Professor Nancy Preston
Professor of Supportive and Palliative CareResearch Overview
Nancy Preston is a Professor of Supportive and Palliative Care. She is the Co-Director of the International Observatory on End-of-Life Care at Lancaster University and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Health and Mediicne.
My research focusses on palliative care and how best to integrate it into general healthcare systems including oncology and respiratory units, ICU, the community, hospices and care homes. I have been involved in seven European studies which focus upon service delivery, enhancing shared decision making and symptom management.
I am particularly interested in how peole make decisions at the end of life including advance care planning and assisted dying.
I am part of the NIHR/Department of Health Policy Research Unit for Palliative Care.
I use novel ways to disseminate research into practice including open access resources such as MOOCs.
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Current Research
ACTION A multi-centre cluster randomized controlled trial of of advanced care planning - an innovative Palliative care Intervention to Improve Quality of Life in Oncology (European Union FP7)
Insup-C Patient Centred integrated palliative care in advanced cancer and chronic disease (European Union FP7)
SUPPORTED: the development of an abdominal support binder for the management of ascites (Lancaster University Impact Award)
Cochrane Systematic review on Strategies to Improve Recruitment to Research Studies via Health Professionals
Cochrane Systematic Review on the Management of Pleural Effusion
Research Interests
Palliative care is still largely received by people with cancer. I am interested in how we integrate palliative care to other services to improve uptake of services and dissemination of the principles of palliative care in general care. Some European Studies I have been involved in explore this:
1. InSup-C - how is palliative care integrated
2. Pal-cycles - how can we improve integration of palliative care into cancer services
3. EU-COPD - how can we improve integration of palliative care into respiratory services for people with COPD
4. In-Touch - Improving care of people with advanced dementia in care homes
I am interested in how people make decisions at the end of life related to advance care planning, sedation and assisted dying.
Current Teaching
I am a Professor and Co-Director in the International Observatory on End of Life Care within the Faculty of Health and Medicine. I teach on the different Blended Learning PhDs on systematic reviews and co-edited a book specifically to guide post graduate students 2nd Edition Aveyard, H., Payne, S. A., & Preston, N. J. (2021). A post-graduate's guide to doing a literature review in health and social care. Oxford University Press. Also AveyardH, Preston N and FArquhar M (2022 How to reas and critique research: a guide for nurses and healthcare students SAGE. I coauthored the book Walshe C, Preston N& Johnston B (2018) Palliative Care Nursing: Prinicples for Evidence for Practice. I have a number of PhD students through the PhD in Palliative Care blended learning course plus traditional PhD students too.
Additional Information
I am the Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Health and Medicine.
I am part of the NIHR/Department for Health and Social Care Policy Research Unit for Palliative Care.
My interest in assisted dying has led to presenting evidence to committees in the British and Irish Parliaments as well as various media outlets.
I am a section editor for BMC Palliative Care and reviewer for a large number of journals.
PhD Supervision Interests
Palliative and end of life care.
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Research Collaboration with Sue Ryder
01/01/2025 → 31/03/2028
Research
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Decolonising palliative care: exploring British Muslims perspectives on End-of-Life Care in the UK, a qualitative study 2024-2027.
04/10/2024 → 30/09/2027
Research
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Horizon Europe: Stepped wedge trial of a palliative care intervention for patients with COPD
01/01/2024 → 31/12/2028
Research
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NIHR Policy Research Unit for Palliative and End of Life Care
01/01/2024 → 31/12/2026
Research
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Horizon Europe: Pal-CYCLES: PALliative Care Yields Cancer welLbEing Support
01/09/2022 → 31/08/2027
Research
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Developing palliative and end-of-life care research partnerships and capacity in the North West Coast of England
01/01/2022 → 30/06/2023
Research
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IAA: Skilling up healthcare professionals to help people in East Lancashire to die in their preferred place of care
01/05/2021 → 20/04/2022
Research
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DSI : Covid : Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on care home pathways, outcomes and safety of care
20/08/2020 → 19/08/2021
Research
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Necessary discussions: Advance care planning for nursing homes in a COVID-19 outbreak
09/06/2020 → 08/09/2021
Research
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Better Care Partnership
01/05/2020 → 31/03/2023
Research
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Better Care Partnership
01/05/2020 → 31/03/2023
Research
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Rapid evaluation of the COVID-19 pandemic response by palliative and end of life care: national delivery, workforce and symptom management (CovPall)
20/04/2020 → 19/04/2021
Research
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Revision of the European Association for Palliative Care Recommended Norms and Standards in Palliative Care for Europe: a Delphi study
01/02/2020 → 31/01/2021
Research
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Scaling up the Family Carer Decision Support Intervention: A multi-site implementation evaluation
01/09/2019 → 28/07/2022
