It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you of the death of our colleague and friend, (Professor Andy Alaszewski), who recently passed away. Andy died in William Harvey Hospital, Ashford on March 15th. It was peaceful and all the family were with him.
Professor Andy Alaszewski joined the University of Kent in 2001 as Professor of Health Studies and Director of the Centre for Health Services Studies. He retired following a serious illness in 2010. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate education at the University of Cambridge (1968-1976) with a BA in Social Anthropology and a PhD in Social and Political Sciences. After graduating, he worked at the University of Hull as a Research Fellow, then Lecturer and Senior Lecturer before becoming Director of the Institute of Health Studies and Professor of Health Studies in 1992.
As Director of research units at the University of Hull (IHS) (1992-2000) and at the University of Kent (CHSS) (2001-2010), was committed to developing research expertise both in higher education and in health care. Andy worked with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in 2007 to set up the Regional Research Design Services and was the first Director of the NIHR Regional Design Service for the South East which had an annual budget of nearly a million pounds.
With his background in anthropology, Andy developed qualitative methodologies that highlighted the key role that individuals play in making sense of the challenges of everyday life. He examined the ways in which diaries can be used to access illness narratives. He also developed his interest in diary research through a series of publications including a textbook in the SAGE methodology series (Using Diaries for Social Research, 2006) which has been translated into Japanese and Korean, the foundation entry on diaries in the SAGE Encyclopaedia of Research Methods and chapters in methodology textbooks on risk, health and religion. Andy specialised in the study of health, risk and society[2] and was the founding editor of the journal Health, Risk & Society in 1998.
Over his career, Andy developed research interests into different aspects of the relationship between health and society; the management of risk, personal experiences of illnesses and health and the ways in which health policy is formed and implemented. The Covid-19 pandemic provided Andy with an opportunity to bring together these interests to examine the interaction between scientific, policy and public responses to the coronavirus.
Andy’s leadership and research contribution has played a significant part in driving applied health research at Kent, laying the foundations for grant capture from NIHR in CHSS. Andy will be missed more than words can express.
Words by Ferhana Hashem