What role can hospitals play in protecting children and young people from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke? Developing a novel intervention to support families to change their smoking behaviours.

Applications are invited for a three year fully-funded PhD Studentship to start by January 2018 at the latest.

Summary
Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) has been causally linked with mortality and morbidity in non-smokers, disproportionately affecting the health of children and young people [1] and placing a substantial burden on health services [2]. There is no safe level of exposure [3]. Whilst exposure in England has declined recently [4], 39% of children who live with smokers are still regularly exposed to SHS at home [5]. The most effective way to reduce children and young people’s SHS exposure is to encourage their parents to quit; however, for parents who cannot or will not quit, there is a need to support families to initiate behaviour change to protect their children from harm.

The current systematic review evidence suggests that there are a range of intervention strategies that may protect children from SHS exposure, but that no particular approach can be recommended over another [6-12]. Settings, such as hospitals, may require specific interventions, but again, evidence on what should be done remains unclear. Paediatric healthcare visits, such as an admission to hospital, may provide a teachable moment to raise parental awareness of the harms of children’s exposure to SHS and an opportunity to motivate parents to make changes to their smoking behaviours [13]. Hospitals may therefore provide an ideal setting within which smoking families can be identified and where they may be receptive to intervention around their smoking behaviours. There is a need to further explore, using mixed-methods, how hospitals currently address the issue of SHS exposure with smoking families and whether there is scope and support for developing hospital based interventions to address children and young people’s exposure to SHS.

The overarching aim of this PhD research is to develop and feasibility test a novel hospital based intervention that supports families to change their smoking behaviours to protect children and young people from SHS exposure. This overall PhD research aim will be achieved via the objectives of the four interlinked work packages:

1. to systematically identify and synthesise the current evidence on interventions aiming to reduce children and young people’s SHS exposure that are initiated and/or delivered within a hospital or specialist outpatient setting;
2. to explore smoking families’ and healthcare professionals’ attitudes, perceptions and acceptability of potential SHS intervention/s initiated and/or delivered within a hospital setting;
3. to develop and describe a novel SHS intervention/s initiated and/or delivered within a hospital setting;
4. to assess the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the SHS intervention and the feasibility of recruitment, retention and follow up.

Setting
The researcher will be primarily based within the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham but will work closely with Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH), part of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. BCH was recently recognised by the Care Quality Commission as the UK’s first Outstanding standalone children’s hospital.

Person Specification
Candidates should have a commitment to public health/behavior change research with demonstrable organisational and communication skills. Candidates should hold or realistically expect to obtain a Master’s Degree and at least an Upper Second Class Honours Degree in relevant health-related subjects.

Successful applicants will have a strong background in a relevant health-related area (e.g. health psychology, public health or social sciences) with knowledge of tobacco control and health promotion being desirable. Candidates should have a good understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods. Experience of working with stakeholders relevant to the project (e.g. families who smoke, young people, and healthcare professionals) would be beneficial.

How to apply
Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Laura Jones ([Email Address Removed]) and applications should be sent to Catherine Taylor ([Email Address Removed]).

To apply, please send:
• A Detailed CV, including your nationality and country of birth;
• Names and addresses of two referees;
• A covering letter highlighting your research experience/capabilities;
• Copies of your degree transcripts;
• Evidence of your proficiency in the English language (if applicable).

Applicants will be required to attend an interview. As part of the interview process applicants will be expected to undertake skills based tasks such as giving a presentation and critically appraising a research paper.