1329760
Adjunct Associate Professor
Stuart Ekberg
Faculty of Health,
School of Psychology & Counselling
Associate Professor Stuart Ekberg is descended from the Arrernte people of Central Australia and migrants from Sweden, Germany, and England.
Biography
Roles:- QUT Lead, International Consortium for Communication in Healthcare
- Chief Investigator, QUT Centre for Healthcare Transformation
- Associate Investigator, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child
Most of my research is within a field known as Conversation Analysis (CA), which analyses naturally occurring ('real world') social interactions. This allows for fascinating - and sometimes very surprising - insights into the way we interact with each other. For example, we are often encouraged to talk about death more directly, but my research investigating palliative care consultations suggests “it is not necessary to explicitly mention end of life in order to discuss it.”
Research Impact By working with recordings of real-world social interactions, my research is easily applied to ensure real-world impact. My experience of real-world engagement includes:
- Development of an eLearning module to support effective communication with families of children with life-limiting conditions (developed for the Quality of Care Collaborative for Australia in Paediatric Palliative Care, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health).
- Development and nationwide dissemination of prompt lists (available here and here) that can be used by families of children with life-limiting conditions to enhance their consultations with healthcare professionals (funded by Gilead Sciences Europe Ltd.).
- A review underpinning a National Action Plan for Paediatric Palliative Care in Australia.
- Ekberg, S., Slade, D., Ekberg, K., Bradford, N., Yates, P., Sansom-Daly, U., Reymond, E. & Herbert, A. Understanding communication about advance care planning across the lifespan. Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP240100072).
- Pratt, G., Combo, M., Bernardes, C., Ekberg, S., Isua, G., Medlin, L., Burke, K., Birch, S., Meuter, R., Scott, J., Douglas, T., Alchin, A., Toombs, M., Henaway, C., Bean, N. (2021). Communication training for mental health professionals: developing cultural sensitivity and capability to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people mental health outcomes. NHMRC Ideas Grant (App: 2011912)
- Bradford, N., Ekberg, S., Tyack, Z., McCreanor, V., Pitt, E, Cronin, H., Walker, R., Hassall, T., Kemp, J., Radford, C., Carter, A., Cashion, C. & Condon, P. (2021). Implementation and evaluation of a technology enhanced model of psychosocial care for children with cancer and their families (eMaP). Children’s Hospital Foundation Health Services Research Grant (HSR0112021)
- Bowers, A., Singh, G., Bradford, N., Ekberg, S., Ekberg, K., Yates, P., Dettrick, Z., Herbert, A. R. & McLarty, A. (2021). Needs analysis and gap-analysis in the delivery of Paediatric Palliative Care across Australia. Department of Health, Australian Government
- Pritchard, V., de Zubicaray, G., McMahon, K., Bradford, N., Ekberg, S. & White, S. (2021). Promoting school re-entry and enhancing academic engagement in survivors of paediatric brain cancer. Perpetual's 2021 IMPACT Philanthropy Program (IPAP2021/0582)
- Ekberg, S., Bowers, A., Bradford, N. & Ekberg, K. (2020). Literature review on paediatric palliative care to inform the development of a National Action Plan. Department of Health, Australian Government.
- Ekberg, S., Stevenson, J., Martinez, K., Win, M.M., Lord, S., Yates, P. & Sansone, H. (2019). Managing expectations and information needs in initial palliative care consultations. The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation (INV2019-27).
- Pratt, G., Bryant, M., Meuter, R., Ekberg, S., Lin, I. & Birch, S. (2019). Improving communication and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People living with chronic pain. Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) - Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART)
- Bradford, N., Ekberg, S., Brain, D. & Yates, P. (2018). Addressing survivorship and palliative care needs in children and adolescents with brain cancer. Children’s Hospital Foundation (CCABCR011)
- Danby, S., Ekberg. S., Rendle-Short, J., Yates, P., Bradford, N., Herbert, A., Bluebond-Langner, M. (2017). Extraordinary yet mundane talk: Children navigating palliative care. Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP180101941).
- Ekberg, S. (2016). Talking about Troubles: A comparison of everyday and therapeutic talk. Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE170100026).
- Ekberg, S., Yates, P., Danby, S., Herbert, A. & Bradford, N. (2016). The 'So Many Questions' Project. Gilead Sciences Europe Ltd.
