Development of a school-based intervention for adolescents with food allergy

This PhD project involves developing and piloting a school-based intervention for adolescents with food allergy. Adolescence is an age-group that is most at risk of serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions due to greater risk taking-behaviour, such as eating food without properly checking the label, or not carrying rescue medication such as an adrenaline auto-injector. (Conrado et al., 2021). Adolescents are also contending with taking more responsibility for their own health and becoming more independent, while simultaneously not wanting to be different from their friends. They are therefore an important group for targeting for an intervention. There are no published psychological interventions for adolescents with food allergy, but those targeted at adolescents with asthma have shown peer-led school-based interventions to be the most effective in achieving outcomes that have clinical significance (Knibb et al., 2020). These outcomes include increased quality of life, adherence and improved school attendance.

This PhD project will take the findings from the asthma literature and apply this to the development of a similar intervention for adolescents with food allergy. The PhD would include an intervention development phase, which would be person-centered with adolescents with and without food allergy directly involved. It would then be piloted within schools in the Birmingham area using a clustered-randomised case-control design, with a wait list control group. Outcomes such as quality of life, self-efficacy, coping behaviours, mood, food allergy beliefs, adherence, number of allergic reactions, medication use, visits to hospital or the GP, and school attendance will be measured at baseline, during and after the intervention. Follow-up measures will be taken at 3 and 6 months later to assess effectiveness over time. The acceptability of the intervention by adolescents, cost-effectiveness, uptake and drop-out rates and adherence to the intervention protocol will also be assessed.

Estimated yearly cost of consumables

£5000

Person Specification

A Masters degree in a relevant subject with a 60% or higher weighted average, and/or a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or an equivalent qualification from an overseas institution)

Submitting an application

As part of the application, you will need to supply:

·        A copy of your current CV

·        Copies of your academic qualifications for your Bachelor degree, and Masters degree (if studied); this should include both certificates and transcripts, and must be translated in to English

·        A research proposal statement*

·        Two academic references

·        Proof of your English Language proficiency

Details of how to submit your application can be found here. 

*The application must be accompanied by a “research proposal” statement. An original proposal is not required as the initial scope of the project has been defined, candidates should take this opportunity to detail how their knowledge and experience will benefit the project and should also be accompanied by a brief review of relevant research literature.

Please include the supervisor’s name and project title in your Personal Statement.

If you require further information about the application process please contact the Postgraduate Admissions team at [Email Address Removed]