Patient and Provider Preferences for Falls Prevention Technologies in Residential Social Care settings

A full-time PhD scholarship is available in the School of Medicine in 2026/27. The scholarship is open to UK applicants and cover fees plus stipend at current UKRI rates (£20,780 in 2025/26) and funds to support research activities up to £8,000. Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Social Care Research (SSCR) the scholarship is eligible to draw on other NIHR support.

<p>This PhD will explore how technologies aimed at reducing falls in residential care settings are valued by different stakeholders. Falls are a major cause of morbidity, loss of independence, and healthcare utilisation among older adults living in care homes. While falls prevention in residential care settings has been widely studied, there is comparatively limited evidence on stakeholder views regarding different falls prevention technologies and models of care, particularly across health and social care contexts.  Understanding stakeholder preferences is important because technologies developed without consideration of user and provider priorities may fail to meet real-world needs, resulting in poor uptake, inappropriate implementation, and limited impact. Ignoring preferences may also lead to weak demand signalling for developers and policymakers, increasing the risk that resources are invested in technologies that are unacceptable, impractical, or unlikely to be adopted in routine care. Using stated preference methods, such as a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), the project will examine attitudes towards approaches designed to reduce falls risk in residential care homes.</p> <p>There is scope within the PhD to investigate whether preferences vary according to factors such as deprivation, geography, cognitive impairment, or provider characteristics, and to explore how preference evidence could be incorporated into decision making within health and social care systems. The project may also provide opportunities to develop methodological expertise in conducting stated preference research with older adults and people living with cognitive impairment or dementia.</p> <p>The studentship will be linked to the SENSITISE project at the University of Leeds, an NIHR-funded programme examining how technologies are designed, commissioned, and used in adult social care. SENSITISE aims to understand what different groups, including people using services, care staff, providers, commissioners, and technology developers, value in social care technologies, and how these preferences can support better decision making. The PhD will contribute to this wider programme of work by focusing specifically on falls prevention in care homes and residential social care settings.</p> <p>This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate wishing to undertake a PhD in health economics and social care research, particularly those with interests in ageing, dementia, inequalities, and quantitative methods.</p> <p>The successful applicant will join the School of Medicine PhD programme and work closely with supervisors and colleagues across both the School of Healthcare and the Academic Unit of Health Economics (AUHE) within the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS). The PhD is jointly held between the two Schools within the Faculty of Medicine and Health and will provide an interdisciplinary training environment spanning health economics, social care research, and applied quantitative methods. Although administratively based within the School of Medicine, the student will be primarily based within AUHE and integrated into its active programme of research in health economics and preference elicitation methods.</p> <p>The successful applicant will benefit from the support of the community of researchers at <a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/homepage/146/leeds_institute_of_health_science">LIHS</a> and the <a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/healthcare">School of Healthcare</a> at the University of Leeds.  They will also become part of a wider NIHR SSCR doctoral community and will have opportunities to engage with other NIHR SSCR-funded PhD students and researchers across the UK. The School of Healthcare is a member of the <a href="https://sscr.nihr.ac.uk/">NIHR School for Social Care Research</a> (NIHR SSCR), which is funded by the <a href="https://www.nihr.ac.uk/">National Institute for Health and Care Research</a> to develop the evidence base for adult social care practice in England.</p> <h5>Environment:</h5> <p>During this PhD studentship, you will be supported by a multidisciplinary supervisory team with expertise spanning health economics and social care:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/staff/655/dr-john-o-dwyer?_gl=1*wy015l*_gcl_au*MTk2ODM3MjU1Ny4xNzc3NTQyOTI2*_ga*MTM1NjA2NzUzMS4xNzU3NTkxODMw*_ga_SEKE21EBEQ*czE3Nzk0NDI4MjAkbzE0OSRnMSR0MTc3OTQ0MzE5OCRqNTMkbDAkaDU5MzU0MjcyNw.."><strong>John O’Dwyer</strong></a> is Senior Research Fellow in Health Economics in AUHE. His research focuses on economic evaluation, stated preference methods, quality of life measurement, and social care research, and he is a co-investigator on NIHR-funded projects including SENSITISE; he also serves on the NIHR Research Programme for Social Care (RPSC) Funding Committee.</li> <li><a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/staff/598/dr-david-meads?_gl=1*o1x1ey*_gcl_au*MTk2ODM3MjU1Ny4xNzc3NTQyOTI2*_ga*MTM1NjA2NzUzMS4xNzU3NTkxODMw*_ga_SEKE21EBEQ*czE3Nzk0NDI4MjAkbzE0OSRnMSR0MTc3OTQ0MzIxNiRqMzUkbDAkaDU5MzU0MjcyNw.."><strong>David Meads</strong></a> is Director of the Academic Unit of Health Economics and Professor of Health Economics, University of Leeds. He has extensive expertise in health technology assessment, decision modelling, and stated preference research, is a co-investigator on the SENSITISE project, co-leads the early economic evaluation theme of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre, and serves on a NICE Technology Appraisal Committee.</li> <li><a href="https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/healthcare/staff/816/professor-carl-thompson?_gl=1*1j1qah2*_gcl_au*MTk2ODM3MjU1Ny4xNzc3NTQyOTI2*_ga*MTM1NjA2NzUzMS4xNzU3NTkxODMw*_ga_SEKE21EBEQ*czE3Nzk0NDI4MjAkbzE0OSRnMSR0MTc3OTQ0MzIzMyRqMTgkbDAkaDU5MzU0MjcyNw.."><strong>Carl Thompson</strong></a> is Professor of Applied Health and Social Care Research and Dame Kathleen Raven Chair in Clinical Research at the University of Leeds, where his research focuses on how evidence, data, and technology can improve decision making and quality of care in health and social care, particularly for older people and care home settings. He leads and contributes to major NIHR-funded programmes, including the SENSITISE project on stakeholder preferences for social care technologies, and has extensive expertise in digital innovation, implementation science, and applied social care research.</li> </ul>

