King's College London

The ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health are pleased to announce three new ESRC LISS-DTP CASE studentships, starting from October 2024.

Read more about the projects and see application details below.

Placemaking and mental health in refugee camps: An ethnography of asylum seekers’ lived experiences in the UK

Supervisors: Dr Francesca Meloni and Professor Hanna Kienzler
Non-academic partner: Helen Bamber Foundation, Professor Cornelius Katona
Start date: 1 October 2024
Length: 3 years

Project overview

This study examines the role and importance of placemaking for asylum seekers’ mental health living in camps (i.e., contingency accommodation) in the UK.

Focusing on asylum seekers’ lived experiences, it aims to analyse:
1) how asylum seekers living in camps make a place for themselves;
2) how they perceive that the camp living conditions affect their everyday lives;
3) how they perceive that the camp living conditions affect their mental health and wellbeing; 4) what spaces, relationships, and services asylum seekers see as important for influencing their mental health and wellbeing.

The study investigates these issues through an ethnography combining participant observation with narrative interviews and creative methods with asylum seekers and key stakeholders (e.g., health professionals; community organisers). The use of ethnographic and creative methods will enable an in-depth description of the complexity of asylum seekers’ everyday experiences and the relationships between placemaking and mental health.

Application details

The studentship is available at King’s College London across the School of Education’s Centre for Public Policy Research, the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health.

Download this document for the job description, eligibility criteria and how to apply.

To apply, please complete and return the documents below to francesca.meloni@kcl.ac.uk:

• A completed personal statement proforma, available here
• A completed ESRC LISS-DTP CASE application form, available here
• Your CV
• Copies of academic transcripts for all relevant degrees
• A writing sample

For more information on the project, please visit the LISS DTP website.

Application deadline: 23:59 GMT on 18 February 2024
Please note applications for this studentship are now closed.

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Bridging Barriers: Understanding Ethnicity and Intersectional Inequities in Mental Health Talking Therapies Access, through Linked Data Analysis

Supervisors: Dr Jayati Das-Munshi, Laia Becares, Rebecca Rhead
Non-academic partner: NHS Race and Health Observatory (NHS RHO)
Start date: 1 October 2024
Length: This LISS-DTP CASE studentship is available either full-time or part-time (50%) in +3 (3-year PhD) format (and can be up to +3.5 years).

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 will be a 3-year PhD starting in October 2024. This PhD opportunity will focus on ethnic inequalities in access/ outcomes of mental health care pathways in the UK. Prospective candidates should be conversant with quantitative statistical methods and have a commitment to tackling health inequalities.

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

Over the course of 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.

Applicants from Black and minority ethnic groups are very strongly encouraged to apply.

Essential criteria

• This is a +3 studentship; you should have a prior 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.

Application details:

To apply, please complete and return the documents below to virginia.elgar@kcl.ac.uk:

• A completed application form, available here
• A CV (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• Copies of academic transcripts for all relevant degrees
• 2 references (either 2 academic references or 1 academic reference and 1 professional reference, maximum 1-2 A4 pages each)

Application deadline: 23:59 GMT on 26 February 2024

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Ethnic inequalities in recovery from severe mental illness

Supervisors: Dr Peter Schofield, Dr Sheri Oduola
Non-academic partner: Rethink Mental Illness
Start date: 1 October 2024
Length: This LISS-DTP CASE studentship is available either full-time or part-time (50%) in +3 (3-year PhD) format (and can be up to +3.5 years).

We are advertising a PhD studentship to investigate ethnic inequalities in recovery from severe mental illness using a range of data sources and combining advanced quantitative analysis with in-depth qualitative interviews.

Background

Severe Mental Illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, has been shown to have a disproportionally high incidence among some ethnic minority groups, but much less is known about ethnic differences in recovery. This mixed-methods study will use administrative and health records data to compare recovery rates for different ethnic minority groups and investigate how these relate to possible explanatory factors; alongside a series of in-depth interviews examining how ethnicity shapes the experience of recovery. The CASE partner for this project, Rethink Mental Illness, are a large mental health charity with a commitment to tackling ethnic inequalities in SMI. They will provide quantitative data for their clients, including specific recovery measures and help with recruiting ethnic minority service users for in-depth interviews. The study will also include analysis of the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) case register providing de-identified electronic health records for all those using secondary mental health services in South-East London.

The student

This would suit a student with a strong interest in severe mental illness and ethnic inequality who has advanced quantitative analysis skills (MSc level) as well as some experience of qualitative research methods.

Internship 

The applicant would also have the opportunity to undertake a short internship within Rethink Mental Illness.

Applicants from Black and minority ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply as are those with lived experience of severe mental illness.

Essential criteria

• MSc in a relevant social science discipline (2.1 or higher) with a substantial research methods component including advanced statistical analysis.
• Experience using statistical software (e.g. either Stata or R).
• Previous training and / or experience in qualitative research methods.
• Excellent communication skills (spoken and written).
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of longitudinal analysis using electronic health records and / or survey data.
• Experience conducting research interviews with members of vulnerable populations.

Application details

To apply, please complete and return the documents below to peter.schofield@kcl.ac.uk:

• A completed application form, available here
• A CV (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• Copies of academic transcripts for all relevant degrees
• Personal statement – outlining your interest in the project and how you meet the eligibility criteria (maximum 2 pages)

Application deadline (extended): 23:59 GMT on 1 March 2024