Anna Katharina Vokinger
Postdoc (Prof. Dr. Gisela Michel)
T +41 41 229 59 69 • Alpenquai 4, Room 6 • anna.vokinger@unilu.ch
CV
Anna Katharina Vokinger holds a Master of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Bern. For her master’s thesis, she analysed humanitarian actions in a Buddhist orphanage in Hanoi, Vietnam. During her master’s studies, she completed a course in palliative care by the Swiss Red Cross and has been volunteering in palliative companionship with the Red Cross Baselland since 2020. In January 2022, she started working part-time as a research assistant at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at the University of Lucerne. In October 2022, she started her PhD at the same faculty in the project: “Bereavement care for parents of childhood cancer patients”. Her research focuses on the needs and wishes of bereaved parents in the context of paediatric palliative care in oncology.
Publications
- Vokinger, A. K., & Michel, G. (2025). “You Can Rest Knowing That We Know What You Want” — Longitudinal Advance Care Planning Discussions With Young Adults Receiving Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Psycho-Oncology, 34 (6), e70189 ff. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17242116
- Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., Raguindin, P. F., Vokinger, A. K., De Clercq, E., Hendriks, M. J., Scheinemann, K., & Michel, G. (2025). Posttraumatic growth in parents long after their child’s death from cancer—a cross-sectional survey in Switzerland. Supportive Care in Cancer, 10 (33), 896 ff. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17406810
- De Clercq, E., Vokinger, A. K., Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., & Michel, G. (2025). Cooling facilities in paediatric palliative care: a ritual form of mourning? A scoping literature review. Mortality, 30 (3), 818–836. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13303662
- Raguindin, P. F., Deda, J., Vokinger, A. K., De Clercq, E., Scheinemann, K., Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., & Michel, G. (2025). Exploring the Association of Time‐After‐Death on Psychological Distress in Parents Who Lost a Child to Cancer: BRIEF REPORT. Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 72 (12), e32060 ff. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17341843
- Michel, G., De Clercq, E., Vokinger, A. K., Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., Bolliger, C., Scheinemann, K., & Raguindin, P. F. (2025). Resilience among parents whose child died of cancer – investigating its role on psychological distress and prolonged grief disorder: results from a cross-sectional survey in Switzerland. BMC Palliative Care, 24 (1), 218 ff. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16949457
- Vokinger, A. K., Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., Scheinemann, K., Michel, G., & De Clercq, E. (2025). Support Experiences and Wishes of Bereaved Parents After the Loss of Their Child to Cancer. Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 72 (1), 31426 ff. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14268540
- Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., Vokinger, A. K., Cleves, D., Michel, G., Baker, J., Garcia-Quintero, X., & McNeil, M. (2024). Grief and Bereavement Support for Parents in Low- or Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 67 (5), 453–471. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11355760
- Vokinger, A. K., Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., Raguindin, P. F., De Clercq, E., & Michel, G. (2024). Kinderkrebs: Trauernde Eltern. cogito – Das Wissensmagazin der Universität Luzern, 13, 18–19.
