Professor Linda Hogan is recruiting a fully-funded PhD student to work in the area of the ethics of palliative care. This PhD is one of four funded by an interdisciplinary Trinity Research Doctorate Group-based Award.
The four successful applicants will be recruited on four distinct projects within a programme focused on Decision-Making for People with Advanced Illness in Palliative Care. The programme investigates key evolving challenges in palliative care including clinical decision-making in the management of symptoms for patients, and patient-family caregiver relations in decision-making for patient care. The programme also researches legislative and ethical aspects of shared decision-making for people with advanced illness in palliative care.
This research programme will answer the following inter-connected questions:
- How are patients’ preferences for and choices about care influenced by their family caregiver(s)?
- How do healthcare professionals decide about the management of patient symptoms including patient distress?
- How does the legislative framework ‘Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act’ in Ireland impact on patient autonomy and shared decision-making?
- What are key ethical considerations for patients, their family caregivers, and healthcare professionals in shared decision-making for patient treatment and care?
PhD in the Ethics of Palliative Care:
This PhD project is focused on ethical dimensions of shared decision-making for patients with advanced illness, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals in palliative care. The study will compare the patient, family caregiver, and healthcare professional perspective and decipher how their perspectives impact on how they approach decision-making about treatment and care. This PhD study aligns best with applicants from one or more of the following backgrounds: medical ethics; ethics; social sciences; health research; or cognate fields. This PhD will involve primarily qualitative methods.
For direct inquiries about the specifics of this study, please contact Professor Linda Hogan, email: lhogan2@tcd.ie and Dr Geraldine Foley, email: foleyg3@tcd.ie. Further details can be found here.