PhD Studentship: Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for older people living with heart failure and frailty (Dunhill Medical Trust Funded PhD)

Project Description :

The University of Exeter’s Medical School is inviting applications for a PhD studentship funded by Dunhill Medical Trust to commence on 1st May 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.  For eligible students the studentship will cover Home fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £19,237 for 3 years full-time. The student would be based in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the St Luke’s Campus in Exeter.

Frailty develops as we get older, and our bodies lose their resilience. People with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have breathlessness and fatigue even though their heart pumps blood well around the body. Half of older people with HFpEF are frail and this can mean difficulty doing everyday things and they are more likely to go into hospital when unwell. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a model of care that includes a multidimensional assessment, the development of a plan that addresses issues important to the person and their family, individually tailored interventions and a review of progress. CGA has been found to be beneficial for those living with frailty but has not been evaluated with those with HFpEF.

This PhD is part of a large randomised controlled trial called CHART, jointly led by Prof. Vicki Goodwin and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). CHART is looking to see if CGA helps older people with HFpEF and frailty improve their ability to do everyday activities. The successful studentship will be part of the Dunhill Medical Trust Doctoral Training Programme for Ageing Research, providing additional opportunities for training and development. The project also aligns with existing research with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (PenARC) and the Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary care (APEx).

The PhD aims to understand how CGA is understood, experienced and delivered to help improve independence in those with HFpEF and frailty. It will involve:

• observing staff training to see what and how they are taught.
• interviewing 25 staff about their thoughts and experiences of delivering CGA
• seeing how 20 staff deliver CGA to study participants by

o listening to recordings of contacts sessions

o reading written records

The studentship will be suitable for those with an interest in qualitative research methods, public engagement and applied health research.

The studentship will be awarded on the basis of merit. Students who pay international tuition fees are eligible to apply, but should note that the award will only provide payment for part of the international tuition fee (~£24k) and no stipend. International applicants need to be aware that they will have to cover the cost of their student visa, healthcare surcharge and other costs of moving to the UK to do a PhD. The conditions for eligibility of home fees status are complex and you will need to seek advice if you have moved to or from the UK (or Republic of Ireland) within the past 3 years or have applied for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. 

For further information and to apply, please visit the following website: 

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=5457

Advert information