Design, usability test and evaluate a digital health application to facilitate social eating and promote health-related quality of life for patients with head and neck cancer and their families

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

Dornan M, Semple C, Moorhead A, McCaughan E. A qualitative systematic review of the social eating and drinking experiences of patients following treatment for head and neck cancer. Support Care Cancer. 2021 Sep;29(9):4899-4909. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06062-7. Epub 2021 Mar 1. PMID: 33646367; PMCID: PMC8295127.

Dornan M, Semple C, Moorhead A. Experiences and perceptions of social eating for patients living with and beyond head and neck cancer: a qualitative study. Support Care Cancer. 2022 May;30(5):4129-4137. doi: 10.1007/s00520-022-06853-6. Epub 2022 Jan 24. PMID: 35072791; PMCID: PMC8785386.

Dornan, M., Semple, C. & Moorhead, A. “It’s part of our life now”: a qualitative exploration of the social eating experiences of family members of patients living with head and neck cancer. Support Care Cancer30, 10159–10167 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07427-2

Kristensen, M.B., Mikkelsen, T.B., Beck, A.M. et al. To eat is to practice—managing eating problems after head and neck cancer. J Cancer Surviv13, 792–803 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-019-00798-2

Patterson JM, Lu L, Watson LJ, Harding S, Ness AR, Thomas S, Waylen A, Waterboer T, Sharp L. Trends in, and predictors of, swallowing and social eating outcomes in head and neck cancer survivors: A longitudinal analysis of head and neck 5000. Oral Oncol. 2021 Jul;118:105344. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105344. Epub 2021 May 20. PMID: 34023744.

Yardley L, Morrison L, Bradbury K, Muller I (2015) The Person-Based Approach to Intervention Development: Application to Digital Health-Related Behavior Change Interventions. J Med Internet Res17(1):e30 doi: 10.2196/jmir.4055