- Leydon-Hudson, G., Little, P., Moore, M., Ekberg, S., Heritage, J., Drew, P., Stuart, B., Stevenson, F., Ogden, J., Chew-Graham, C., Mercer, S. & Brindle, L. (2012). A proof of concept trial to improve elicitation of patients’ concerns in primary care consultations, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research (UK).
Personal details
Positions
- Adjunct Associate Professor
Faculty of Health,
School of Psychology & Counselling
Keywords
Social interaction, Conversation analysis, Health communication, Social psychology
Research field
Other psychology, Linguistics
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) (University of Adelaide)
- Graduate Certificate in Science & Technology Communication (University of Adelaide)
- Bachelor of Psychology with First Class Honours (University of Adelaide)
Teaching
I am not currently teaching at QUT but have previously taught into the following units:
- PYB007 Communication for Healthcare Professionals
- PYB110 Psychological Research Methods
- PYB210 Research Design and Data Analysis
- PYB307 Health Psychology
- PYB350 Advanced Statistical Analysis
- PYH401 Advanced Research Methods
- HLN405 Qualitative Research
I am an Associate Fellow (Indigenous) of the Higher Education Academy, a specialist award recognising my work to integrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into learning and teaching.
Publications
- Ekberg, S., Danby, S., Rendle-Short, J., Herbert, A., Bradford, N. & Yates, P. (2019). Discussing death: Making end of life implicit or explicit in paediatric palliative care consultations. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(2), 198–206. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/121453
- Ekberg, S., Danby, S., Herbert, A., Bradford, N. & Yates, P. (2020). Affording opportunities to discuss deterioration in paediatric palliative care consultations: a conversation analytic study. BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care, 10(2). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/102986
- Ekberg, S., (2021). Proffering Connections: Psychologising Experience in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/207690
- Ekberg, S., Parry, R., Land, V., Ekberg, K., Pino, M., Antaki, C., Jenkins, L. & Whittaker, B. (2021). Communicating with patients and families about illness progression and end of life: a review of studies using direct observation of clinical practice. BMC Palliative Care, 20. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227775
- Bernardes, C., Ekberg, S., Birch, S., Meuter, R., Claus, A., Bryant, M., Isua, J., Gray, P., Kluver, J., Williamson, D., Jones, C., Houkamau, K., Taylor, M., Malacova, E., Lin, I. & Pratt, G. (2022). Clinician Perspectives of Communication with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Managing Pain: Needs and Preferences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227843
- Ekberg, S., Bowers, A., Bradford, N., Ekberg, K., Rolfe, M., Elvidge, N., Cook, R., Roberts, S., Howard, C., Agar, M., Deleuil, R., Fleming, S., Hynson, J., Jolly, A., Heywood, M., Waring, S., Rice, T. & Vickery, A. (2022). Enhancing paediatric palliative care: A rapid review to inform continued development of care for children with life-limiting conditions. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 58(2), 232–237. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227871
- Ekberg, K., Ekberg, S., Weinglass, L., Herbert, A., Rendle-Short, J., Bluebond-Langner, M., Yates, P., Bradford, N. & Danby, S. (2022). Attending to child agency in paediatric palliative care consultations: Adults' use of tag questions directed to the child. Sociology of Health & Illness, 44(3), 566–585. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227845
- Sansone, H., Ekberg, S. & Danby, S. (2022). Uncertainty, responsibility, and reassurance in paediatric palliative care: A conversation analytic study of telephone conversations between parents and clinicians. Qualitative Health Communication, 1(1), 26–43. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227846
- Ekberg, K., Ekberg, S., Weinglass, L. & Danby, S. (2021). Pandemic morality-in-action: Accounting for social action during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discourse and Society, 32(6), 666–688. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/211030
- Ekberg, S., Danby, S., Theobald, M., Fisher, B. & Wyeth, P. (2019). Using physical objects with young children in 'face-to-face' and telehealth speech and language therapy. Disability and Rehabilitation, 41(14), 1664–1675. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/116759
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Stuart, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Grief in paediatric palliative care: A conversation analytic study of communication between families and clinicians in medical consultations
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Susan Danby
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- An Exploration of the Concept of Integrated Palliative Cancer Care in the Indonesian Context (2022)
- Dietary intake, care, and communication after primary treatment for ovarian cancer (2022)
- The Interactional Organisation of Reassurance in Telephone-Based Paediatric Palliative Care (2022)
- The Influence of Maternal Interactive Beliefs and Style on the Language Development of Preterm and Full-Term Children (2019)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.