National Project Manager/Research Fellow

Job no: 0055215
Work type: Fixed Term
Location: Parkville
Division/Faculty: Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Department/School: School of Health Sciences
Salary: $107,547 - $127,707 per annum (pro rata)
Role & Superannuation rate: Academic - Part time - 17% super

Founded in 1853, the University of Melbourne is Australia’s #1 university and is consistently ranked amongst the leading universities in the world. We are proud of our people, our commitment to research and teaching excellence, and our global engagement.

About the Role
The Research Fellow/Project Manager will manage and oversee the day-to-day operational requirements of the FOCUSau project and, in collaboration with the study leaders and the broader team, contribute to governance, data collection, analysis, and reporting of the research. The project is led by Professor Peter Hudson (Honorary Professor - University of Melbourne; Director - Centre for Palliative Care, St Vincent's Hospital & Collaborative Centre of The University of Melbourne; Honorary Professor - Vrije University Brussels) and is funded by the NHMRC Targeted Call for Research into End-of-Life Care (funding round 2021 - APP2006170).

Project Synopsis:
Background: Advanced cancer patients comprise 74% of current palliative care provision in Australia; this life-threatening illness often has a profound and detrimental effect on the quality of life (QoL) of patients and their family carers. Patients report high levels of pain, difficulty coping, poor physical and emotional health, and their end of life (EoL) wishes are not always upheld. Family carers are at the core of patient care; they are laypeople, incorporating close family members or friends. Commonly, however, carers feel disempowered and ill-prepared for their role. This translates to many carers reporting high emotional distress, unmet needs, and difficulties with providing complex home-based care, especially during the advanced stages of illness and EoL. When patients and carers are supported and treated concurrently as a dyad, important synergies are achieved that contribute to the wellbeing of each person. In-person psychoeducational interventions (approaches that focus on improving health outcomes through tailored information) have shown improvements in the QoL of patients with advanced cancer and family carer wellbeing. Digital-health interventions are considered increasingly promising to address inadequacies of in-person EoL care in Australia and are particularly applicable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from flexibility and cost-effectiveness, digital-health interventions can increase system efficiency, empower, and improve the wellbeing of patients and their careers, and provide equitable access, especially for vulnerable groups (e.g., from regional/rural/remote areas and patients with comorbid conditions).

Opportunity: Compelling evidence thus points to the urgent need for innovative, dyadic psychoeducational approaches to better support both patients and carers to optimise the quality of advanced cancer and EoL care in Australia. FOCUS is an evidence-based, dyadic, psychoeducational digital-health intervention originally developed in the USA, shown to improve the wellbeing and QoL of patients with advanced cancer and their primary family carers.

Aim: Our proposed research seeks to enhance palliative and EoL care in Australia by (1) adapting FOCUS to the Australian context to create 'FOCUSau'; (2) examining the clinical and health economic benefits of FOCUSau; and (3) assessing the acceptability, feasibility, and scalability of FOCUSau to inform the sustainable implementation of the intervention into the Australian health care system.

Design: Pragmatic phase III hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial, with an integrated research design that includes digital health evaluation.

Outcome: A sustainable intervention that helps patients and family carers manage the implications of advanced cancer together and empowers them to make informed choices. Our project has the potential to transform EoL care for the Australian community.

If you feel this role is right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining your interest and experience.  Please note that you are required to provide responses against the selection criteria in the Position Description.

Should you require any reasonable adjustments with the recruitment process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at [email protected] .

Benefits of Working with Us
In addition to having the opportunity to grow and be challenged, and to be part of vibrant campus life, our people enjoy a range of rewarding benefits:

• Flexible working arrangements and generous personal, parental and cultural leave
• Competitive remuneration, 17% super, salary packaging and leave loading
• Free and subsidised health and wellbeing services, and access to fitness and cultural clubs
• Discounts on a wide range of products and services including Myki cards and Qantas Club
• Career development opportunities and 25% off graduate courses for staff and their immediate families

To find out more, please visit https://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/staff-benefits .

Be Yourself
At UoM, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences, and contributions that each person brings to our community, and we encourage and celebrate diversity. Indigenous Australians, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, females, people of all ages and culturally diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply for our roles. Our aim is to create a workforce that reflects the community in which we live. 

Position Description