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Website dementiastudies Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester
Closing date: 31st August
University of Worcester offers a PhD exploring pain management for people with dementia in Extra Care Housing, addressing a key gap in research and care practice.
There is plenty of research and a large body of evidence that shows that, for older people living with dementia, pain assessment and management is suboptimal as compared to other older people with similar health conditions in hospitals, residential care, nursing care and in their own homes. However, there is no evidence relating to people living with dementia in Extra Care Housing (ECH).
If pain management is addressed in the right way in ECH then these residents are less likely to engage in activities and social interaction. Furthermore, the fact that ECH provides independent living may make pain assessment and management for residents living with dementia who require support with pain management more challenging and complicated.
This PhD project will build on a pilot survey of ECH schemes and care homes, conducted in 2022-2023 by the Housing and Dementia Research Consortium (HDRC)1, which found that pain support for people living with dementia in both settings is suboptimal, with a significant number of those dependent upon staff for pain management continuing to show or express pain. High numbers of ECH staff lacked in skills and confidence to support people living with dementia experiencing pain and there was little use of guidance or pain assessment tools. Suboptimal pain support for those living with dementia is unacceptable and all staff who are responsible for supporting the needs of a person with dementia need to be skilled within this area.
Aims and objectives
The main aim of this project is to compare pain assessment and management for residents living with dementia, who require support with pain management, with other residents (not living with dementia) in ECH. The objectives are to determine whether residents living with dementia in ECH settings are receiving suboptimal pain management compared to other residents with similar health conditions and compared to those living in care homes, the causes and impacts of this, staff needs and the challenges, successes and good practices.
Indicative research method
The successful PhD candidate will be responsible for formulating the detail of this project. However, it is anticipated that the study will adopt a qualitative approach involving selecting a small sample of extra care housing schemes and care homes as case studies sites, using interviews to understand pain assessment and management for residents living with dementia in more depth than was possible with the survey.
A project in this area will incur some additional costs that will be met by the student, for fieldwork and consultation with experts by experience. The exact costs will depend on the specific project and will be discussed both at interview and kept under review throughout the duration of the project.
Supervisory team
- Director of Studies: Dr Julie Barrett
- Supervisors: Dr Mary O’Malley
- Research Group: Association for Dementia Studies
Find out more here https://www.worc.ac.uk/documents/phd-projects-March-2025/ADS-Pain-Management-for-people-living-with-dementia-in-ECH.pdf
Application Process
To begin the application process please go to: https://www.worc.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/applying-for-a-phd/.
The Interview
All successful applicants will be offered an interview with the proposed Supervisory Team. You will be contacted by a member of the Doctoral School Team to find a suitable date. Interviews can be conducted in person or over Microsoft Teams.
Funding your PhD
For information about Doctoral Loans please visit: https://www.worc.ac.uk/study/feesand-finance/doctoral-loans.aspx
During your PhD you can access the Research Conference Support Scheme to support the costs of presenting your research at an external conference.
For further information or an informal discussion about this project, please contact Dr Julie Barrett: j.barrett@worc.ac.uk
To apply for this job please visit www.worc.ac.uk.
