Oindrila Dutta

Dr Oindrila Dutta BA, MA, PhD

Assistant Professor / Lecturer in Psychology

Dr Oindrila Dutta is an Assistant Professor/ Lecturer at the University of Greenwich since 2022. Her PhD, completed in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2020, employed a mixed-methods approach to systematically understand the lived experience of parents of children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and developed an online narrative intervention titled NeW-I (Narrative e-Writing Intervention) to support their quality of life, enhance their sense of well-being and reduce caregiver burden. Her PhD was preceded by a Masters in Counselling and Guidance at the National Institute of Education, Singapore in 2016, and a Bachelors in Psychology from St. Xaviers’ College, Mumbai, India in 2014. She is also a certified Thanatologist by the Association for Death Education and Counselling (ADEC).

Dr Dutta has published research on improving psycho-emotional well-being of patients and families facing illness, disability, end-of-life and mortality, as well as enhancing dignity in end-of-life care, the role of patients’ autonomy and decision-making in end-of-life care and the importance of compassion within the realm of grief and loss. To carry out studies to this end, she has secured funding in the capacity of a Co-Investigator from national funding bodies such as the Temasek Foundation Innovates’ Singapore Millennium Foundation Grant and the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Grant. Dr Dutta also spent a brief period coordinating the operational, administrative, management and financial activities of the largest European Commission funded health research grant to ever be led by an Irish university - SHAPES (Smart and Health Ageing through People Engaging in Supportive Systems) - a project valued at €21 million and comprising a consortium of 36 partners across 14 European countries.

In recognition of her work, Dr Dutta has received numerous commendations including the Edie Stark-Shirley Scott Early Career Award (2022) and the Best Cross-Cultural Student Paper Award (2019) by the Association for Death Education and Counselling (ADEC), a Special Mention for the Graduate College Research Excellence Award by Nanyang Technological University (2021), the Dean’s Commendation for Research by the National Institute of Education, Singapore (2017) - to name a few. Dr Dutta’s research has also featured in the media (including Temasek Foundation, Singapore’s Annual Report and Our Better World Singapore’s website) for its novelty and relevance to local contexts.

Posts held previously:

  • Mar 2022 - Nov 2022:
    European Union (EU) Research Project Manager - National University of Ireland Maynooth, Ireland
  • Feb 2021 - Mar 2022:
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Psychology

Responsibilities within the university
  • Tutor for Psychology and Graduate Career Development (Level 6)
  • Module lead for The Psychology of Resilience and Success (Level 4)
  • Tutor for Current Issues in Psychology (Level 3)

Awards
  • 2022: Edie Stark-Shirley Scott Early Career Award - Association for Death Education and Counselling (ADEC), USA
  • 2021: Highly Commendable Abstract - 14th Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Conference (APHC), Japan
  • 2021: Special Mention for the Graduate College Research Excellence Award - Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • 2019: Dr. Hannelore Wass Best Cross-Cultural Student Paper Award - Association for Death Education and Counselling (ADEC), USA
  • 2019: Certificate of Research Excellence and Commendation in Postgraduate Category - Singapore Psychological Society Student Research Awards, Singapore
  • 2017: Dean’s Commendation for Research - National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Recognition
  • 2017 – Present: Reviewer for the following journals - Proceedings of Singapore Healthcare, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Qualitative Health Research, Death Studies

Research / Scholarly interests
  • Death, dying, grief and bereavement
  • Post-trauma resilience building
  • Intervention development, implementation and evaluation
  • Qualitative action-oriented research

Key funded projects

  • 2018 – 2021
    Role: Co-Investigator
    Title: Development and Evaluation of a novel Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for Parents of Children with Life-Limiting Illness: A Mixed Methods Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) for Advancing Holistic Paediatric Palliative Care and Parental Bereavement Support
    Funder: Temasek Foundation Innovates’ Singapore Millennium Foundation Grant
  • 2017 – 2019
    Role: Co-Investigator
    Title: A Qualitative Study on the Lived Experience of Bereaved Parents of Young Children with life-limiting illness: Advancing Parental Bereavement Support in Singapore
    Funder: Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 Grant

