Project Area: Health service and technology evaluation
Project Summary
Overcrowding in Emergency Departments, also known as the ‘Trolley Crisis’ is a serious public health issue in Ireland. Long waiting times mean that some patients health can deteriorate before being treated by medical staff. Older adults are particularly at high risk from delayed care and we have an ageing population nationally. To address this, international Ambulance Services have successfully developed ‘Alternative Care Pathways’ to the Emergency Department. This means paramedics and other health professionals can treat some patients at home instead of transporting them to hospital. In Ireland the National Ambulance Service is also developing these pathways and is working to become an age-friendly service. However, limited research exists on these pathways in Ireland and there are opportunities for improving services using an age-friendly approach. In this study we will apply an age-friendly framework which highlights four areas: What Matters to patients, Medication reviews, Mentation including management of mental health, and Mobility focused on keeping people active. The framework aims to improve patient satisfaction, reduce Emergency Department visits and hospital re-admissions, and improve health outcomes for older adults. In this study we will review international research studies to find out how they deliver Alternative Care Pathways to older adults. We will analyse patient data to investigate the health outcomes of older adults who used Alternative Care Pathways in the Mid-West of Ireland. We will interview older adults and their families to ask their views on being cared for at home by paramedics and other health professionals instead of attending hospital. We will survey clinicians nationally about their experiences of caring for older adults at home instead of transporting them to hospital. This research will help the National Ambulance Service to find out how best to care for older adults to ensure the “right care, in the right place, at the right time”.
Skills Required
(If applying for this project you will be asked to outline how you meet the skills required below)
The successful candidate will have minimum academic qualifications, knowledge and experience as follows:
Essential
- Fluency in English with excellent oral and written communication skills
- Qualification in paramedicine, public health, or health/scientific discipline of relevance to the PhD
- Knowledge and/or experience of working with Emergency Medical Services
- Knowledge and/or experience of health service improvement for Older Adults
- Experience of evidence synthesis e.g. scoping review etc.
- Capable of working with qualitative and quantitative datasets, and the relevant appropriate statistical software packages.
- Strong inter-personal skills – a self-starter who is comfortable working independently and contributing within a team
- Demonstrable Presentation Experience e.g. Conferences, Invited Talks, Lectures etc
- Research skills in project management, proposal and report writing, evidenced by a demonstrable track record
- Knowledge and understanding of relevant research policy, practices, and procedures (e.g. Research Ethics, Public and Patient Involvement etc.)
Desirable
- Postgraduate Qualification in Paramedicine or Public Health
- Project management experience in a health research setting e.g. research assistant, research officer etc.
- Knowledge and/or experience of Age Friendly Health Systems
- Knowledge and/or experience of working with international EMS
- Knowledge and/or experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of health interventions
- Conference presentations and/or peer-reviewed publications relevant to the project
- A record of leadership in service roles, civic contributions etc.
Supervisory team:
Dr Niamh Cummins, PI/Primary Supervisor
Associate Professor in Public Health specialising in health services research with a focus on pre-hospital and emergency medicine, University of Limerick
Dr. Siobhán Masterson, National Ambulance Service Lead for Clinical Strategy and Evaluation
Prof Rose Galvin, Professor in Physiotherapy at the University of Limerick
Dr. Íde O’Shaughnessy (UL)
This project will be based in University of Limerick
