JISCMail - CRIT-GEOG-FORUM Archives

CECHR is a new research centre established to provide focus for novel interdisciplinary research addressing environmental change, societal response and the promotion of sustainability. Central to CECHR’s building of research capacity is the funding of interdisciplinary PhD studentships. The details of one of the projects under the ‘Health and Environmental Change’ theme are below.

Climate Change and Respiratory Disease in the UK: Strengthening Self-Management and Building Resilience within Individuals and Healthcare Systems

Supervisors: Dr. Edward Hall (Geography) and Dr. Thilo Kroll (Nursing/Public Health)

Climate change and associated extreme weather events will have a considerable impact on morbidity and mortality within the UK population. In particular, people with common respiratory diseases such as asthma (74,000 emergency admissions in 2008) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 30,000 deaths a year), and the professionals and healthcare systems that care for them, will face new significant challenges in coping with more frequent incidences of poor air quality and heat waves. Applying a socio-ecological model of health to respiratory disease, the research will examine individual and health system scale understandings of, and responses to, extreme weather events. The research will identify factors that make individuals and systems resilient (understood as adaptable, with good outcomes, in adverse circumstances), and set out ways in which health professionals and healthcare organisations can boost resilience and self-management among its respiratory disease patient population, as well as build preparedness within its systems.

The research will include a systematic review of best practice in supporting self-management; interviews with key informants in UK healthcare organisations and other agencies; and three case-studies to examine individual and healthcare system factors in self-management and resilience in response to extreme weather events. The case-study sites will be selected to consider different air quality hazards for individuals with respiratory disease and at risk of related weather events. In each site, focus groups with individuals with respiratory disease, and roundtable discussion with key informants in local authority, healthcare organisations and health professionals, will be held.

How to Apply
Applications are welcome from students with backgrounds in geography, public health, sociology, and other relevant social and health sciences. Students should have at least an upper second class Undergraduate degree (or the equivalent) and an appropriate Masters degree. Funding is for three years, with an annual stipend of £14,200, plus fees.

If interested, please contact Dr. Edward Hall ([log in to unmask]) or Dr. Thilo Kroll ([log in to unmask]) by 5pm on Friday 14th May, attaching a CV (including details of 2 referees) and a letter setting out how you would address the PhD topic, drawing on the skills and experience that you have. Once confirmed the student will have to complete a University of Dundee application form, including two academic references, by Friday May 21st May. Interviews for those shortlisted will be held in the week beginning 7th June.