Daina Stanley, PhD Candidate, McMaster University

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Medical Anthropology at McMaster University. My PhD research, entitled “Living and Dying With Dignity: An Ethnographic Study of Aging, End of Life and Palliative Care in Prison,” is rooted in my commitment to the health and well-being of incarcerated communities and community-centered praxis.  My current research is a community-engaged ethnographic study that explores the living and dying experiences of incarcerated men and women, as well as the experiences of prisoners engaged in hospice as volunteer providers of care in U.S. state prisons.  My research also examines community-based palliative and hospice care models and programs in prisons across the United States.  I will use my findings to suggest meaningful models of community-based end-of-life care in correctional settings that include prisoners in the process.   I hold an M.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Anthropology and Criminology from the University of Ottawa.