Postdoctoral Researcher Intercultural Health Communication

Are you interested in doing research and managing a European research project on migrant healthcare communication? Do you have affinity with improving mental healthcare communication for migrant patients?

We are seeking for an ambitious Postdoctoral Researcher for a three-year European research project, called ‘MHealth4All’, focusing on developing and implementing a digital communication and information platform to improve access to mental healthcare services for migrant patients with low language proficiency in the host country’s dominant language. The project is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and carried out in close collaboration with the University of Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany), Free University Brussels (Belgium), University of Surrey (UK), University of Alcala (Spain), University of Genova (Italy), Vilnius University (Lithuania), University of Warsaw (Poland), University of Nitra (Slovakia), as well as several stakeholders from practice. This Post doctorate position is part of the ‘Persuasive Communication’ programme group and in collaboration with the Centre for Urban Mental Health.

What are you going to do

The overall aim of the project ‘MHealth4All’ is to develop and evaluate an evidence-based digital platform for low-language proficient migrant patients and mental healthcare practitioners, in order to support them in improving access to mental healthcare services in Europe. To achieve this aim, interdisciplinary research is needed to gain insight into which information and communication strategies are potentially effective in a variety of European contexts.

The entire project consists of six subprojects. The Postdoctoral Researcher will manage, in collaboration with the project lead, these subprojects and conduct two subprojects: 1) developing and testing evidence-based patient narratives to be included in the digital platform about mental healthcare access themes, and 2) evaluating the effectiveness of the digital platform in mental healthcare. The other subprojects will be conducted by the University of Surrey, University of Alcala, and Free University Brussels in Belgium, for which you are required to deliver research results as well. Methods employed for the subprojects range from desk research, to qualitative (e.g. patient interviews) and quantitative (e.g. survey, observational research) methods. The Postdoctoral Researcher will publish the results of the two subprojects in at least two high quality papers. Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• organizing consortium meetings and managing the consortium partners;
• designing research protocols and preparing research materials;
• conduct data-collection and related data-analysis;
• writing up findings for publication in at least two academic papers in high-impact scientific journals;
• writing progress reports;
• present your work at (inter)national conference.

There is a possibility to be involved in teaching in our communication science program, if the candidate would prefer this.