Professor VIKKI ENTWISTLE

Chair in Health Services Research and Philosophy

Accepting PhDs

51cg

Email Address: vikki.entwistle@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address: Health Sciences Building
Foresterhill Campus
Foresterhill
AB25 2ZD
View on Map; 50/52 College Bounds
Old Aberdeen Campus
College Bounds
AB24 3DS
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School/Department: School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

I am Professor of Health Services Research and Philosophy with academic homes in both the Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation (formerly Health Services Research Unit) within the Institute of Applied Health Sciences on the University's Foresterhill campus and Philosophy (School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History) on the Old Aberdeen campus.

My research and teaching are highly interdisciplinary. Broadly speaking, I use philosophy and social research to understand and address concerns about quality, ethics and social justice in health care, public health and funeral provision. I am particularly interested in what are sometimes called person-centred approaches - you might prefer to talk about the humanity in health care and death care. I often use feminist theorising and a relational capabilities approach to human wellbeing in my work.

I've had the privilege of working in, and visiting, a number of universities internationally, gravitating back to the 51cg each time with an extended range of valued colleagues and learning.

Qualifications

BA (hons) Natural Sciences and Theology
1986 - University of Cambridge
MSc Information Science (Distinction)
1990 - City University, London
MA Philosophy (Distinction)
2008 - The Open University
PhD Information Science
1994 - City University, London

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships: I am currently a member of the Academic Advisory Board of Aberdeen University Press and the Gifford Lectures Committee.

I co-convene, with Arnar Arnason, the 'Death Matters' network and Centre-in-Development.
External Memberships: I am currently a member of the Faculty of Public Health Ethics Committee and the NHS Grampian Charity Research Grants Committee.

Latest Publications

Staying connected? Revaluing 'relationship goods' in digital health ecologies
2026 - Accepted/In press
Cribb, A., Entwistle, V.
Health Care Analysis
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI:
Rethinking Healthcare Improvement: Philosophy and Ethics in Practice
2026 - Published
Cribb, A., Mitchell, P., Entwistle, V.
Bloomsbury Academic. 320 pages
Books and Reports: Books
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Why does funeral attendance matter?: Revisiting 'Configurational Eulogies' in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK
2024 - Published
Riley, J., Entwistle, V., Arnason, A., Locock, L., Crozier, R., Maccagno, P., Pattenden, A.
Mortality, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 706-727
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Telephone consulting for ‘Personalised Care and Support Planning’ with people with long-term conditions: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ experiences during COVID-19 restrictions and beyond
2024 - Published
McCann, S., Entwistle, V., Oliver, L., Lewis-Barned, N., Haines, R., Cribb, A.
BMC Primary Care, vol. 25, 193
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Values and Ethics
2024 - Published
Cribb, A., Entwistle, V., Mitchell, P.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 44 pages
Books and Reports: Books
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

I use social research and practical philosophy to help understand what matters for 'good' public health, healthcare and care of the dead and bereaved, to analyse ethical issues, and to consider how policy and practice should be developed in those domains. I seek to take seriously the plurality of values, diversity of perspectives, complexity of social relationships and demands of social justice.

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Applied Health Sciences, Philosophy.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Email Me

Applied Health Sciences

Accepting PhDs

View Research Area

Philosophy

Accepting PhDs

View Research Area

Research Specialisms

Ethics
Feminism
Health and Social Care

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is , published under the licence.

Current Research

I am currently working on several projects:

Following from the Wellcome funded 'But why is that better?' project, which explored what applied philosophy and ethics can contribute to healthcare improvement, I continue to work with Professor Alan Cribb on questions about the nature and value of relationship goods in healthcare, and the implications for these of various 'shifts to digital'. Most outputs from 'But why is that better?' can be found at and our open access book 'Rethinking healthcare improvement: philosophy and ethics in practice' will be published by Bloomsbury in June 2026.

Developing the foundations for a Centre (currently 'in development') for Interdisciplinary Death Matters. This broad project initiative builds from the collaboration and learning that for me were initiated with the ESRC funded project 'Developing practical ethics of care for the dead and bereaved' examines what we can learn from the disruption and development of funeral practices during COVID-19. One of the main outputs from that project was the Care in Funerals Casebook - an online resource to support reflection and discussion of values and practical and ethical challenges in funeral provision ( ). Developmental work for the Centre, which I co-lead with Dr Arnar Árnason, includes fostering internal and external network development and supporting grant writing.

Collaborations

Other current collaborations include with:

Professor Alan Cribb (King's College London), including development of work on the value of healthcare relationships. Longstanding collaborator Prof Stacy Carter (University of Wollongong) is also involved in this proposed project.

Mr Devanand ANANTHAM (PhD candidate), Dr VOO Teck Chuan (National University of Singapore). Doctoral supervision: Doctor-patient partnerships: the key to a better standard of medical advice?

Teaching

Courses

Teaching Responsibilities

For Academic Year 2025-26 my main teaching commitments are:

Lecturer for PU5056/5062 Key Concepts in Global Health (covering human rights, justice and ethics in global health)

Lecturer for PH1522 How Should One Live? (covering feminist approaches to ethics)

Lecturer for AY1505 Death! (covering Funerals and COVID-19: learning from disruption)

Lecturer for PH2542 Philosophy and Society (covering philosophy of healthcare improvement)

Supervisor for PH402D Dissertation in Philosophy

Lecturer for PH5069 Philosophy and Society (online)

Lecturer for PH5075 Core Concepts and Methods in Applied Philosophy

Lecturer/supervisor for PH5571 Readings in Applied Philosophy

Project and dissertation supervision:

I will be happy to discuss possible supervision with postgraduate students from diverse disciplinary and practitioner backgrounds who are interested in pursuing questions relating to values and ethics in healthcare and/or deathcare. I particularly welcome inquiries from people who want to work across philosophical and social research approaches, and to draw on feminist theorising and/or a capability approach.

