Carlo Leget

Carlo Leget (born 1964) is a full professor of care ethics at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, the Netherlands, a position he has held since 2012. He serves as chair of the care ethics department and is responsible for the Master in Care Ethics & Policy program. Leget is also the director of research at the university and a member of the Health Council of the Netherlands. Previously, he served as vice-president of the European Association for Palliative Care from 2012-2019 and co-founded the EAPC reference group on spirituality.

Leget has a background in theology, medical ethics and care ethics. His research focuses on the intersection of care, meaning and end of life issues. He developed the diamond model for existential care at the end of life in secularized societies, based on medieval art of dying traditions. This model has been widely adopted in the Netherlands and Belgium, integrated into medical monitoring systems for palliative patients, and is currently being validated across 7 European countries through the EU-project Raphael.

His research spans interdisciplinary collaborations across ethics, philosophy, medical science, nursing science, anthropology, psychology and theology. Current research centers around care ethics development combined with empirical studies on vulnerability across life stages, loss and grief, moral epistemology, and phenomenology. Leget has written three books and numerous scientific papers, some translated into German, Spanish and Portuguese.

Recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on palliative care ethics, existential dimensions of healthcare, and practical applications of care ethics frameworks across diverse healthcare settings including end-of-life care, dementia care, and pediatric palliative care. His work shows strong integration of theoretical care ethics with practical healthcare applications.

• Member of the Health Council of the Netherlands
• Former vice-president of the European Association for Palliative Care (2012-2019)
• Co-founder of the EAPC reference group on spirituality
• Director of the Center for Grief and Existential Values
• Committee member at 's Heeren Loo
• Advisory board member for 'Nu Niet Zwanger' at GGD GHOR Nederland

Leget supervises numerous research projects and has directed 25 supervised works. Current research projects include integrating palliative care approaches for heart failure patients, examining age limits in healthcare legislation, studying vulnerability in families with medically complex children, analyzing ethical dimensions of COVID-19 policy choices, and exploring autonomy in maternal-midwife relationships. He leads the EU-project Raphael which will validate his diamond model across 7 European countries starting in January 2024.

Leget directs research activities at the University of Humanistic Studies and leads the Center for Grief and Existential Values. His interdisciplinary teams include collaborators from medical science, nursing, theology, anthropology, and psychology, reflecting his commitment to cross-disciplinary approaches to care ethics and end-of-life issues.