with Erica Borgstrom and John MacCartney

Social science and humanities scholars have a long and vibrant history of seeking to understand death and dying. Their insights and contributions to palliative and end of life care research, practice, and policy are valuable. However, most funded research on palliative and end of life care typically focuses on health services and/or clinical perspectives, and may be oriented to specific conditions, processes, interventions and/or symptoms. This opening plenary builds on the recent ‘To Know Dying’ (Greenfield et al., 2025) report that identifies how social science and humanities research can align with the clinical priorities identified through the 2025 James Lind Alliance Palliative and End of Life Care Priority Setting Partnership (JLA PEoLCPSP). The plenary will focus on how social scientists and humanities scholars can collaborate in innovative and impactful ways to generate research that both responds to the priorities identified by those with lived-experienced, while also showcasing the particular contributions of our disciplines.