I also contribute to the supervision of philosophy honours projects relating to ethics and/or feminist philosophy.

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

I contribute to the Philosophy Summer School, usually teaching on applied philosophy and ethics.

Publications

Update

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Biography

Qualifications

Memberships and Affiliations

Latest Publications

Staying connected? Revaluing 'relationship goods' in digital health ecologies

Rethinking Healthcare Improvement: Philosophy and Ethics in Practice

Why does funeral attendance matter?: Revisiting 'Configurational Eulogies' in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

Telephone consulting for ‘Personalised Care and Support Planning’ with people with long-term conditions: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ experiences during COVID-19 restrictions and beyond

Values and Ethics

Research Overview

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

Applied Health Sciences

Philosophy

Research Specialisms

Current Research

Collaborations

Courses

Teaching Responsibilities

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

How personal experiences feature in women's accounts of use of information for decisions about antenatal diagnostic testing for foetal abnormality

Developing a placebo-controlled trial in surgery: issues of design, acceptability and feasibility

Shared decision making: Trade-offs between narrower and broader conceptions

Speaking up about safety concerns: multi-setting qualitative study of patients' views and experiences

What is an adequate sample size?: Operationalising data saturation for theory-based interview studies

Effectiveness of interventions designed to promote patient involvement to enhance safety: a systematic review

Health in the 'hidden population' of people with low literacy: A systematic review of the literature

Supporting patient autonomy: The importance of clinician-patient relationships

Reasons for participating in randomised controlled trials: conditional altruism and considerations for self

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of arthroscopic lavage in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a mixed methods study of the feasibility of conducting a surgical placebo-controlled trial (the KORAL study)

Scoping review and approach to appraisal of interventions intended to involve patients in patient safety

When should a placebo be used in surgical trials?

Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions

Rationalising the 'irrational': a think aloud study of discrete choice experiment responses

Ethical, legal, and social issues in health technology assessment for prenatal/preconceptional and newborn screening: a workshop report

'Avoiding harm to others' considerations in relation to parental MMR vaccination discussion: an analysis of an online chat forum.

'Facing the future': the government's real agenda for health visitors.

Communicating about screening

Consumer involvement in setting the health services research agenda: Persistent questions of value

Guidance for considering ethical, legal, and social issues in health technology assessment: application to genetic screening

Supporting participation in clinical research: Decision aids for trial recruitment?

Health literacy: the need to consider images as well as words

Protocol for stage 2 of the GaP study (genetic testing acceptability for Paget's disease of bone): a questionnaire study to investigate whether relatives of people with Paget's disease would accept genetic testing and preventive treatment if they were available

Promoting research participation: why not advertise altruism?

Involvement in treatment decision-making: its meaning to people with diabetes and implications for conceptualisation

Recruitment to randomised trials: Strategies for trial enrolment and participation study. The STEPS study

Recruitment to randomised trials: strategies for trial enrollment and participation study. The STEPS study.

Consumers' beliefs about non-prescription medicines and providing information during consultations for their purchase

Do patient decision aids meet effectiveness criteria of the international patient decision aid standards collaboration?: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Differing perspectives on patient involvement in patient safety

Patient involvement in treatment decision-making: The case for a broader conceptual framework

Protocol for stage 1 of the GaP study (Genetic testing acceptability for Paget's disease of bone): an interview study about genetic testing and preventive treatment: would relatives of people with Paget's disease want testing and treatment if they were available?

What influences recruitment to randomised controlled trials?: A review of trials funded by two UK funding agencies

Trust in the context of patient safety problems

Which surgical decisions should patients participate in and how?: Reflections on women's recollections of discussions about variants of hysterectomy

Financial considerations in the conduct of multi-centre randomised controlled trials: evidence from a qualitative study

'Unilateral' and 'bilateral' practitioner approaches in decision-making about treatment

Advising patients about patient safety: current initiatives risk shifting responsibility.

Methods of hysterectomy: should women have a say?

A centralised public information resource for randomised trials: a scoping study to explore desirability and feasibility

Who are your public?: a survey comparing the views of a population-based sample with those of a community-based public forum in Scotland

Involving service users in health services research

Consumer involvement in decisions about what health-related research is funded

Assessing patients' participation and quality of decision-making

Consumer involvement in research projects: the activities of research funders

Women's perceptions of decision-making about hysterectomy

Nursing shortages and patient safety problems in hospital care: is clinical monitoring by families part of the solution?

Trust and shared decision making: an emerging research agenda

The requirement for prior consent to participate on survey response rates: a population-based survey in Grampian

Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions

Draft guide to the Production and Provision of Information about Health and Healthcare Interventions

Interventions for improving communication with children and adolescents about a family member's cancer

Investigating the feasibility of using electronic consultation in the NHS in Scotland

Patient's information environments: deserts, jungles and less hostile alternatives

Public opinions about systems for “feeding back” views to the National Health Service.

Recordings or summaries of consultations for people with cancer

Research funding organisations and consumer involvement

Roles for lay people in the implementation of healthcare research

Putting participation in the picture