Research
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Scaling up the Family Carer Decision Support Intervention: A transnational effectiveness-implementation evaluation
01/04/2019 → 31/03/2022
Research
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The use of proportional palliative sedation for the relief of refractory symptoms: an international multicenter study
01/01/2019 → 30/06/2024
Research
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MOOC Palliative Care: Making it Work
02/07/2018 → 28/07/2018
Other
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Tender: To evaluate the Age UK End of Life Pathfinder
09/10/2017 → 31/03/2019
Research
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The Namaste Care intervention to improve the quality of dying for people with advanced dementia living in care homes: A realist review and feasibility study for a cluster randomised controlled trial
01/12/2016 → 31/03/2019
Research
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Evaluation End of Life EoL Social Action Fund
06/11/2014 → 30/06/2016
Research
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ACTION: A multi-centre cluster randomised controlled trial of advance care planning - an innovative Palliative Care Intervention to Improve Quality of Life in Oncology (European Union FP7)
01/12/2013 → 31/12/2017
Other
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FP7:ACTION: Advanced Care Planning - an Innovative Palliative Care Intervention to Improve Quality of Life in Oncology
01/12/2013 → 31/05/2019
Research
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SUPPORTED: The development of an abdominal support binder for the management of ascites
08/07/2013 → …
Research
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Patient-centered integrated palliative care pathways in advanced cancer and chronic disease
01/11/2012 → 31/10/2016
Research
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An exploration of the practical application of the Western palliative care model in the African context, and the viability of culturally appropriate “compassionate communities” model of care.
01/01/1900 → …
Other
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Enhancing integration of cancer and palliative care hospital services to meet the palliative care needs of patients with cancer
01/01/1900 → …
Other
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The use of the Western palliative model in managing patients in resource-poor settings; the challenges and way forward for Ghana.
01/01/1900 → …
Other
Advance care planning
Invited talk
Preston and Ost Policy Brief, Terminally Ill Adults (end of life) Bill for the House of Commons Oct 2024
Expert Opinion
Assisted Dying: International Evidence and Policy and Ethical Implications for whether it can be integrated into the NHS
Oral presentation
Assisted Dying: International Evidence and Policy and Ethical Implications for whether it can be integrated into the NHS
Oral presentation
House of Lords
Parliament
Expert Advisor to Jersey's Assisted Dying Review Panel
Expert Opinion
Preston and Ost Policy Brief, Terminally Ill Adults Bill for the House of Lords Sept 2025
Expert Opinion
National ENRICH Leads Meeting
Invited talk
Caught between the dream and realities: considering ‘advance care planning'. Open Thanatology & Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL.
Participation in conference - Academic
Law School Assisted Dying Bill Policy Event
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Assisted Dying Symposium: What Model of AD Service Ought to be Created?
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Webinar on Assisted Dying
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Webinar on Assisted Dying
Oral presentation
Expert Witnesses for a Royal Society of Medicine panel on the Terminally Adults (end of life) Bill
Oral presentation
What can we learn from international research on assisted dying?
Oral presentation
What can we learn from international research on assisted dying?
Oral presentation
Our blended learning PhD in palliative care
Oral presentation
'On my own terms': a film about those involved in assisted dying
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
“On my terms”: using a movie as an educational tool to gain a greater understanding of MAID
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Overview of Assisted dying and implications of a change in the law
Oral presentation
Family caregivers’ experience of preparing for the death of a relative: a reflexive thematic analysis
Oral presentation
Presentation on assisted dying Irish Parliament
Government
Decolonising Palliative Care: Learning from Research Beyond the Global West
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Consulted on expertise on assisted dying
Consultancy
Palliative Sedation
Oral presentation
Developing Teams for research
Oral presentation
On my terms - a film about assisted dying
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Webinar on current debates on Assisted Dying
Oral presentation
Advance Care Planning
Oral presentation
International Research Networking and Engagement (Ghana)
Types of External academic engagement - Hosting an academic visitor
Use of sedation at the end of life
Oral presentation
Grief, loss and place - ESRC Festival of Social Science
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
On my terms - A film about assisted dying
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Specialist Palliative Care Professionals' Experiences of Moral Distress during COVID-19: A Multiple Qualitative Case Study
Oral presentation
What does the data tell us about the impact of COVID in Care Homes
Invited talk
Research during COVID
Invited talk
Book launch of Post Graduates Guide to Literature Reviews 2nd edition
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Research during COVID
Invited talk
How intensive do I want my care to be?
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Assisted Dying
Oral presentation
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
Election to learned society
- International Observatory on End of Life Care