We are recruiting a PhD candidate for a project on senior friendly care trajectories. You will combine the scientific disciplines of Health Service Operations Management (HSOM) and Integrated Care to perform research on senior friendly care trajectories. With the aging of the population the number of patients with multi-morbidity is increasing. Older persons are living longer at home and frequently require a combination of cure, (home) care and social support. Episodes of hospital care, planned admissions or emergency situations, may entail changes in the care after discharge. Transfers between institutions and the home setting, as well as integration of care at home require planning and coordination to ensure continuity and quality of care for the patient. Delivering the right care on the right place at the right time ensures senior friendly and cost effective care with reablement as main aim. Reablement is “a person-centred, holistic approach that aims to enhance an individual's physical and/or other functioning, to increase or maintain their independence in meaningful activities of daily living at their place of residence and to reduce their need for long-term services”[1].  This may not only require optimizing the existing care organization, but also improving the care provision by developing innovative ways for care delivery and for transfers between institutional and home care.

Health Service Operations Management (HSOM) traditionally focusses on high production levels and efficiency, but shifted towards a more process-oriented approach with attention for the patient. However, until now, operations management research has mostly focused on institutional care, especially hospital care, and has paid less attention to care in the community and care in networks, while the number of days people stay in an institution is decreasing. This implies that applying OM approaches to primary care and to the home environment of patients create opportunities to enrich the knowledge base and transfer knowledge to new settings. An approach that focusses on the connection between primary and secondary care, and the alignment of care at home, whilst taking the network of the patient into consideration, is Integrated Care. Integrated Care research both focusses on patient populations, such as older persons, as on a specific disease, e.g. Diabetes or COPD. The expectation is that combining concepts and approaches of operations management and Integrated care will lead to possibilities to improve care for older persons living at home or nursing homes and add to delivering the right care on the right place at the right timeand reablement.

The research will be conducted in the province of Zeeland in close collaboration with healthcare organizations and professionals in that region. The PhD is expected to translate real life problems in the care trajectories in Zeeland into research that will benefit reablement and the optimization of care for older persons. As such the PhD will be member of the Academic Collaborative Centre Older Persons Care Zeeland (AWOZ), a collaborative network of health and research institutions. Information on AWOZ can be found on the following website: https://www.awoz.nl/

Finally, you will teach in the education programs of Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (about 15% of your time).

[1] Metzelthin, S., Rostgaard, T., Parsons, M., & Burton, E. (2020). Development of an internationally accepted definition of reablement: A Delphi study. <i>Ageing and Society,</i> 1-16. doi:10.1017/S0144686X20000999

You are expected to have a master’s degree in the field of healthcare organization or management, operations management, innovation management, business administration or another relevant master’s degree. The position requires advanced skills in quantitative and qualitative methods. Therefore, you need to have experience with both. You need to demonstrate affinity with the research group – older vulnerable persons, their informal caregivers and health professionals, as well as the ability to communicate and interact with them in a person centered, respectful and professional manner. Moreover, you have excellent English communication and writing skills. Since the empirical work will be conducted in the Netherlands, mastering the Dutch language both in reading and speaking, is required.

We offer a full-time position as PhD student at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). The PhD candidate will be located at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). The research will be performed in Zeeland.

We offer a 1.5 year position with the possibility of extension to 4 years based on performance. Remuneration will be according to the PhD scales set by the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (cao NU), and will range from € 2.443 per month in the first year to € 3.122 per month in the fourth year (gross amounts, in case of fulltime employment). Fulltime is considered to be 38 hours per week.

In addition, EUR pays an 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year payment of 8.3% and offers excellent secondary benefits, and a very generous leave scheme. Furthermore, EUR is affiliated with ABP for the pension provision, and we offer partially paid parental leave, fully paid extended birth leave for partners, a personal education budget, work-life balance coaches and more. Employees can also use EUR facilities, such as the Erasmus sports centre and the University library.

The starting date will be determined together with the candidate.

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Erasmus University Rotterdam is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research. Inspired by the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam, our scientists and students work in close collaboration with internal and external parties to solve global social challenges. Our mission is therefore "Creating positive societal impact". Our academic education is intensive, active and application oriented. Our research increasingly takes place in multidisciplinary teams, which are strongly intertwined with international networks. With our research impact and thanks to the high quality of education, EUR ranks amongst the top European universities. Erasmian values ​​function as our internal compass and make Erasmus University recognizable to the outside world: engaged with society, world citizen, connecting, entrepreneurial and open-minded. 

Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM)

Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam and is responsible for a bachelor and three (international) master programs on healthcare management, policy, and economics, serving more than 1500 students. The most recent international research audit has assessed ESHPM’s research as excellent (20 out of 20 points). ESHPM values empirical, multidisciplinary research with high impact. It is firmly rooted in the world’s leading Dutch health care system and actively participates in international research projects, in particular EU funded projects. The position offered is within the Department of Health Services Management & Organization of ESHPM.
 

Health Services Management & Organisation (HSMO)

Health Services Management & Organisation is responsible for education and research on management and organisation in healthcare. Our aim is to improve the management and organisation of health services in order to provide the best value for patients/clients and professionals in healthcare. Research of HSMO covers the full width of the healthcare sector, managerial scientific domains, and methodologies (qualitative-, quantitative-, design-, and action research). To a large extent, our research is carried out on innovation of the primary process of care delivery, both within and across organizations. The teaching of the department is aligned with its research, and is mainly organized around the MSc program in Healthcare Management, which is the largest program in this domain in Europe, and the BSc program in Health Sciences (Gezondheidswetenschappen, Beleid & Management Gezondheidszorg). Courses taught for instance address Organisational Behavior, Health technologies, Quality & Safety, Innovation, Integrated Care, Operations Management, and Financial Management. The staff of the department includes 4 Full professors, 3 Associate professors, 11 Assistant professors, and 21 PhD’s.