Hanne Bakelants

(she/her)

BACKGROUND

Hanne Bakelants obtained her PhD in Social Health Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in 2024. Her doctoral research focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of VUB as a Compassionate University. Through action research and developmental evaluation, she mapped the processes and underlying mechanisms of change, as well as the barriers and opportunities influencing the development of Compassionate Communities.

 

As a postdoctoral researcher, Hanne is involved in the EU-Cowork project, which focuses on developing compassionate workplaces around serious illness, grief, loss, and caregiving. The project emphasizes a co-creative process in collaboration with the participating workplaces.

 

Hanne is also affiliated with COCO, an interdisciplinary research consortium of eight research groups that, through research and knowledge exchange, aims to build a more compassionate society in which communities have the capacity and knowledge to care for their members in times of serious illness, dying, death, and loss. In addition, she is a member of the End-of-Life Care Research Group of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Ghent University.

 

Before starting her PhD, Hanne obtained a Master’s degree in Educational Sciences from KU Leuven (2019) and a Master’s degree in Globalisation and Development Studies from Maastricht University (2020).

KEY PUBLICATIONS

  • Bakelants, H. et. al. (2025). The role of a death and grief festival in cultivating awareness of serious illness, death, and bereavement at university: A qualitative study of students’ and staff’s motivations and experiences with Compassionate Week activities. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 19, 26323524251336766

  • Bakelants H. (2024). Navigating serious illness, death, and bereavement in higher education: insights from the compassionate university program at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). PhD-dissertation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. (promotoren: Sarah Dury, Joachim Cohen en Filip Van Droogenbroeck).

  • Bakelants, H. et al. (2024). Mapping the ripple effects of a compassionate university for serious illness, death, and bereavement. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 18, 26323524241272110.

  • Bakelants, H. et al. (2024). Developing a compassionate university: Insights from a longitudinal process evaluation. Death Studies, 1-13.

  • Bakelants, H., Van Droogenbroeck, F., Chambaere, K., Vanderstichelen, S., De Donder, L., Deliens, L., De Gieter, S., De Moortel, D., Cohen, J., & Dury, S. (2024). A compassionate university for serious illness, death, and bereavement: Qualitative study of student and staff experiences and support needs. Death Studies, 48(5), 442-453.
  • Bakelants H, Vanderstichelen S, Chambaere K, et al. (2022) Researching Compassionate Communities: Identifying theoretical frameworks to evaluate the complex processes behind public health palliative care initiatives. Palliative Medicine.37(2), 291-301. 
  • Vanderstichelen, D., Dury, S., De Gieter, S., Van Droogenbroeck, F., De Moortel, D., Van Hove, L., Rodeyns, J., Aernouts, N., Bakelants, H., Cohen, J., Chambaere, K., Spruyt, B., Zohar, G., Deliens, L., De Donder, L. (2022). Researching compassionate communities from an interdisciplinary perspective: the case of the Compassionate Communities Centre of Expertise (COCO). The Gerontologist. 

 

For a full overview: Pure Databank 

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4509-7649 

RESEARCH EXPERTISE

  • Compassionate Communities 
  • Compassionate University 
  • Community development 
  • Serious illness, death, dying and loss 
  • Process evaluation, Implementation Science, Action Research, Developmental Evaluation 

GET IN TOUCH

Email: hanne.eline.bakelants@vub.be 

Telephone: +32 474 50 90 53