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Death and Dying

Death, dying and bereavement has been one of our major research and teaching themes for over twenty years. The synergy between research and teaching has been secured through vibrant student recruitment to the Death, Dying and bereavement module (K220) and End of life care (KG001) as well as securing research funding in this area. The group is multi-disciplinary with a core in the social sciences and qualitative methodologies.

Current research: end-of-life care; death, including all forms of reproductive and neonatal loss and suicide; bereavement and memorialisation. Our research focuses on both the theoretical and practice-related dimensions which are related to death and dying. Examples of research include the way in which decisions are made (or not made) in palliative care; the impact of stillbirth and neonatal death on parents; befriending schemes for people in the last year of life; and nurses’ first encounters with the dead body. Current team members have an interest in decision-making, core concepts around end-of-life care, death and bereavement across the life-course.

Latest activity: Members of the Death and Dying group generally meet under the remits of the Death and Dying research group in Health, Wellbeing and Social Care. There are several ongoing projects that members of the group are part of

For more information on this area, visit the Death, Dying and Bereavement page on the faculty website.

If you are interested in being a part of the Death & Dying Research Theme please email Death-and-Dying@open.ac.uk where further details will be provided.

Additional researchers

  • Sharon Mallon
  • Joanne Jordan
  • Jan Draper
  • Rebecca Garcia
  • Anne Butterworth
  • Erica Borgstrom
  • Kerry Jones
  • Sam Murphy

Events

The Death and Dying Research Group will be hosting another series of monthly seminars with fascinating presentations on the global perspective of palliative care.

Each month we intend to showcase a different theme on death and dying across the life-course by engaging leading academics and professionals, and are free to all interested in attending. The seminars will alternate each month between a traditional academic seminar and a more interactive and visual mini-workshop. There will be time in both for discussion and debate.

More dates and topics to be confirmed. Sign up to our mailing list to be sent details nearer the time by contacting wels-research-events@open.ac.uk. Please also use this email to register your interest for a seminar as space is very limited.