Jamie Woodworth

Background

I received two bachelors in Environmental Studies and Women and Gender Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2015 with summa cum laude honors. Then, I completed my Master’s in Human Ecology at Lund University in 2017. During my studies at the Human Ecology Division at Lund, I worked as an intern at Lunds Fountain House, a community rehabilitation center for people with mental illness. The experiences of co-workers and users at the Fountain House became inspiration for my thesis, which explored discourses of “nature” in dis/ability in the Swedish context. 

In 2017, I started working for the Institute of Palliative Care as a community outreach coordinator, organizing public events such as “Death Cafés”. My work with engaging the public in questions surrounding illness and loss eventually acquired research funding and became the topic of my doctoral work. In 2020, the gender studies department became linked to the project.  

Research Areas

• Illness, Dis/ability, Social Transformation
• Care, Social Reproduction Theory
• Palliative Care, Death Studies

Current research and teaching

My current research explores the caring relationships that exist around patients at the end of life and their next of kin using an interdisciplinary approach incorporating perspectives from both public health and feminist theory. Much current research in the palliative care context underscores the importance of a public health perspective to end of life issues, particularly the role of supportive social networks in contributing to well-being and reducing negative health events. Feminist literature has also significantly contributed to developing knowledge about caring relationships, both formal and informal, in maintaining the social fabric of communities. In my empirical work with patients and relatives, I examine how their social relationships contribute to quality of life, as well as the political dimensions of public health strategies which promote community-based approaches to palliative care. 

Other research activities include participation in the Pufendorf ASG: Exploring Narratives of Death (END) from 2019-2020. I am currently teaching in the SAS course developed through this ASG: Death and Dying, Narratives and Practices (SASH 90).