Understanding Ethnicity and Intersectional Inequities in Mental Health Talking Therapies Access Through Linked Data Analysis at King’s College London
Job Description
We’re pleased to invite prospective students to apply for an ESRC-funded London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training (LISS DTP) PhD scholarship based in the Department of Psychological Medicine, IOPPN, King’s College London, in partnership with The NHS Race and Health Observatory. This is a 3-year PhD starting in October 2024. This PhD opportunity focuses on ethnic inequalities in access/ outcomes of mental health care pathways in the UK. Prospective candidates should be conversant with quantitative statistical methods and be committed to tackling health inequalities.
PhD Supervisors: Dr Jayati Das-Munshi, Professor Laia Becares and Dr Rebecca Rhead.
Non-academic partner: The NHS Race and Health Observatory, Sam Rodger.
Background:
In the UK almost 20% of the population experience depression and anxiety, which can cause suffering for both the individuals and those who care for them. These mental health issues can make it difficult for people to function, leading to time off work, or in extreme cases, self-harm or suicide.
Therapies where people talk about their problems, called psychological therapies, can help with depression and anxiety. But in the UK, not everyone gets these therapies equally. Some people from ethnic minority backgrounds have a harder time accessing these therapies, as well as reporting worse experiences and outcomes. This might be even worse when aspects like age, gender, or religion are also considered. Until now, it hasn’t been clear why this happens.
PhD studentship:
You will be supported to use new data from mental health services in southeast London linked to data from the 2011 census. You will aim to understand why people from ethnic minority backgrounds, along with other factors like age, gender and religion, struggle to access therapies. The project will apply quantitative statistical methods, to understand the nature of ‘intersectional’ ethnic inequalities, impacting access and outcomes, of NHS talking therapies.
Internship:
During the studentship, you will have an exciting opportunity to undertake a placement with The NHS Race and Health Observatory (NHSRHO), a major UK organisation which aims to identify and tackle ethnic inequalities in health and enable long-term transformational change. Your placement may involve working with their team on policy, implementation, or research.
Essential criteria:
- This is a +3 studentship; you should have a MSc-level degree in a relevant subject (e.g. Epidemiology, quantitative social sciences, statistics, or equivalent). We’ll provide training in the application of advanced statistical methods (such as Latent Class Analysis or Multi-level modelling). You should be able to demonstrate competencies in statistics and be conversant with multivariable regression approaches, (e.g. logistic regression), and able to work in at least one of these: STATA, R, MPLUS.
- You should have a strong understanding of health inequalities, demonstrated through prior undergraduate/ postgraduate training or equivalent.
- You should be committed to involving people with lived experience of mental distress in the work.
- You will be expected to undertake accreditation with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) before accessing the data.
- You will be expected to work on-site (Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neurosciences) in our ‘secure lab’. Remote working is not possible.
Applicants from black and minority ethnic groups are very strongly encouraged to apply.
For further details on eligibility and how to apply:
‘The application form can be accessed’
Closing Date: 23.59 GMT on Monday 26th February 2024
Location of Job: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neurosciences, King’s College London, Denmark Hill campus, London.
