Ireland Job Openings

RCSI

Postdoctoral Fellow in mixed methods Sláintecare Healthy Community programme evaluation

Dublin

August 26, 2024

Department: Public Health and Epidemiology

Reporting to: Prof. Debbi Stanistreet, Associate Professor of Public Health

Location: RCSI, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2

Contract/Duration: Up to 18 months

Remuneration: Post-Doctoral Researcher Salary Scale - up to a maximum of 2a point 6

Closing Date: Monday 16th of September 2024

RCSI is a community of academic, research, clinical and professional staff working collaboratively to lead the world to better health. Here, you will thrive in an innovative and inclusive atmosphere and your personal development and wellbeing will be supported. We invite you to join us to help deliver on our exciting mission “To educate, nurture and discover for the benefit of human health”. We seek candidates whose experience to date has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to the “Race Equality Action Plan 2021-2024” at RCSI. Our students come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds. This makes our university stronger and ensures we hire the best talent.

Innovating for a Healthier Future 2023-2027 is RCSI’s new five-year strategic plan. Through it, RCSI will enhance human health by meeting the health workforce needs of society, creating the insights and inventions that drive health improvements, and working in partnership with patients and the public in support of better health and well-being for all. The strategy unites the RCSI community in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals – with a particular focus on Goal 3, which targets good health and well-being.

For each of the last six years, RCSI has been positioned in the Top 300 of universities worldwide in the Times Higher World University Rankings. We are proud that RCSI ranks fifth in the world for “Good Health and Well-being” in the Times Higher Education #SDG #SDG Impact Rankings 2024. This reflects our commitment to supporting people of all ages to live healthy lives and our work to promote the concepts of well-being and positive health. Our values of Respect, Collaboration, Scholarship and Innovation continue to unite and direct our purpose.

About Our Research

RCSI recognises that excellence in research is critical to the quality of its educational activities, its credibility, and, overall, to its mission to enhance human health. RCSI’s research strategy aims to build upon its strength in translational biomedical and clinical research to deliver transformational, high impact changes in health care. Targeting both Irish national and EU funding, along with increased collaboration with industry, is a major part of the RCSI research strategy. Forging increased collaboration between RCSI PIs and industry is of critical importance to achieving success in this area. RCSI is also committed to provide its researchers with the supports and developmental opportunities to enable them to continuously grow and support their overall career development.

School of Population Health

Established in 2022, the School builds upon the success of the Division of Population Health Sciences since 2006. The School comprises the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Department of Health Psychology, Data Science Centre, Healthcare Outcomes Research Centre, Institute of Global Surgery, Converge and SPHe RE, the national, inter-institutional, structured doctoral programme. It includes over 100 academic, research and professional staff, as well as 25 Ph D scholars. Population health scientists and researchers at RCSI have an impressive, track record undertaking impactful multidisciplinary research and collaborating with an extensive network of international and national partners.

The aims of the School of Population Health are to undertake multidisciplinary research that guides, shapes and monitors the crucial decisions in population health; to deliver comprehensive educational programmes that meet the workforce needs of today and the innovative needs of the future; and to participate in synergistic networks and collaborations that strengthen infrastructure, capacity and financing for education and research.

Reflecting the breadth of population health science, we adopt a balanced, multi-disciplinary approach, connecting and contributing to developments in population health, nationally and internationally. The key enabler in delivering our ambitious programme of growth is the School’s multidisciplinary team of academics, researchers, scholars and support staff. Reflecting the people-first approach of RCSI, the School of Population Health provides a diverse, supportive, healthy work environment for its team.

Background to the research project

The goal of the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme (SHCP) is to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of the most disadvantaged communities in Ireland. The programme takes a place-based approach to tackling health inequalities with a focus on the determinants of health. A core principle of Sláintecare is prevention and central to prevention is a focus on the determinants of health. These are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. Research has shown that the social determinants can be more important than health care or lifestyle choices in influencing health (WHO, 2021).

