., Toso, B. R. G. de O., & Giovanella, L. (2022). How do nurses support chronically ill clients’ participation and self-management in primary care? A cross-country qualitative study. BMC Primary Care, 23, 85. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-022-01687-x
  • Hämel, K., & Röhnsch, G. (2021). Between social inclusion and exclusion: Integration of daycare guests in the nursing home setting. The Gerontologist, 61(7), 1030-1040. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa157
  • Hämel, K., Toso, B. R. G. de O., Casanova, A., & Giovanella, L. (2020). Advanced Practice Nursing in Primary Health Care in the Spanish National Health System. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 25(1), 303-314. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020251.28332019
  • Hämel, K., & Vössing, C. (2017). The collaboration of general practitioners and nurses in primary care – a comparative analysis of concepts and practices in Slovenia and Spain. Primary Health Care Research & Development, 18(5), 492-506. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1463423617000354
  • Hämel, K. (2016). Making nursing homes more community-oriented: Insights from an exploratory study in Germany. Ageing & Society, 36(4), 673-693. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X14001391 
Affiliations & Memberships
  • Member of the German Society of Nursing Science (DGP), the German Public Health Association (DGPH), the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics (DGGG), the German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP)
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie (since 2018) and the Zeitschrift für Palliativmedizin (since 2025)
  • Member of the steering committee of “Leuchtturm Alternsmedizin.NRW” of the Cluster Medizin.NRW (Ministry of Culture and Science North-Rine Westfalia) (2022-2024)
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Education and Health Services Research (InBVG) at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (HSBI) (since 2018)
  • Member of the Expert Committee on Ageing and Care, German Association for Public and Private Welfare (2016-2024)
  • Member of the Board of the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (DGGG) and Chair of Section IV Social Gerontology and Work with Older People (2016-2020)
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