Thank you for joining us to hear the latest research and evidence in palliative and end of life care. We'll be back next year between Monday 5 – Friday 9 February 2024.

Find out more about next year's conference

About the conference

At our annual research conference, we brought together thought leaders and key professionals from across research, policy and health and social care to share the latest research and evidence in palliative and end of life care.

Save the date - 2024 Research Conference

Next year's conference will take place from Monday 5 – Friday 9 February 2024.

Visit the 2024 Research Conference page to find out more about next year's event. 

Catch up with the 2023 Conference

The 2023 Marie Curie Research Conference continued to focus on our four key thematic priorities, as part of the Marie Curie Research, Policy and Public Affairs (RPPA) strategy

  • supporting the mental and physical health and wellbeing of people affected by dying, death and bereavement
  • ending financial insecurity at the end of life and ensuring that everyone has the support they need to address their practical concerns
  • ensuring that everyone affected by dying and death – including the family, friends, and carers of the dying person - are supported through and beyond the end of life (including into bereavement)
  • ending inequity in end of life experience by ensuring access to excellent standards of care and support for all.

We also held a session dedicated to out-of-hours care.

New to this year's conference were our Spotlight sessions. These are one-hour, bitesize sessions designed to shine a light on topics that have been highlighted to us as areas of particular interest and importance in the sector.

Programme and recordings from the week

03:05 70 years of end of life care out of hours: how far have we come?   Dr Emma Carduff (Marie Curie) and Raquel Fantoni (Marie Curie)

34:14 Palliative care during evenings, nights and weekends: the latest evidence and what it means for practice   Professor Fliss Murtagh (University of Hull)

1:04:08 Panel discussion   Professor Kate O'Donnell (University of Glasgow) as chair, Professor Fliss Murtagh (University of Hull), Professor Sue Latter (University of Southampton) and Peter Buckle (Marie Curie Research Voices Group Member)

1:43:45 Presentation of the Susie Wilkinson Award   Matthew Reed (Marie Curie)

Relevant links from the session  

01:03 Launch of the Public Involvement in Research Impact Toolkit   Alisha Newman (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Cardiff and Wales Cancer Research Centre), Elin Baddeley (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Cardiff) and Dr Kathy Seddon (Research Partner for the Wales Cancer Research Centre and Marie Curie Research Voices Group Member)

25:34 A conversation with... PPI   Dr Nicola White (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL), Dr Nuriye Kupeli (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL), Mark Hughes (PPI representative) and Natalie Pettitt (PPI representative)

Relevant links from the session  

Bereavement is everyone's business: findings and next steps from the UK Commission on Bereavement   Rachel Warren (Marie Curie) and Gail Precious (National Bereavement Alliance)

Tackling loneliness in terminally ill patients and their informal carers   Dr Tracey McConnell (Queen's University Belfast & Marie Curie) and Dr Carolyn Blair (Queen's University Belfast)

 One step at a time: using compassionate communities' model (COMPASS Ghana) to impact on the delivery of palliative and end-of-life care in resource-poor setting   Dr Yakubu Salifu (Lancaster University and COMPASS Ghana)

The role of the men's shed in a hospice day service context: identifying features of a successful group and developing recommendations to expand the service Rachel Perry (Marie Curie West Midlands) 

Caregivers' experiences of end-of-life caregiving in a home care setting   Elsa Joan Durhuus Johannesen (University of the Faroe Islands)

Relevant links from the session  

01:00 Addressing gender inequities in palliative care: next steps   Professor Merryn Gott (University of Auckland) and Dr Tessa Morgan (University of Cambridge)

32:34 Shining a light on invisibility: exploring gender differences in palliative and end of life care   Ellie Wagstaff (Marie Curie), Bethan Edwards (Marie Curie), Dr Nicola White (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL) and Dr Briony Hudson (Marie Curie)

1:02:50 LGBT+ partner bereavement: an in-depth qualitative interview study and appraisal of the Acceptance-Disclosure Model of LGBT+ bereavement   Dr Katherine Bristowe (Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, KCL)

1:18:23 The Role of Anticipatory Prescribing in Care Homes: identifying dying, complying with regulations and preventing death in hospital – a qualitative study   Dr Diana Teggi (The Open University)

1:36:20 Experience of racial prejudice or discrimination in palliative care settings – a survey of UK specialist palliative care services   Dr Gurpreet Gupta (St. Luke's Hospice)

Relevant links from the session  

00:57 Rules of thumb to support palliative dementia care in Manchester: development and evaluation   Dr Nathan Davies (University College London) and Gill Bailey (Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks)

29:20 Individual and service-level factors associated with end-of-life emergency department attendance among people with dementia   Dr Lesley E. Williamson (Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, KCL)

59:21 The DiAMoND decision aid: supporting people living with motor neurone disease to make the difficult decision about having a gastrostomy tube   Dr Sally Wheelwright (University of Sussex) and Jennifer Bedford (Motor Neurone Disease Association)

1:28:39 Shifted deaths: the use of home mechanical ventilation for Motor Neurone Disease (MND)   Dr Eleanor Wilson (University of Nottingham)

Relevant links from the session  

Awards

We're grateful to be able to present two awards each year at the Marie Curie Annual Research Conference.

The Susie Wilkinson Award

This award is for Marie Curie health care assistants, allied health professionals and nurses. It recognises and supports a member of Marie Curie staff who has made significant personal progress in the development of their research capacity.

In 2023, Liz Arnold (Marie Curie Hospice Edinburgh) was awarded the Susie Wilkinson Award at the Marie Curie Annual Research Conference. Find out more.

The Joanna Mugridge Research Award

This award is given to the best posters presented at the conference, to support the recipient's ongoing research education and development.

In 2023, Geraldine Finnan, Jane Oyston and Cristina Felizardo were awarded the Joanna Mugridge Research Award for their posters. Find out more.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about the research conference, please email us:

research.info@mariecurie.org.uk.

Posters

We showcased 39 posters at our Research Conference, covering a range of key themes. You can view the posters here.  

Catch up on our 2022 Research Conference

View the content, including recordings of the sessions, from the 2022 Research Conference.

Find out more

Also of interest

About our research

Researching better care

Marie Curie is the UK’s largest charitable funder of palliative and end of life care research.
Researching better care
Impact of our research

Impact of our research

Marie Curie's research is working hard to meet the challenge of how to give better care to more people living with multiple conditions in the UK.
Impact of our research
Info for researchers

Information for researchers

Details about our annual open and competitive research grants scheme, plus general guidance for researchers.
Information for researchers

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