The SHCP Programme involves the expenditure of approx. €15m per annum through both the HSE and Local Authorities. Established in 2021, with significant recruitment and contracting in 2022, the programme is now fully operational in all 19 areas. Evaluation of the pilot programme to date, requires us to ask questions about current progress and implementation. Broadly, the aim of this research is to learn from best evidence for improving, sustaining and replicating Place Based Initiatives (PBIs), and to apply this evidence to the National Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme to make recommendations going forward.

Evaluation will include describing and exploring progress of the SHCP to date, developing a theory of change for the programme, and incorporate the findings into a research-based tool for the SHCP areas to inform ongoing programme monitoring, and future direction.

Responsibilities of the Researcher

We are seeking to recruit a Researcher with skills in mixed methods and exceptional skills in qualitative methods. The principal responsibilities of the post are to work with the PI, to lead the implementation of a realist evaluation of the national SHCP. Evaluation will include document analysis as well as interviews and workshops with SHCP at a variety of different levels within the organization.

The post-holder will support Professor Stanistreet in undertaking all necessary activities, and will participate in data collection, analysis, write up and publication / dissemination of findings supported by a research assistant.

The post-holder will need to be self-motivated demonstrate initiative, and have proven ability to work independently and lead on literature reviewing, data collection and data analysis. They will be educated to post-doctorate level, with significant experience of qualitative research and will be a member of a multi-disciplinary team, based at RCSI.

Specifically, the duties of the post are:

Assist in designing data collection tools and supervise the undertaking of all qualitative data collection in collaboration with the PI.
Data checking, transcription and cleaning
Contribute to the document analysis
Lead on the analysis of qualitative data
Contribute to communications with partners, key stakeholders including preparation of reports and deliverables related to her/his responsibilities
Support the preparation for project management group meetings
Contribute to writing high quality scientific papers
Represent the best interests of the SHCP and RCSI at all times
Perform such other duties as may be required.

Qualifications – (Essential):

Ph D level qualification in a related field (social science, public health, or relevant fields)

Knowledge & Experience – (Essential):

Evidence of conducting all aspects of qualitative research, from study design to data collection, analysis and publication of findings
Experience in (or with) the health sector
Computer skills including ability to use qualitative data analysis packages (e.g. NVivo)
Scientific writing skills and experience with proven track record of publications
Excellent communication skills and interpersonal skills
Strong organisational and administrative skills with the ability to prioritise objectives and work to deadlines
The ability to work on own initiative as well as in a team environment
Flexibility to work irregular hours on occasion
Ability to work in a multicultural environment

Knowledge & Experience – (Desirable):

Experience with realist methods of evaluation

We are all too aware that imposter syndrome and the confidence gap can sometimes stop fantastic candidates putting themselves forward, so please do submit an application — we’d love to hear from you.

Application Process

Please apply online through the RCSI careers portal on the closing date with your CV and cover letter.

Informal Enquiries can be directed to debbistanistreet@rcsi.ie. Please note we do not accept CVs directly.

Employee benefits

At RCSI, we help care for our people so they can focus on our mission to educate, nurture, and discover for the benefit of human health. RCSI make sure you have the resources you need to thrive. We offer a wide range of benefits in areas including time away, finance, community, health, and well-being and insuring your financial future. In addition to our city centre campus and world-class facilities, there are a wide range of excellent benefits available to our employees, including:

Onsite gym €10 per month
Flexible working arrangements
Automatic enrolment to a pension scheme for all employees (Willis Towers Watson, pension documents outlined below)
RCSI Investment Guide
Pension Scheme Guide
Benefits Schedule
Life assurance/death in service
Long term illness/disability income replacement
Free advice on health/motor and home insurance
Discounted services, including GP
Support for parents and carers
Taxsaver commuter tickets
Biketo Work
Free eye test at the National Optometry centre
€12/day for parking for all RSCI staff in the St. Stephens green/RCSI car park
RCSI’s Learning and Development team facilitate and provide training opportunities for all staff
Sports and social club
Opportunities to volunteer in the community
26.5 days leave - 20 days annual leave plus 6.5 days Privilege days - In addition to your annual leave entitlements and public holidays, RCSI also grants privilege days to our employees (paid time off during Easter and Christmas periods). We also offer a number of leave options to support the working lives of our employees.

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