Postgraduate research opportunities Dunhill Medical Trust Project 1: Person-centred Digital Support for Medicine Management for Older People with Sensory Impairment (OPwSI)
ApplyKey facts
- Opens: Monday 9 May 2022
- Deadline: Sunday 26 June 2022
- Number of places: 1
- Duration: 36 months
- Funding: Equipment costs, Home fee, Stipend, Travel costs
Overview
Blended Care models were being explored with varying success before the Covid19 pandemic. Many healthcare consultations moved online and/or via telephone. For OPwSI, technologies used for consultations need to be accessible, usable and flexible to suit a wide a range of needs.Eligibility
Candidates should have, or expect to achieve, a minimum 2.1 UK honours degree, or equivalent for degrees obtained outside the UK, in a relevant subject e.g. Candidates with a background in Health Services Research, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Psychology, are encouraged to apply. Others will be considered if additional experience is relevant) and/or relevant work experience either in the design of services or technologies or in the health and care sector (not limited to pharmacy context). Candidates should be highly motivated to undertake cutting edge research in this field.
Please note that the studentship covers UK fees only. While non-UK applicants can apply, they need to specify in their documentation how they will fund the difference between the home UK and international fee rates.

Project Details
This PhD in Computer Information Science will be co-supervised by Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS). It will involve a mixed methods study with OPwSI and how they currently access and experience consultations with their care givers e.g. pharmacists or general practitioners. In addition, it will include the co-design of technology solutions for better medicine management with and for older adults with sensory impairment. Enabling user centred approach will require design, development and evaluation of digital solutions for supporting medicine management at home. The aim is to identify future models of care involving technology that 'work' both for the delivery of care and for the citizen’s needs and lifestyle.
Year 1: Using a living lab and co-design methodology to involve and engage citizens from the outset to design, the research programme itself and to create digital (and other) stories to be used to derive user needs and requirements.
Year 2 will involve co-design of a range of technology prototypes to be road tested 'in the lab' and 'in the field' for accessibility and usability
Year 3 will involve combining human computer interaction paradigms with an implementation science framework. This will identify both existing and future barriers and opportunities for blended primary care consultations that are inclusive for OPwSI.
Further information
This is studentship is part of a cohort of four studentships called The Pansophy Cohort: Multidisciplinary solutions to age-related challenges of pharmaceutical care. The cohort is funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust.
Dunhill Medical Trust studentships:
- Dunhill Medical Trust Project 1: Person-centred Digital Support for Medicine Management for Older People with Sensory Impairment (OPwSI)
- Dunhill Medical Trust Project 2: Exploration of Place and the Built Environment: support for independent living for Older People with Sensory Impairment
- Dunhill Medical Trust Project 3: Eye Drop Design for Older People with Sensory Impairment
- Dunhill Medical Trust Project 4: The Pharmaceutical Care of Older People with Sensory Impairment (OPwSI)
These PhD studentships are part of a wider research programme, SIPA2 Project. A bespoke Patient and Public involvement (PPI) group will be created for the purpose of supporting and advising the PhD cohort throughout the three-year period. Funding is available to establish this group and included meeting attendance and preparation, travel and subsistence. Additional funding is available to support annual PPI engagement events in addition to the engagement that will be undertaken as empirical elements of the individual projects.
The University of Strathclyde has an Age-friendly Academy the members of which will be invited to contribute to the development of the PhD projects and to consider participation in the PPI group if relevant i.e. the group will comprise representatives of OPwSI.
The PhD students would be expected to join the Strathclyde Ageing Network.
Funding details
Each studentship is worth approximately £73,000 (including fees, stipends and support costs).
Funding towards:
- Support (travel, equipment, etc) costs £3,300/year
- Home fee £4,613/year
- Stipend £15,999/year (increasing annually)
While there is no funding in place for opportunities marked "unfunded", there are lots of different options to help you fund postgraduate research. Visit funding your postgraduate research for links to government grants, research councils funding and more, that could be available.
Apply
Interviews will take place week commencing 4 July 2022.
Number of places: 1
This is studentship is part of a cohort of four studentships called The Pansophy Cohort: Multidisciplinary solutions to age-related challenges of pharmaceutical care. The cohort is funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust.
Candidates will be reviewed by the academic team running the Scheme and ranked in terms of fit to the PhD.
To read how we process personal data, applicants can review our 'Privacy Notice for Student Applicants and Potential Applicants' on our Privacy notices' web page.