Working towards a multidisciplinary approach to pressure ulcer prevention (HS8)

Supervisory team:

Professor Dan Bader, Dr Pete Worsley, Dr Lisette Schoonhoven

Project Summary:

To achieve success in pressure ulcer prevention, all the members of the multidisciplinary team are needed, as no one profession has all the required skills. In terms of pressure ulcer prevention, the occupational therapist and physiotherapist provide an important resource related to equipment and position selection, in addition to education and training. It is therefore important to include all members of the team to ensure the best outcomes for the patient. It is perceived that allied health professionals (AHPs) who remain uninvolved in pressure ulcer prevention are a major untapped resource with great potential for promoting wound healing.

Determination of best practices for team composition and interaction is likely to be critically important. It is recognized that not all disciplines will have the same professional education background or educational approach to PU management. Research is needed to determine the most effective techniques to promote interdisciplinary knowledge sharing and long-term implementation into routine practice.

This research project will look at the role of the inter-disciplinary team in pressure ulcer prevention. This will involve preliminary studies of focus groups, questionnaires surrounding profession specific knowledge and finally the development of a consensus documents as to the role of each profession. This research will then lead onto clinical trials which will assess the effectiveness of the new MDT approach in the acute clinical setting.

Project Details:

The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton working in partnership with Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, is offering a Clinical Academic Doctoral Fellowship for a qualified physiotherapist, occupational therapist or a nurse.

The successful candidate will spend two days per week as a Band 5 Registered physiotherapist, occupational therapist or a nurse in Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and 3 days per week working on the PhD research study. You will join a thriving and expanding group of Clinical Academic Doctoral Fellows based at the Clinical Academic Facility, Southampton General Hospital for the academic component of the Fellowship.

The Fellowship is for 4 years will begin in September 2013. You will be supported by an annual £14,000 stipend and an additional sum of £800 to support additional training and development costs during the Fellowship.

This is an exciting opportunity and will enable aspiring individuals to combine clinical practice with a research role, working across the University and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. The successful candidate will work with their nominated clinical mentor and a Faculty of Health Sciences academic mentor in a tri-partite arrangement to develop their clinical academic role in both practice and University settings.

Further information can be found in our FAQ document by clicking "Apply Online" below.

Interviews will be held in Southampton on 17th June 2013.