- Vokinger, A. K., Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., De Clercq, E., Tinner, M., Bergsträsser, E., & Michel, G. (2023). Leben mit Verlust: Trauerbegleitung nach dem Tod eines Kindes an Krebs - Angebotene Trauerbegleitung, Coping-Strategien und Bedürfnisse von Eltern. palliative.ch, (2), 12–18. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10513907
- Pedraza Salcedo, E. C., Raguindin, P. F., Hendriks, M. J., Vokinger, A. K., De Clercq, E., Rüesch, K., … Michel, G. (2023). Palliative care services in paediatric oncology centres across Europe: A cross-sectional survey. EJC Paediatric Oncology, 2, 100125 ff. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10401670
- Holmer, P., Bolliger, C., Vokinger, A. K., Dyntar, D., & Michel, G. (2023). Screening for mental health problems in childhood cancer survivorship: a systematic review. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology Research and Practice, 3. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/jporp/Fulltext/2023/07000/Screening_for_mental_health_problems_in_childhood.2.aspx
Achievements
- Having Your Voice Heard – Qualitative Study of the Impact of Advance Care Planning for Young Adults Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Poster, 57th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), International Society of Paediatric Cancer (SIOP), Amsterdam, 2025
- Newfound kindness and feelings of failure. Fathers’ experiences after losing their child to cancer. Poster, 22nd Annual APOS Conference, American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2025
- When the death of a child is not the end. Bereaved parents’ religious beliefs and understandings of faith. Poster, 22nd Annual APOS Conference, American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2025
- “It’s hard but important to talk about”. The impact of advance care planning conversations with young adults (YAs) undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. E-Poster, 22nd Annual APOS Conference, American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2025
- Living with grief. Formal and informal support received and wished for by bereaved parents following the death of their child from cancer. Poster, 56th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), International Society of Paediatric Cancer (SIOP), Honolulu, Hawai'i, 2024
- FEEL. Fathers’ expressed experiences and wishes for support in life after loss. Poster, 56th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), International Society of Paediatric Cancer (SIOP), Honolulu, Hawai'i, 2024
- Experienced and wished for support of bereaved parents following the death of their child to cancer. Poster, SPOG SSPHO Scientific Meeting, Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group (SPOG); Swiss Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (SSPHO), Inselspital, Bern, 2024
- Post-traumatic growth in parents who have lost a child to cancer- Results from a multi-centre survey in Switzerland. Poster, SPOG SSPHO Scientific Meeting, Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group (SPOG), Bern, 2024
- Grief and Bereavement Support for Parents after the Death of a Child in Low- or Middle-Income Countries: a Systematic Review. Lecture, Research Symposium Health Lucerne, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, 2024
- "POSITIVE CHANGES" - Post-traumatic growth in parents who lost a child to cancer: A multicentre survey in Switzerland. Poster, 6th Maruzza International Congress of Paediatric Palliative Care, Maruzza Foundation, Rome, 2024
- To live with loss: bereavement care for parents who lost a child to cancer. Lecture, Nationaler Palliative Care Kongress, palliative.ch, Biel, 2023
- Beyond the illness: exploring the multifaceted needs of bereaved parents following the death of their child to cancer. Lecture, IPOS World Congress, IPOS, Milano, 2023
- Screening for mental health problems in childhood cancer survivorship: A systematic review. Lecture, Research Symposium Health Lucerne, Universität Luzern, Luzern, 2023
- Paediatric Palliative Oncology Across Europe: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Lecture, Research Symposium Health Lucerne, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland, 2023
- Screening for mental health problems in childhood cancer survivorship: A systematic review. Poster, 54th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), International Society of Paediatric Cancer (SIOP), Barcelona, 2022
- Longitudinal Early Advance Care Planning Discussions and Documentation Program: An Exploratory Study in Adolescents and Young Adults Receiving HSCT (AYA-LEADD). Lecture, The Pain and Palliative Care Service (PPCS) Meeting, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, 2025
- Longitudinal Early Advance Care Planning Discussions and Documentations (LEADD) Study Preliminary Outcomes. Lecture, Blood and Inherited Disease Transplant & Cellular Therapy Service (BID-TCT) Meeting, National Cancer Institute (NIH), Pediatric Oncology Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, 2025
- Longitudinal Early Advance Care Planning Discussions and Documentation Program: An Exploratory Study in Adolescents and Young Adults Receiving HSCT (AYA-LEADD). Lecture, Science Friday, National Cancer Institute (NIH), Pediatric Oncology Branch, Bethesda, Maryland, 2024
- Referat: Ergebnisse einer Befragung zum Thema «Leben im Alter» unter den Studierenden der Universität Luzern. Diskussionsbeitrag: Wie stellt sich die jüngere Generation das Alter(n) vor? Referat und Diskussionsbeitrag, 19. Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern, Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern, Luzern, 2024
- Together for Short Lives, Associate member, United Kingdom, 2023–
- Paediatric Palliative Care Network CH, Member, Switzerland, 2023–
- palliative.ch, Member, Switzerland, 2022–
- ICPCN - International Children’s Palliative Care Network, Member, United Kingdom, 2022–
- International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), Young SIOP, Switzerland, 2024–2025
