Peter Kevern

My academic background is in Philosophical Theology and Religious Studies, and I came to Staffordshire University in 2010 after a career training Christian Ministers for the Anglican and Methodist Churches. I became involved in research and teaching in Health Sciences when, as a result of my own mother’s dementia, I started thinking and writing about the philosophical and religious issues raised as her condition progressed.

As well as continuing to work on the relationship between religion and dementia, I am now working on a range of projects which concern human spirituality, the interface between religion and health, ageing and/or death. I am particularly interested in the potential role of religious communities in helping to deliver public health gains.

More generally, I believe that a concern for ‘wellbeing’ requires us to wrestle with questions about meaning, value, identity and belonging as well as being concerned for physical health. I am passionate about bringing together statutory providers, businesses, third sector organisations, and religious and faith communities to work together on shared goals. Therefore, in addition to my university duties, I seek to develop links with a wide range of potential collaborators in the UK and internationally in order to build a richer discourse on health and wellbeing.

Expertise:
Religious communities and their role in health promotion
Spiritual care and spiritual assessment, particularly in relation to End of Life Care
Ageing and religion
Dementia studies
Cognitive psychology of religious coping
Evolutionary psychology of religion