Dr. Lauren Miller-Lewis
B.Psych (Hons), PhD Psychology (Flinders University)Lecturer - Positive Psychology
School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences
Health Workforce Academy, Appleton Institute
(08) 8378 4546 Alternative Phone
I am a Lecturer in the College of Psychology (School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences) for the Graduate Certificate in Positive Psychology, Graduate Diploma of Positive Psychology, and Master of Applied Positive Psychology courses.
My background is in health and developmental psychology, gaining a PhD in this field in 2004. I then completed a NHMRC Public Health (Australia) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Research and Evaluation Unit within the Discipline of Paediatrics at the University of Adelaide, and Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital. My Fellowship involved coordinating a research program using a strengths-based perspective for predicting and promoting mental health resilience in early childhood. I then expanded my interests into the later years of life and the end-of-life domain, working within the Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, and CareSearch Palliative Care Knowledge Network. In this role, I applied knowledge of resilience and psychosocial wellbeing factors to research and education in the field of palliative care, death and dying.
My research interests broadly encompass life-span developmental and health psychology and predominantly focus on the health behaviours, mental health and wellbeing of people in their early and later years of life. I'm passionate about mixed-method research that informs applied prevention and intervention efforts, evidence-based practice, a person-centred bio-psycho-social approach to health care, and understanding what matters most to a person. My recent research has focused on the connection between mortality acceptance, death-coping, meaning-in-life and wellbeing.
I am a member of the Cluster for Resilience and Wellbeing (CReW) within the Appleton Institute, and a member of the Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying at Flinders University.
Background
Dr Lauren Miller-Lewis gained a PhD in health and developmental psychology in 2004 from Flinders University. She then completed a NHMRC Public Health (Australia) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Research and Evaluation Unit within the Discipline of Paediatrics in the School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health at the University of Adelaide and Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital, Women's and Children's Health Network. Her Fellowship involved coordinating a research program using a strengths-based perspective for predicting and promoting mental health resilience in early childhood. Lauren then expanded her focus in the later years of life and the end-of-life domain, working within the Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, and CareSearch Palliative Care Knowledge Network. In this role, she applied knowledge of resilience and psychosocial wellbeing factors to research and education in the field of palliative care, death and dying. Lauren has teaching and research experience in both the health and education sectors, and in facilitating online learning for health professionals and health care recipients. She joined CQUni as a Lecturer in Positive Psychology in April 2019.
Universities Studied At
Flinders University
Universities Worked At
Flinders University
University of Adelaide
Central Queensland University
Awards
- Palliative Care Australia 2017 National Award for Innovation in Palliative Care, for the CareSearch ‘Dying2Learn’ Massive Open Online Course
- National Health and Medical Council (NHMRC) Public Health (Australia) Postdoctoral Research Training Fellowship
- Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) PhD Scholarship (Flinders University)
Media Citations
- Building the future with healthy minds. The Advertiser. Feb 23, 2010.
- Supporting motivation in early learners. The Positive Times. Sept 11, 2015.
- Breaking the silence on death and dying. InDaily, June 7, 2016.
- Online course answers the questions you've been dying to ask. The Lead. June 9, 2016.
- A new CareSearch Hub focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Palliative Perspectives Blog. 14 June 2016.
- 'Passing away', 'kicking the bucket' and 'pushing up daisies': How we avoid talking about death. ABC News. May 23, 2017.
- Passed away, kicked the bucket, pushing up daisies – the many ways we don't talk about death. The Conversation. May 23, 2017.
- Does participating in an online course about death and dying make a difference? Palliative Perspectives Blog. 27 July 2017.
- Seven extraordinary performers in palliative care acknowledged with national awards. Palliative Matters. Sept 9, 2017.
- Good Life Good Death Expo - Interview With Lauren Miller-Lewis From Caresearch. Pop Up Radio. Oct 28, 2017.
- Death: there’s a lot of it about. Campus Morning Mail. March 14, 2018.
- Bringing conversations about death to life through online learning. Palliative Perspectives Blog. 8 Aug 2018.
- Death doulas can fill care gaps at the end of life. The Conversation. November 14, 2018.
- Death doulas can fill care gaps at the end of life. Medical Xpress. Nov 14, 2018.
- Death doulas can fill care gaps at the end of life. InDaily. 19 Dec 2018.
- Contemplating the last Christmas together. Palliative Perspectives Blog. 20 Dec 2018.
- What are death doulas and how can they help? Your Life Choices. Jan 29, 2019.
- CareSearch: ‘What palliative care information is most needed by patients, carers and families?’ Palliative Care NSW News. March 22, 2019.
- Considering the whole person. Health Matters: Health Consumers’ Council (WA) Inc. Magazine. April 2019.
- Is the ‘positive psychology of death’ an oxymoron? Research Notes: Palliative Care blog, Flinders University. 12 October 2020.
- How to talk about death and dying: Taking taboo from those dreaded conversations. Medical xpress. 6 Jan 2021.
- How to talk about death and dying. Science Codex. 6 Jan 2021.
- Talking about death and dying: A new online course breathes life into a taboo topic. Cosmos Magazine-The science of everything. 7 Jan 2021.
- How to talk about death, dying. Scimex: Breaking science news for Australia and New Zealand. 7 Jan 2021.
- Teaching people to think and talk about death in a more positive way could improve end-of-life health care, study claims. The Daily Mail UK. 8 Jan 2021.
- How to talk about death, dying. The Senior. 12 Jan 2021.
- How to talk about death and dying. Flinders Newsdesk. 12 Jan 2021.
- Word Sentiment Matters: How we describe our feelings about death. Research Notes: Palliative Care blog, Flinders University. 3 March 2021.
- Have the courage to discuss the ‘D’ word this National Palliative Care Week. CQUni News. 24 May 2021.
- Natural Death versus Known Date-of-Death. Research Notes: Palliative Care blog, Flinders University. 23 July 2021.
- COVID’s impact on funerals, memorials and bereavement. CQUni News. 16 Sept 2021.
Previous teaching
Prior to teaching in the online positive psychology program at CQUniversity, Lauren previously taught psychobehavioural clinical skills to medical students, and psychology and research methods to undergraduate and postgraduate allied-health students. She also designed and facilitated CareSearch's Massive Open Online Course, Dying2Learn, from 2016 to 2020.
Professional Memberships
- International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA)
- Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA)
- Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth (ARACY)
Accreditation
I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:
- 5203 Clinical and health psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 5205 Social and personality psychology
- 5299 Other psychology
- 4206 Public health
Current Capacity
Current Supervision
Public Health and Health Services - Aged Health Care
Palliative Care, Death and Dying; Health Promotion
Psychology - Developmental Psychology and Ageing
Meaning in Life; Resilience and Wellbeing across the life-span
Psychology - Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology
Positive Psychology, Resilience, Health Behaviour
