Dr Jeff Hanna

Under the leadership of Professor Alan Stein, I am part of the child and adolescent psychiatry group who focus on life-limiting illness.

My main research interests include end of life, bereavement, and communication with dependent children when they or their parent has a life-limiting illness. My PhD (Ulster University, 2020) was an interpretative qualitative study exploring the psychosocial challenges and needs of families when a parent of dependent children is at end of life from cancer and the subsequent immediate bereavement period that follows. Following a systematic review, four sample groups were involved in this study, comprising of 79 participants. This included parents at end of life, bereaved parents, health and social care professionals and funeral directors. The findings from this study have been published in Palliative Medicine, Psycho-Oncology and Death Studies.

 A resource is currently being developed in collaboration with colleagues at King’s College London to support health and social care professionals’ provision of supportive care to parents with have a life-limiting illness in routine practice concerning their dependent children. This resource has been endorsed by Marie Curie and will be launched early 2021.

I am currently working on the following projects:

-       A qualitative study exploring the experience for relatives when a loved one was dying during the Covid-19 pandemic.

-       A qualitative study exploring the experience for healthcare professionals in providing end of life care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

-       A qualitative study exploring the psycho-social needs of older adults (60+) bereaved by suicide, through the lens of older adults and social care professionals (University of Strathclyde).