Caregiver-Centric Innovations in Intensive Home-Treatment for Acute Mental Illness: A Comprehensive Approach

Research project description

A PhD position is available at the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau under the supervision of Ana Martin Blanco (psychiatrist) and Jeroen Spijker (demographer). The successful candidate will be enrolled in the Psychiatry doctoral programme at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in the framework of the TOUCH project. TOUCH (“Towards the next generatiOn of excellent yoUng doctoral researchers on mental health by developing an intersectoral & transdisciplinary approaCH”) is a new excellent doctoral programme co-funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Actions of the European Commission and led by the UAB for the recruitment and training of 24 doctoral candidates in the field of mental health and wellbeing.

Intensive home-treatment (IHT) has become one of the trendier strategies in some European countries to prevent acute hospitalization of patients suffering from an acute mental illness. This intervention provides daily treatment at home by a multidisciplinary team for those patients until the crisis is over. In most cases, collaborative work with a family member who can supervise the patient is mandatory. However, this role can cause a burden on the caregiver and, in consequence, can lead to stress, anxiety, and other psychological and physical consequences.

Since there are no instruments to detect the burden of the caregivers of patients receiving IHT, our re-search group is creating a questionnaire based on the qualitative analysis of the in-formation provided by the caregivers themselves. Additionally, the research will ex-tend beyond qualitative realms to incorporate demographic factors that play a crucial role in shaping the caregiver landscape, aiming at discerning patterns and variations across different family structures within our society and enriching our comprehension of caregiver needs. The next step is creating an intervention to reduce this burden.

Therefore, the objective of this PhD program is to (i) use demographic and health survey data to analyze the personal and household characteristics of caregivers who care for family members with a mental illness, both in our region (Catalonia) and in other (inter)national contexts for comparative purposes, ii) evaluate the needs of the caregivers of patients admitted to IHT units of our region using a qualitative approach, and (iii) design the intervention to reduce the burden and perform an experimental trial to evaluate its efficacy.

This PhD program will allow the student to acquire in-depth knowledge in qualitative and quantitative statistical methods, as well as in demographic analysis, and to perform experimental designs such as clinical trials.

Academic background / Skills

The candidates must fulfil the following eligibility criteria from the EC: Mobility rule: candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the deadline for the programme call. Experience rule: researchers must be doctoral candidates at the date of recruitment, that is not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the deadline of the open calls. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but have not yet formally awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible. Candidates must hold a degree that allows admission to the official doctoral programme at UAB.

The ideal candidate for this PhD program should possess some foundation in neuroscience, psychology, or a related field.

They must comply with the academic requirements to access the PhD in Psychiatry/Neurosciences of the UAB which, among others, requires a Master’s degree and a good level of speaking and writing in English.

Basic knowledge of Spanish/Catalan is required (A2 or higher; it can be purchased during the first months of admission to the PhD Programme.

Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative statistical methods and programming languages (e.g., Python, R, STATA and/or SPSS) is preferable but not mandatory, as comprehensive training will be provided.

The candidate should demonstrate a keen interest in psychiatric disorders and patient-centred care.

Strong communication and collaboration skills are essential, as the project involves interdisciplinary teamwork.

The candidate should exhibit a commitment to advancing mental health research and a capacity for independent, creative thinking within a collaborative research environment.

Research group/s description

The Sant Pau Mental Health Group, part of the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau’s Neurological Diseases, Neuroscience & Mental Health division, is resolutely dedicated to the pursuit of innovative therapeutic modalities, underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of etiopathogenesis, derived from their accrued knowledge. Main scientific challenges: research that reduces the healthcare, social and personal costs of mental illness by exploring areas such as etiopathogenesis, physiopathology, and treatment; that delve into innovative mental health therapies; and to improve quality of life of patients with mental disorders.

The Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED) “Health and Ageing” research group is dedicated to studying the challenges posed by population ageing to the organization of our societies and the well-being of its inhabitants. The importance is not just that people live more years, but that those extra years are lived in good mental and physical health, which must also be approached from an analysis that incorporates social and gender inequalities. The CED is one of the six best population research centres in Europe and has the highest qualification granted by CERCA, which the agency in charge of managing and evaluating the trajectory of the research centres of excellence in Catalonia.