Assoc Prof Moira O’Connor

Associate Professor O’Connor is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University. Associate Professor O’Connor’s programme of research is applied and community based with a focus on health and wellbeing and addresses psychological aspects of cancer and palliative care.

Moira has a particular interest in family carers, especially after bereavement, and has many publications on people’s experiences of grief and how health professionals support people who are bereaved. Moira’s current research projects address the experiences and needs of family members and family carers, patients, and health professionals working in the areas of palliative care and oncology. Moira uses several methodologies including qualitative research, Randomised Controlled Trials of interventions, and surveys. To date Associate Professor O’Connor has over seventy refereed papers and book chapters and has secured over $3,000,000 in external funding.

Associate Professor O’Connor has been a chief investigator on collaborative grants in the areas of carers’ support needs and support after bereavement, and is currently involved in teams looking at screening for complications of grief in palliative care family carers and interventions for people experiencing complications of grief. Many of these collaborative projects have been in response to identified needs and gaps in the community.