Allan Kellehear is a medical and public health sociologist whose teaching,
research, and practice interests focus upon death, dying, and end of life
care. Originally from Sydney, Australia, he has previously held full
professorships at universities in Australia, Japan, and the UK. Allan is
widely recognized for the introduction and development of health promotion
policies and practices for palliative care. His scholarship follows two
complementary lines of work: (1) interdisciplinary studies investigating
human conduct and experiences at the end of life; and (2) the application of
health promotion policies and practices for aged, bereavement, and palliative
care.
His health promotion approach is settings/place-based. The focus of this
approach is on civic participation and support for end-of-life care through
community development, social ecology, services redesign, civic policy
development, and public education. Allan’s work in this area has been the
academic and policy basis for the global Compassionate Communities and Cities movement within hospice/palliative care.
