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We are inviting applications for a funded, PhD studentship opportunity with the NIHR Applied Collaboration for the North East and North Cumbria and Northumbria University – linked to our Knowledge Mobilisation and Implementation theme.

The PhD opportunity is to co-develop and evaluate implementation tools for knowledge mobilisers in the integrated health and social care system across the North East and North Cumbria.

About the project

This project draws on knowledge and theory-based approaches from implementation science and knowledge mobilisation, to co-develop and evaluate practical tools for embedding changes in health and social care practice.

Implementation Science is rapidly generating practical and theoretical knowledge (along with associated tools and ‘instruments’) about how to more effectively implement and sustain changes in (health or social care) practice, with emphasis on ‘intervention’.

Examples from Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) include the 16 item interactive toolkit (May et al 2011) and the NoMAD survey instrument (Finch et al 2018). These developments are important, but can be too academic to be useful to practitioners who are innovating treatment, care and service delivery in their fields of practice.

Much innovation happens in health and social care without theory but based on experiential and practical knowledge about what works (for whom, in what circumstances etc). In this project we want to bring theory and practical knowledge together to co-develop and evaluate more effective tools.

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC NENC) is funded by the NIHR and hosted by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

This collaborative initiative allows access to leading applied and public health experts, supervisors who are leaders in their field, channels for dissemination of research, participation in bespoke training, and a strong network and community of graduate students and researchers. In this study, the candidate would work with partners in the regional Integrated Care System (ICS) to understand and address gaps in the potential for knowledge mobilisation and implementation (KM&I) approaches to facilitate changes in practice, also accessing wider support from members of the Science of Knowledge Implementation & Mobilisation (SKIM) theme of the ARC, and working with a supervision team that has extensive experience in leading the development of theoretical knowledge (eg NPT) and related tools.

The project will combine a state-of-the-art literature review, scoping of KM&I activity across the ICS, co-development of tools to support KM&I with knowledge mobilisers and implementers, and qualitative evaluation of the impact of applying tools to implement and/or embed changes in practice.

Supervision will be provided both internally (Dr Potthoff; Prof Finch) and externally (Dr Peter van der Graaf, University of Teesside).

Closing date 27 November.
Find out more and apply