3-year PhD Studentship in the Social Biobehavioural Research Group, Institute of Epidemiology and Healthcare at UCL

Key Skills

Behavioral science, Data Analysis, Design, US Healthcare Recruitment

Job Description

About the role

Background

Social prescribing is a mechanism of care used since the 1980s in the UK and was formally launched as a national programme by NHS England in 2018 to link patients with non-medical forms of support within the community. This process usually involves a health or social care professional referring a patient to a Social Prescriber, sometimes known as a Link Worker (LW), who develops a non-clinical plan that connects the patient with community organisations to improve health, wellbeing or other aspects of the patient’s life. Activities include the arts, cultural events, and other support services, such as physical activity, financial support, volunteering and befriending.

Recent reviews into the impact of social prescribing for loneliness suggests evidence of promise and that both patients and service providers believe it to be helpful (Bickerdike et al., 2017). However, these are limited to adult populations and studies often lacked control groups. When control groups are utilised, results suggest that social prescribing is beneficial. In one UK social prescribing service for individuals who were lonely, findings demonstrated that 37% of those who received social prescribing were classified as ‘not lonely’ at 3 month follow up, compared with 20% of those in the matched control group (Foster et al., 2021). There was also evidence to suggest that younger age groups benefitted more. Whilst the evidence for youth social prescribing is less developed, a recent review concluded that there was promise of the benefits of it for loneliness, but that methodological concerns, including a small number of participants, meant robust conclusions could not be drawn (Hayes, 2022). Accordingly, there is a critical need for robust research that can provide evidence into the effectiveness on youth social prescribing for those that report loneliness.

Social prescribing is supposed to be an ‘all age’ model, yet research suggests that uptake from YP remains lower than for adults. YP see the benefits of social prescribing, however, its dominant model in the UK, through family doctors, may be inhibiting youth involvement, as they do not feel comfortable accessing wellbeing support this way (Young Minds, 2021). Schools are well placed to deliver targeted interventions for loneliness, as they are viewed as a universal point of access for YP, offering an important opportunity to embed well-being initiatives (Aviles et al., 2006). They are an ideal place to set social prescribing and have started to be used as a venue to facilitate it. However, educational stakeholders have been underrepresented in social prescribing service development and more needs to be undertaken to ensure adequate information sharing between agencies, such as schools and LWs (Polley et al, 2023). To date, no studies have explored social prescribing in school settings. Thus, the aim of TaLoS is to develop and evaluate social prescribing pathways via schools for young people who are lonely.

TaLoS

TaLoS is national programme of work aiming to develop, and test, a social prescribing pathway in schools to tackle loneliness. Funded by the Kavli Trust, it is a collaboration between University College London, the University of Manchester, the National Academy for Social Prescribing and the Social Prescribing Youth Network.

About you

The PhD project

We are seeking a talented and enthusiastic student to contribute to this programme of work, contributing to the overall research design, engaging young people with social prescribing, as well as developing their own proposed doctoral studies to fit alongside TaLoS. For more information on the overall study design, please see the https://sbbresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PhD-Studentship-TaLoS-Key-Information-Document.pdf . There is flexibility in how the candidate wishes to do this. For example, the PhD could focus specifically on a specific population who will be captured as part of the larger programme of work (e.g. young people in schools who are from more socially deprived backgrounds). Or the PhD could focus on a particular outcome that may already be included within TaLoS or could be added in (e.g. exploring how social prescribing affects confidence in young people recruited into the study through quantitative data analysis). Or the PhD could explore additional mechanisms relating to social prescribing and/or loneliness (e.g. through conducting additional qualitative interviews). The PhD therefore provides an opportunity to pursue an individual interest while benefitting from the wider structure, resources and expertise of a large-scale trial.

Personal Specification

Applicants should have, or expect to receive an upper second-class Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree (or equivalent work experience) in a relevant discipline or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. The successful candidate will deliver social prescribing to young people as part of TaLoS (training will be provided). Experience in child or youth mental health or wellbeing research is desirable.

What we offer

Eligibility

This studentship covers the cost of tuition fees based on the UK (Home) rate. Non-UK students can apply but will have to personally fund the difference between the UK (Home) rate and the overseas rate where they are not eligible for UK fee status.

NB: You will be asked about your likely fee status at the interview so we would advise you to contact the UCL Graduate Admissions Office for advice should you be unsure whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria for Home fee status. Further information on Brexit and the definitions for fee status assessment can be found on the UCL website and also the UKCISA website (Higher Education: Definitions for fee status assessment).

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

How to Apply

Please do not click the 'Apply Now' button next to the advert. Applications on TalentLink will not be looked at.

Enquiries regarding the post should be made to Dr Daniel Hayes (d.hayes@ucl.ac.uk)

To apply, please send (i) a current CV including the contact details of two professional referees, (ii) a 1-sided A4 cover letter and (iii) a 3-page research proposal, detailing any background literature (no more than half a page) and planned studies, including methods and analysis, to Dr Daniel Hayes (d.hayes@ucl.ac.uk)