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

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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

Doctors' perspectives on PSA testing illuminate established differences in prostate cancer screening rates between Australia and the UK: A qualitative study

Reframing the Debate Around State Responses to Infertility: Considering the Harms of Subfertility and Involuntary Childlessness

Can consumers learn to ask three questions to improve shared decision making? A feasibility study of the ASK (AskShareKnow) Patient–Clinician Communication Model® intervention in a primary health-care setting

A review of health literacy: Definitions, interpretations, and implications for policy initiatives

General Practitioners’ Experiences of, and Responses to, Uncertainty in Prostate Cancer Screening: Insights from a Qualitative Study

Vaginal birth after caesarean section: why is uptake so low? Insights from a meta-ethnographic synthesis of women’s accounts of their birth choices

Evaluation of interventions for informed consent for randomised controlled trials (ELICIT): developing a core outcome set

Regulatory withdrawal of medicines marketed with uncertain benefits: the bevacizumab case study

Relational conceptions of paternalism: a way to rebut nanny-state accusations and evaluate public health interventions

Empirical relationships between health literacy and treatment decision making: A scoping review of the literature

Being open about unanticipated problems in health care: the challenges of uncertainties

Evaluation of interventions for informed consent for randomised controlled trials (ELICIT): protocol for a systematic review of the literature and identification of a core outcome set using a Delphi survey

Personalised care planning for adults with chronic or long-term health conditions

Offering informed choice about breast screening

Using the theory of planned behaviour to develop targets for interventions to enhance patient communication during pharmacy consultations for non-prescription medicines

Special access programs warrant further critical attention: authors' response to open peer commentaries on "ethical justifications for access to unapproved medical interventions: an argument for (limited) patient obligations"

Ethical Justifications for Access to Unapproved Medical Interventions: An Argument for (Limited) Patient Obligations

Involving patients in their care

Use of a Birth Plan within Woman-held Maternity Records: A Qualitative Study with Women and Staff in Northeast Scotland

An exploration of the implementation of open disclosure of adverse events in the UK: a scoping review and qualitative exploration

Valuing patients' experiences of healthcare processes: Towards broader applications of existing methods

Communicating good care: A qualitative study of what people with urological cancer value in interactions with health care providers

A meta-ethnography of organisational culture in primary care medical practice

Trust in the health-care provider-patient relationship: a systematic mapping review of the evidence base

Recruitment to trials: insights from a meta-ethnography of qualitative studies

Asking women to complete health and maternal histories for maternity records: A qualitative study

Recruitment to clinical trials: a meta-ethnographic synthesis of studies of reasons for participation

The science of health communication: impressions from the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare in St Andrews, Scotland, UK

How the stigma of low literacy can impair patient-professional spoken interactions and affect health: insights from a qualitative investigation

A capabilities approach to person-centered care: response to open peer commentaries on "treating patients as persons: a capabilities approach to support delivery of person-centered care"

Treating patients as persons: a capabilities approach to support delivery of person-centered care

Provision of cancer information as a "support for navigating the knowledge landscape": Findings from a critical interpretive literature synthesis

Ethical tensions associated with the promotion of public health policy in health visiting: a qualitative investigation of health visitors' views

Enhancing citizen engagement in cancer screening through deliberative democracy

Health visitor professional education and post-qualification clinical supervision: how well does it equip practitioners for dealing with ethical tensions associated with promoting the public health agenda to individual clients?

Enabling people to live well: Fresh thinking about collaborative approaches to care for people with long-term conditions

Supporting positive experiences and sustained participation in clinical trials: Looking beyond information provision

Reason and value: Making reasoning fit for practice

Shared decision-making: enhancing the clinical relevance

Devolution and Patient Choice: Policy Rhetoric versus Experience in Practice

Which experiences of health care delivery matter to service users and why?: A critical interpretive synthesis and conceptual map

Addressing complex healthcare problems in diverse settings: insights from activity theory

Shared decision-making: Enhancing the clinical relevance

How information about other people's personal experiences can help with healthcare decision-making: a qualitative study

Enabling mutual helping?: Examining variable needs for facilitated peer support

Pay-for-virtue: an option to improve pay-for-performance?

Three questions that patients can ask to improve the quality of information physicians give about treatment options: a cross-over trial

Shared health governance: The potential danger of oppressive "healthism"

Philosophy, health services and research: The importance of keeping conversations open

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

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