Launch of the Bristol Centre for Grief Research and Engagement at the House of Commons

Posted on December 17, 2025December 17, 2025 by capcbristol

By Lucy Selman, Professor of Palliative and End of Life Care, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Last week (9 December 2025) saw the launch of the Bristol Centre of Grief Research and Engagement at the House of Commons in London. Generously hosted by Christine Jardine MP, the event brought together around 60 people, including grief experts from the UK, Ireland and USA, MPs, charity leaders, doctors, academics, artists and campaigners. All are working, in different ways, to change how grief is understood, supported and talked about in the UK. Being in the room together was a powerful reminder that this work really is stronger when we do it collectively.

The launch event

We were honoured to hear from a brilliant line-up of speakers. Prof. Guy Poppy CB FMedSci, Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bristol, spoke about the value of interdisciplinary … Read more

A global journey into primary care: insights from the NAPCRG Conference

Posted on November 28, 2023 by capcbristol

by Chloë Gamlin, GP Academic Clinical Fellow, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Attending the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) conference for the first time proved to be an enriching experience, offering a diverse array of presentations and discussions at the forefront of primary care. Held at the Hilton in downtown San Francisco, the conference brought together healthcare providers and researchers from across the globe.

Plenaries

The opening plenary by Professor Ed Maibach underscored the role of primary care physicians in addressing climate change, emphasizing their potential to provide unbiased information. Another plenary, led by Professor Diana Greene Foster, delved into the intersection of politics and healthcare, focusing on the recent changes to US abortion law. The emotional session highlighted the resilience of healthcare professionals in supporting women’s health issues, despite differing opinions.

Distinguished papers presented in the morning sessions covered … Read more

Creating a community network to tackle inequities in end-of-life care and bereavement support

Posted on January 26, 2023January 27, 2023 by capcbristol

By Lucy Selman, Associate Professor of Palliative and End of Life Care, Palliative and End of Life Care Research Group and Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

Serious illness and bereavement affect us all, but our experiences of them are not equal. People living in the poorest areas of the UK are less likely to get the care and support they need if they become seriously ill or a loved one dies. They are also more likely to be socially isolated and lonely – which can be made even worse by serious illness or bereavement.

The Weston-super-Mare community network for health inequities is a new collaborative research project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by the University of Bristol, which aims to tackle these issues, focusing on Weston-super-Mare, a seaside town in the South West that is socioeconomically … Read more

How UK newspapers made sense of COVID-19 related death and bereavement

Posted on March 31, 2021 by capcbristol

by Dr Ryann Sowden, Research Assistant, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School and Dr Lucy Selman Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

In a paper published recently in PLOS One, we explore the coverage of COVID-19 in British newspapers with a focus on key media narratives about the virus.

COVID-19 and media narratives

COVID-19 has caused over 120,000 deaths in the UK, leaving over a million people bereaved. Although death is often described as a societal taboo in British culture, it remains ever-present in the public realm of news and media which COVID-19 has dominated for the past 12 months.

In the spring of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to claim a large number of lives in the UK, newspapers reported on the threat, damage and bereavement caused by the virus, as well as providing a … Read more

How coronavirus has transformed the grieving process

Posted on April 20, 2020April 20, 2020 by capcbristol

Dr Lucy Selman, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol

As I write this, the UK government has just announced that 13,729 people have died in hospitals from COVID-19. Care England estimates more than 1,400 people have now died in care homes. As you read this, those appalling figures will have grown. The national medical director, Stephen Powis, has said that if the UK death tally comes in below 20,000, “we will have done very well”.

As a result, a wave of grief will swell in the coming months, with more and more people experiencing a close bereavement related to COVID-19. The disease brings new challenges in caring for patients and supporting their family and friends. A particularly cruel one is that patients must be isolated to control the spread of infection.

Since a patient’s loved ones are often unable to accompany … Read more