<p>To apply for this scholarship opportunity applicants should complete an online application form and attach the following documentation to support their application. </p> <ul> <li>a statement (maximum two pages) outlining your interest in the project, relevant experience and skills, and how undertaking this PhD would contribute to your future career goals</li> <li>a full academic CV</li> <li>degree certificate and transcripts of marks</li> <li>Evidence that you meet the University's minimum English language requirements (if applicable)</li> </ul> <p>To help us identify that you are applying for this scholarship project please ensure you provide the following information on your application form;</p> <ul> <li>Select PhD in Medicine as your programme of study</li> <li>Give the full project title and name the supervisors listed in this advert</li> <li>For source of funding please state you are applying for a <strong>NIHR SSCR Scholarship</strong></li> </ul>

This award is only available to applicants who are eligible to pay fees at the UK Home fee rate. Applications from Overseas fee-rated applicants will not be considered.<br /> Applicants to this scholarship in the School of Medicine should normally have an Undergraduate degree of 2:1 or above (or international equivalent) in a subject with a significant quantitative component (e.g. economics, statistics, mathematics, operational research, epidemiology). The successful candidate should also have: the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of people; excellent oral and written communication skills; and the ability to manage workload independently, meet deadlines and show initiative. A Master’s degree in a relevant subject (health economics, psychology, statistics, mathematics, operational research, epidemiology, social care or other subject with a significant quantitative element) is desirable, but not essential. Knowledge of or experience of health economics, social care economics, social care, psychology, quantitative and qualitative research methods is also desirable.

The minimum English language entry requirement for postgraduate research study in the School of Healthcare for this award is an IELTS of 7.0 overall, with at least 6.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid.

<p>We are offering a full-time PhD scholarship in the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences for one UK candidate, covering UK tuition fees for 3 years subject to satisfactory progress, matching UKRI maintenance stipend (currently £20,780 in 2025/26) and funds to support research activities up to £8,000. The award will be made for one year in the first instance and renewable for a further period of up to two years, subject to satisfactory academic progress.</p> <ul> <li>Applicants must not have already been awarded or be currently studying for a doctoral degree.</li> <li>We are aiming for an October 2026 start date for the successful awardee.</li> <li>Applicants must live within a reasonable distance of the University of Leeds whilst in receipt of this scholarship.</li> </ul>

<p>For further information about the admissions process, please contact the Faculty Admissions Team.</p> <p>e: <a href="mailto:fmhpgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk">fmhpgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk</a></p>