Life story interviewing near the end of life (online course)
This course provides an informal and practical introduction to oral history interviewing with people who may be living with a life-limiting illness. The training programme is accredited by National Life Stories at the British Library and the Oral History Society.
Oral history preserves voices, creates historical and family records, and can be cathartic for the teller. Recording memories near the end of someone’s life may also benefit the well-being of participants, friends and family.
The course covers the interview process, question techniques, sensitive and distressing interviewing, ethical and legal issues, equipment and archiving. There is also discussion of issues around working with oral history, life story and memory with people approaching end of life. The course is run by two trainers who have many years experience of working with oral history in palliative care settings.
Please note that due to the introductory nature of the course, there is some cross-over with the ‘Introduction to Oral History’ course, however it differs in its focus on issues specific to end of life interviewing.
Please note:
- There will be no refunds for cancelled places.
- Due to high demand and in order to ensure that each course has attendees with a variety of interests and backgrounds, a maximum of two people from any one institution may book to attend each course.
- There are two methods of payment. You can pay online via PayPal, debit or credit card or you can make an offline payment where an invoice will be sent to your organisation. Please select the appropriate option in the booking form.
- If you choose to pay by invoice please note that payments for training courses will be made to National Life Stories (NLS), and the invoice will be sent by email from NLS within a week of your booking. Contact the Training Coordinator if you require further details for your purchase order number.
- In booking this training course you agree to follow the OHS Code of Conduct.
Please contact the Training Coordinator if you would like to be notified of future dates.
Course schedule
This online training course is delivered over Zoom video call. Each course is run over two consecutive morning sessions, 9.30am – 1.15pm. The programme for the course is as follows (please note this is a sample structure and may differ on the day).
Timezone: London, UK.
Hourly Schedule
Day 1
- 09:30 - 09:45
- Welcome and introductions
- 09:45 - 10:45
- What is Oral History?
- Why offer oral history with people approaching the end of life? Benefits and challenges.
- 10:45 - 11:00
- Break
- 11:00 - 12:15
- Understanding memory. Interview practicalities. Arranging interviews, question approaches.
- 12:15 - 12:30
- Break
- 12:30 - 13:15
- Documentation, copyright, ethics, archiving
- Including summarising and transcription
Day 2
- 09:30 - 09:45
- Recap on session 1 and discussion
- 09:45 - 10:45
- Potential issues and challenges
- 10:45 - 11:00
- Break
- 11:00 - 11:30
- An introduction to choosing your recording equipment
- 11:30 - 12:15
- Practice interview and evaluation of practice interview.
- 12:15 - 12:30
- Break
- 12:30 - 13:00
- Potential issues and challenges revisited
- Ethical scenarios
- 13:00 - 13:15
- Review of the day, Q&A and feedback
- 09 - 10 Nov 2026
- 9:30 am - 1:15 pm
- Zoom call Time zone: London, United Kingdom GB
Organizer
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Camille Johnston
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Email
[email protected] Oral History Training Administrator
Speakers
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Julia LettsBL/OHS Trainer; OHS Regional AdviserMy current work revolves around training, interviewing, audio editing and creating podcasts, and managing oral history projects for the heritage, community and education sectors. This takes me all over the West Midlands and beyond where I advise and work with museums, galleries, schools, councils, community groups, arts organisations and wildlife charities. My career started as a BBC Radio Producer and branched into oral history after working as a producer on ‘The Century Speaks’ in 1999. I am an OHS accredited trainer and a key adviser on working with schools and young people. I co-produced the school resources on the OHS website and am a member of the Creative Special Interest Group. Do have a look at my website or give me a call.
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Michelle WinslowBL/OHS Trainer; OHS Regional AdviserMy roles within the OHS are Regional Network Adviser (South Yorkshire) and Accredited Trainer. I deliver courses in project management and palliative care as well as introductory and advanced courses. In my day job at the University of Sheffield I teach public health subjects and oral history in the School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery. I have worked on numerous oral history projects and specialise in palliative care and end-of-life. Since 2007 I’ve led an oral history project that offers people admitted to a Palliative Care Unit in Sheffield opportunities to create life history recordings for research and as personal and family records.
