Dr Kathryn McEwan

Kathryn McEwan is an Assistant Professor in Community Wellbeing. Her research explores end-of-life care, death literacy, and support for caregivers, with a particular interest in how experiences of dying and bereavement are shaped by social class, service structures, and cultural narratives.

Her recent publications draw on realist evaluation, participatory action research, and grounded theory, including studies of home-based palliative and end-of-life care and Parkinson’s specialist nursing. Her current work centres on the Better Conversations project, which explores how compassionate, confident dialogue about death, dying, and bereavement can be embedded in health and social care education and practice. Through this, she aims to enhance graduate attributes such as emotional intelligence, reflexivity, and person-centred communication, qualities essential for future practitioners in complex care environments.

Kathryn teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with a particular focus on compassionate and inclusive practice. She is committed to applied, collaborative research that improves real-world outcomes for people navigating complex care systems and informs the education of the future health and social care workforce.

She also co-founded and serves as a convenor for the British Sociological Association’s Mid-Career Forum, supporting community-building, knowledge-sharing, and career development for mid-career sociologists.