Dr Lucy Selman
Dr Lucy Selman is the founding director of Good Grief Festival.
The vision for the festival arose out of her professional interests and personal experience: her father died of cancer when she was 15, and she went on to become a researcher specialising in palliative and end of life care. Her second daughter was stillborn in 2018. Good Grief was inspired by this loss, and her belief that through sharing experiences and knowledge we can find solace and support.
Lucy is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol. Her research and publications over the past 15 years have mainly focused on psychosocial and spiritual aspects of the illness experience; decision-making and communication; family care-giving and bereavement; and widening access to services.
Together with Dr Emily Harrop at Cardiff University, Lucy is currently leading a national study of bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on bereavement services. To learn more about the study, visit covidbereavement.com. Lucy’s recent research papers on bereavement during the pandemic are listed below (all are open access).
- Sowden R., Borgstrom E., Selman LE. ‘It’s like being in a war with an invisible enemy’: A document analysis of bereavement due to COVID-19 in UK newspapers. PLOS One, 4 March 2021
- Harrop E. at al. Supporting people bereaved during COVID-19: Study Report 1, Cardiff University and the University of Bristol, 27 November 2020 [non-peer-reviewed report on interim findings]
- Harrop E. et al. What elements of a systems approach to bereavement are most effective in times of mass bereavement? A narrative systematic review with lessons for COVID-19. Palliative Medicine, 31 July 2020
- Burrell A. and Selman LE. How do funeral practices impact bereaved relatives’ mental health, grief and bereavement? A mixed methods review with implications for COVID-19. Omega, 8 July 2020
- Selman LE. Bereavement support on the frontline of COVID-19: Recommendations for hospital clinicians. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 28 Apr 2020
