The National Institute for Health and Care Research has funded the Public Health Foundation of India and the University of Leicester to establish a Global Health Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTCs). MLTCs are commonly defined as the co-existence of two or more long term conditions, each of which is a long-term physical (e.g., diabetes), mental (e.g., depression) or infectious disease (hepatitis C). According to recent community surveys from India, the prevalence of MLTCs ranges from 9.4% to 65%. Age, female gender, lower socioeconomic status and physical inactivity are main risk factors for MLTCs. For more information on MLTCs, please see the editorial entitled
“Multimorbidity or multiple long-term conditions: need for bridging the evidence & care gaps to address an emerging priority public health issue in India.”
Despite its growing burden, MLTCs have received minimal recognition from healthcare providers and policymakers. Health systems are still focused on individual disease management rather than having an integrated care model, resulting in the delivery of fragmented and inefficient care. The Centre aims to address some of these issues via co- designing, implementing and evaluating a patient-centered health system intervention comprising of decision support system, assisted telemedicine and patient facing application. The PhD related research/field work will be based in India. The aim of PhD is to research/discover enhanced ways to decrease suffering and improve the lives of people with MLTCs in India by providing pathways or solutions for delivering better care.
The fully funded three-year hybrid PhD position will be embedded within the Centre. The candidate will be required to be affiliated with/join the Public Health Foundation of India or other co-applicant institutions (AIIMS Jodhpur or HRIDAY) before starting the PhD. The candidate will be jointly supervised by a team of highly accomplished researchers across institutions in India and the UK. The candidate will be based in India and will travel to Leicester for completing course work, as required. The PhD degree will be awarded by the University of Leicester.