Research in public health and end-of-life care – Building on the past and developing the new

Abstract

Introduction: Public health approaches offer the opportunity to move beyond clinical and health services approaches to end-of-life (EoL) care, to focus on whole populations, individuals and communities rather than patients and carers. They also allow concepts such as capacity, resilience, and wellbeing to come to the fore.

Methods: This paper, drawing on the experience of a diverse group of academics and practitioners from three countries in Europe, considers the research challenges related to examining new public health approaches to EoL care and how learning from more traditional or classic public health research can influence a future research agenda. Additional opportunities provided by the new public health approach to broaden learning and participation in research are considered.

Results: By bringing together strong traditional methods such as analysis of longitudinal population-level data with participatory approaches that draw on communities' experience and aspirations for care, the authors suggest that new and improved opportunities exist to evaluate the impact of participatory approaches.

Discussion: In conclusion, the paper urges researchers from classic and new public health to work in partnership to generate and respond to the emerging research agenda around new public health initiatives. There is much to be learned from both.

• Public health
• Health promotion
• End-of-life care
• Research methods