Overview
Providing unpaid care for someone with dementia can have substantial impacts on the carer’s life, including their employment and financial status. This PhD seeks to explore the impact of unpaid caregiving in dementia on employment and links to mental health and well-being, and seeks to develop clear recommendations for employers.
About this opportunity
Background
Nearly 1 million people are living with dementia in the UK, with this number continuously growing. Unfortunately, care needs to be supplemented by family members and friends, as formal care does not meet all the needs of people living with dementia. For many unpaid carers, this can result in taking up dozens of hours of unpaid care a week, likely affecting their paid employment (if they are in paid employment). With over 700,000 unpaid dementia carers in the UK providing various levels and types of unpaid care, this population often gets neglected and lacks the necessary support themselves in order to live well and maintain a good quality of life, including remaining in employment. This might be a particular challenge for those carers from more socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Aims
Linked to a recently funded NIHR study, this self-funded PhD aims to explore the impact of unpaid caregiving on employment and resulting mental well-being and quality of life, and how socio-economic status and personal background characteristics such as ethnic background might influence this relationship. This PhD will lead to recommendations for employers to support unpaid carers for people with dementia from different backgrounds to ensure that carers are well supported.
Training and collaboration
This PhD will be fully crafted by the PhD student, with direction and experience provided by the supervisory team. In the first 3 months, the student will fully develop the overall PhD structure and its individual studies, including the detailed focus of the systematic review. The student will be attending University training courses including for systematic reviews, and quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, where relevant. The student will be collaborating and working with 2 unpaid carers as public advisors, who will help shape the focus of the PhD studies, and will be part of the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum, a public community of practice that brings together different dementia stakeholders on a regular basis. They will also be situated within the
Project structure
Year 1:
- Systematic review
- Public consultations to shape Study 1
- Ethics application for Study 1
- Attending University training courses
- Submitting systematic review for publication
- Starting data collection for Study 1
Year 2:
- Analysing and writing up Study 1
- Ethics application for Study 2
- Recruitment and data collection for Study 2
- Starting analysis for Study 2
- Present findings at national conference & at annual Liverpool dementia & Ageing Research Conference & Department PGR day
Year 3:
- Analysing and writing up Study 2
- Potential for small Study 3 if necessary/relevant
- Public consultations with different stakeholders to develop recommendations for supporting carers and for employers
- Writing up Introduction, methods, and Discussion chapter of thesis
Present findings at national or international conference and at annual Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Conference
Throughout, the PhD student will be attending monthly research group journal clubs and develop their presentation skills by presenting papers at journal club. They will also be attending events from the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum and thus create connections with people with dementia, carers, and health and social care professionals, as well as third sector providers. The student will also be joining the European INTERDEM Academy, to specifically join the Taskforce on Dementia Inequalities, which is led by the primary supervisor.