The Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. Here, 3700 doctors and scientists heal, do research and teach at the top international level. It extends over four campuses with almost 100 clinics and institutes bundled under 17 Charité Centers. In 2010, the Charité could look back and joyously celebrated its 300-year anniversary. Within the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin and Campus Berlin Buch there is the old age psychiatry department, including a memory clinic and a daycare unit/center under the direction of PD Dr. Oliver Peters. In this department we serve all aspects of geriatric medicine with the focus on neurological diseases.
Our Concept: The aging process can be associated with sometimes slowly progressive cerebral diseases, which have an effect on mood, as well as mental abilities. Common examples are dementia (such as Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia or fronto-temporal lobar degeneration) and depression. An early detection and treatment of these diseases can improve quality of life for the patient and his/her family. In our daycare unit our aim is to enable patients to lead an independent life for as long as possible. An interdisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, gerontologists, ergotherapists, nurses and social workers ensures broad diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. In the 1990ies we had the famous research unit Department of Gerontopsychiatry of the Free University of Berlin with Margret and Paul Baltes in our facility. In the past years, we mainly focused on research regarding biomarker diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases. PD Dr. Oliver Peters is principal investigator at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). Since 2004 Dr. Peters is board member of the German Dementia Competence Network (DCN) and since 2008 Coordinator of the BMBFfunded SIMaMCI AD prevention-trial.
We also gained expertise within conducting clinical trials with the indication of Alzheimer’s disease. Since seven years we built up our health care research unit. Our aim is to improve and stabilize the situation for people with dementia and their caregivers in home dementia care for as long as possible. We focus on the potential of assistive technologies. Our previous user studies dealing in various stages of development with the acceptance, usability and feasibility of technical devices in everyday life.
Staff members
PI
PD Dr. Oliver Peters is the head of the old age psychiatry department, including a memory clinic and a daycare unit/center at the Charité, Berlin, Germany, where he has dual clinical and research roles. Trained at the medical faculties at the Universities in Berlin, Dr. Peters completed his MD in 1999 specialising in neurodegeneration, the State exam in 2001, and was board certified in Psychiatry in 2008. Dr. Peter´s research concentrates on mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, biomarkers in Alzheimer´s disease (AD) as well as on clinical research in prevention and disease modifying strategies of AD. Beside this, he and his research group are also involved in the development of health care research. Therefore, we are participating in several gerontological research projects with the focus on dementia. The aim is to develop and evaluate new assistive technologies that can provide relief for people with dementia and their caregivers. These backgrounds provide perfects grounds for the research, which will be carried out in the context of this project. Dr. Peters will be responsible for leading tasks in the clinical study.
Member
Herlind Megges MSc is research assistant and doctoral student at the old age psychiatry department at the Charité, Berlin, Germany. She studied social work in Regensburg and gerontology in Nürnberg-Erlangen. She also worked as a therapist with people with dementia for over 10 years and gained lots of insights regarding therapeutic approaches for Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). Together with Dr. Peters she is the head of the health care research unit and performed several projects over the last years. Her skills in a nutshell: Gerontology, Geriatric Assessment, Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Neuropsychological Assessment, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Geriatric Psychiatry, Cognitive Aging, Aging Research, Geronto-psychology, Gerontechnology, Dementia Care, User Experience Research, Ambient Assisted Living, Usability Studies, Interdisciplinary Research, Assistive Technologies.
