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 covers UK tuition fees for 3 years, a maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (£21,805 for 2026/27) and up to £8,000 to support research-related activities.

<p>This PhD will explore how stakeholders value technologies designed to reduce falls in residential social care settings. Falls are a major cause of morbidity, loss of independence, and healthcare utilisation among older adults living in care homes. Although falls prevention has been widely studied, comparatively little is known about how residents, care staff, providers, comissioners, and other stakeholders value different technologies and models of care. Understanding these 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. Preference evidence can also help developers, comissioners, and policymakers direct investment towards technologies that are acceptable, practical, or likely to be adopted in routine care.</p> <p>Using stated preference methods, such as a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), the project will investigate preferences for technologies and service models aimed at reducing falls in residential social care. There will be scope within the PhD to examine whether preferences differ according to characteristics such as deprivation, geography, cognitive impairment, or provider type, and to explore how preference evidence can inform commissioning and decision making within health and social care. The project will provide an opportunity to develop methodological expertise in applied health economics and 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 implemented in adult social care. SENSITISE aims to understand what people using services, care staff, providers, commissioners, and technology developers, value in social care technologies, and how these preferences can support better decisions about their development, adoption and use. This PhD will contribute to the wider programme by focusing specifically on falls prevention in 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, health inequalities, and quantitative research methods.</p> <p>The successful applicant will join the School of Medicine PhD programme and work closely with supervisors and researchers from 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 located within AUHE and become part of its active programme of research in health economics.</p> <p>The successful applicant will benefit from the wider research community within <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> and will become part of the NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR) doctoral network. This will provide opportunities to collaborate with other NIHR SSCR-funded researchers and engage with a national community of researchers focused on strengthening the evidence base for adult social care 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. He is a co-investigator on NIHR-funded projects and 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 a Professor of Health Economics and Director of the Academic Unit of Health Economics at the University of Leeds. He has extensive expertise in health technology assessment, decision modelling, and stated preference research. He 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. 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 SENSITISE 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 <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-applying/doc/applying-research-degrees">online application form</a> 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>

Applicants must be eligible for UK Home fee status. Applicants who are classified as Overseas fee payers are not eligible for this award.<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, or psychology). The successful candidate should also have: excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of people; and the ability to manage your workload independently, meet deadlines and demonstrate initiative. A postgraduate qualification (e.g. MSc) in a relevant subject (such as health economics, psychology, statistics, mathematics, operational research, epidemiology, social care) or another discipline with a significant quantitative component is desirable, but not essential. Knowledge of, or experience in, health economics, social care economics, social care, psychology, or quantitative and qualitative research methods is also desirable.

The minimum English language entry requirement for postgraduate research study in the Faculty of Medicine & Health for this award is an IELTS of 6.5 overall, with at least 6.0 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 Faculty of Medicine & Health, based in the School of Medicine. The award covers UK tuition fees for 3 years subject to satisfactory progress, a maintenance stipend at the UKRI rate (£21,805 for 2026/27) and up to £8,000 to support research-related activities. The award will initially be made for one year and is renewable for a further period of up to two years, subject to satisfactory academic progress.</p> <ul> <li>Applicants must not already hold or be currently studying for a doctoral degree.</li> <li>Awards must be taken up from 1^st February 2027.</li> <li>The successful applicant will be expected to live within reasonable travelling distance of the University of Leeds for the duration of the 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>