Recent publications
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
  • Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Low XC, et al. (2022) Acceptability and feasibility of a pilot randomized controlled trial of Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for parent-caregivers of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore. BMC palliative care 21(1): 59. DOI: 10.1186/s12904-022-00945-0
  • Lall P, Kang N, Tan WS, et al. (2020) Competing expectations: Advance care planning from the perspectives of doctors and nurses in the South-East Asian context. Death studies: 1–12. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2020.1848943
  • Ho AHY, Lall P, Tan WS, et al. (2020) Sustainable implementation of advance care planning in Asia: An interpretive-systemic framework for national development. Palliative & Supportive Care: 1–11. DOI: 10.1017/S1478951520000590
  • Ho AHY, Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, et al. (2020) A Novel Narrative E-Writing Intervention for Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses: Protocol for a Pilot, Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR research protocols 9(8): e22286. DOI: 10.2196/22286
  • Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Choo PY, et al. (2020) Trauma to Transformation: the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore. BMC palliative care 19(1): 46. DOI: 10.1186/s12904-020-00555-8
  • Dutta O, Lall P, Patinadan PV, et al. (2019) Patient autonomy and participation in end-of-life decision-making: An interpretive-systemic focus group study on perspectives of Asian healthcare professionals. Palliative and Supportive Care: 1–6. DOI: 10.1017/S1478951519000865
  • Ho AHY, Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, et al. (2019) Thematic analysis of spousal interaction patterns among Asian parents of children with chronic life-threatening illness. BMJ open 9(11). British Medical Journal Publishing Group. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032582
  • Choo PY, Tan-Ho G, Dutta O, et al. (2019) Reciprocal Dynamics of Dignity in End-of-Life Care: A Multiperspective Systematic Review of Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research. The American journal of hospice & palliative care. SAGE Publications Inc. DOI: 10.1177/1049909119878860
  • Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Choo PY, et al. (2019) Lived experience of a child’s chronic illness and death: A qualitative systematic review of the parental bereavement trajectory. Death studies 43(9). Taylor & Francis: 547–561. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2018.1503621
  • Dutta O and Chye SYL (2017) Internet Use and Psychological Wellbeing: A Study of International Students in Singapore. McGill journal of medicine: MJM: an international forum for the advancement of medical sciences by students 7(3). books.google.com: 826–840. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.570036
BOOK CHAPTERS:
  • Dutta O, Patinadan PV and Ho AHY (2022) A Review and Synthesis of Current Research in Compassion, Loss, and Grief. Compassion-Based Approaches in Loss and Grief. Routledge: 37–57
  • Ho AHY, Dutta O, Patinadan PV, et al. (2020) Supporting and coping with bereavement during and post-pandemic. How to Prepare for The Next Pandemic: Behavioural Sciences Insights for Practitioners and Policymakers: 113–126

Presentations
  • Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Low XC, et al. (17-18 September 2021) An Action Research Study for Developing and Piloting an Anticipatory Grief Intervention for Parent-Caregivers of Children Living with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses in Singapore. In: SingHealth Duke-NUS Scientific Congress 2021, Singapore, 17-18 September 2021
  • Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Low XC, et al. (13-14 November 2021) An Action Research Approach for the Development and Pilot Evaluation of an Anticipatory Grief Intervention for Parent-Caregivers of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses in Singapore. In: 14th Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Conference, Online Conference: Kyoto, Japan, 13-14 November 2021
  • Dutta O, Low XC, Tan-Ho G, et al. (6-10 April 2021) Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for Asian Parents facing their Child’s Chronic Life-Threatening Illness: Rationale and Preliminary Evaluation of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. In: Association for Death Education and Counselling 42nd Annual Conference, Online Conference: Houston, TX., USA, 6-10 April 2021
  • Dutta O, Low XC, Tan-Ho G, et al. (1-4 August 2019) Narrative e-Writing Intervention for Asian Parents of Children with Chronic Life-Threatening Illness. In: 13th Asia Pacific Hospice and Palliative Care Conference, Surabaya, Indonesia, 1-4 August 2019
  • Choo PY, Tan-Ho G, Dutta O, et al. (1-4 August 2019) Reciprocal Dynamics of Dignity in End-Of-Life Care: A Multi-Perspective Qualitative Systematic Review. In: 13th Asia Pacific Hospice and Palliative Care Conference, Surabaya, Indonesia, 1-4 August 2019
  • Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Choo PY, et al. (11-13 April 2019) Asian experience of Child Loss to Chronic Life-Threatening Illness. In: Association for Death Education and Counselling 41st Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 11-13 April 2019
  • Choo PY, Ho AHY, Tan-Ho G, et al. (11-13 April 2019) Dynamic Reciprocity of Dignity in Palliative End-of-Life Care. In: Association for Death Education and Counselling 41st Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 11-13 April 2019
  • Ho AHY, Tan-Ho G, Choo PY, et al. (April 25 - 28, 2018) Parental Bereavement Experience of Child Loss: A Systematic Review. In: Association for Death Education and Counselling 40th Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, April 25 - 28, 2018
  • Ho AHY, Tan-Ho G, Choo PY, et al. (23-29 June 2018) Parental Bereavement Experience of Child Loss: A Qualitative Systematic Review. In: The 30th Meeting of International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement, London, ON, Canada, 23-29 June 2018. The International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement