Rate My Professor Richard Egan

Associate Professor Richard Egan serves in Health Promotion in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Otago. He holds a BA (Hons), PhD, and DPH from the University of Otago, an MPhil from Massey University, and a DipTchg from Wellington. His academic background includes studies in theology, English literature, religious studies, and public health. Prior to his current role, Egan spent five years as a mental health promoter in a Public Health Unit and five years teaching secondary school. He is co-director of the Social and Behavioural Research Unit and was formerly director of the Cancer Society Research Collaboration. Egan has progressed from Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor at the University of Otago, contributing extensively to public health research.

Egan's research interests focus on health promotion, supportive care in cancer, aged health care, assisted dying, spirituality in health care, hospice and palliative care, and death and dying. He utilizes mixed methods research, with an emphasis on qualitative approaches. His PhD thesis explored spirituality in end-of-life care, while his Master's thesis addressed spirituality in New Zealand state schools. He has published over 65 peer-reviewed papers, with more than 1,400 citations and 90 research items documented. Key publications include 'How is the specialist-primary palliative care model functioning for cancer patients in the current New Zealand health system?' (2025, New Zealand Medical Journal), 'Is there a right time to die? How patients, families and assisted dying providers decide on and anticipate a date with death' (2024, Death Studies), 'Exploring the early experiences of assisted dying in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative study protocol' (2024), 'Survivorship care is one big gap: a qualitative study of post-treatment supportive care in Aotearoa New Zealand' (2023, BMC Health Services Research), and 'The people speak: social media on euthanasia/assisted dying' (2021). Egan received a Health Research Council grant for spiritual care in New Zealand healthcare. He has served as past-president of the New Zealand Public Health Association and past Vice-Chair of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand, and holds positions as Honorary Research Consultant for Meaningful Aging Australia and member of the Global Network for Spirituality and Health, while collaborating with Hospice New Zealand.