Evaluating the effect of child and maternal care policies on health care use and health in Mozambique (GCRF)

Improving child and maternal care and health has been a priority in low and middle countries for decades. Interventions have encompassed reorganization and financing of healthcare provision to increase service availability and have been evaluated in isolation to understand the impact on care use. However, there is less evidence on how different initiatives may act together, whether they compete or complement each other and on how these ultimately affect child and maternal health.

This PhD will focus on Mozambique, where improving child and maternal care is still a government top priority and where a variety of projects have been supported by international agencies and recently mapped. Linkable secondary data are available and still underexploited.

The aim of the PhD is to develop method applications to evaluate the effectiveness of multiple interventions, implemented to different degrees and times across the country, in increasing health care use and improving child and maternal health.

The specific objectives includes:
- develop, from an existing mapping, a typology of policies and measure their implementation in the country over time;
- evaluate policy effects when implemented alone or in conjunction;
- evaluate the effects on the most disadvantaged groups.

The analysis will be carried out on linked data from household survey, health facility, expenditure and other administrative data including records of projects funded by international partners. The data linkage will be developed throughout the project, and the data and methods developed will be applicable to answer similar research questions.

The candidate will receive relevant training in: data cleaning, management, linkage and analysis; measurement of health and health care, in particular child and maternal health and health care use in low income settings; policy evaluation and econometrics and statistics methods for impact evaluation and causal inference; health inequality and equity measurement and analysis. The candidate will develop a sound understanding of health policy, health systems and child and maternal care, as well as of the administrative data available to address relevant research questions and support evidence based policy.

The supervisory team combines extensive research experience in policy evaluation and analysis of institutions and health care in low and middle income settings, with a track record of successful supervision of doctoral students and collaboration with country-institutions, including the National Institute of Health, the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Statistics. The candidate will benefit from the vibrant research environment of the institutions where supervisors are based: the Division of Population Health and the Global Development Institute in Manchester and the National Institute of Health in Mozambique.

The PhD will involve close collaboration with the Mozambique National Institute of Health and National Institute of Statistics in Mozambique, including one year of fieldwork to refine data collection. Results will contribute to inform the strategic development of health care policies in the country.

Entry Requirements
Candidates are expected to hold (or be about to obtain) an Upper Second class Honours degree (or equivalent) in a related area / subject.

If you are interested in this project, please make direct contact with the Principal Supervisor to arrange to discuss the project further as soon as possible. You MUST also submit an online application form - choose PhD Primary Care and Health Services Research. Full details on how to apply can be found on the GCRF website https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/golden/gcrf/