Supporting the implementation of self-monitoring of blood pressure

There is an opportunity to work within the hypertension research group (https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/research/hypertension) and the Oxford and Thames Valley Applied Research Collaboration (OxTV-ARC) (http://www.arc-oxtv.nihr.ac.uk/), under the ARC self-management theme (https://www.arc-oxtv.nihr.ac.uk/our_work/helping-patients-to-manage-their-own-conditions), to undertake a DPhil in the area of self-monitoring of blood pressure.

The research team investigates better ways to monitor, diagnose and treat hypertension in primary care; increasing patient involvement through new interventions such as self-monitoring and self-management. The research project would focus on two areas:

1) The implementation of self-monitoring of BP into primary care.

2) Self-monitoring of BP during hypertensive pregnancy.

Our research to date shows that self-monitoring of BP with support from an app is not only feasible and acceptable, but can also improve BP control (Lancet 2010&2018, JAMA 2014, Plos Medicine 2017). We are now looking to access and improve implementation of self-monitoring in the hypertensive population. We have a major project working with a commercial provider to implement a telemonitoring solution in at least 60 practices nationally. The ARC input into this comprises evaluation of the impact of self-monitoring on a wide scale and there are several opportunities to link doctoral work to this evaluation.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy affect around 10% of women in the UK, and are associated with a doubling of risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease. Our previous work has shown that self-monitoring of BP is feasible and acceptable to women and their health care teams (Pealing et al., 2019). Future work will focus on developing pathways for implementation of self-monitoring of BP into antenatal care and the development of complex interventions to maximise BP control. An area of interested is health equity as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy disproportionately affect BAME women.

The research is likely to involve both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The successful student will collaborate with others working within the OxTV-ARC to complete their DPhil project and support existing research projects.

Funding

This project is funded at home level.
Overseas students can still apply, however funding will at home level will apply.

Applications

To complete the admissions process please follow this link: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-primary-health-care

Applications are open for entry in the 2021-22 academic year, and the main deadline is 12:00 noon on Friday 8 January 2021.