Research Assistant, Department of Psychological Medicine

Job ID: 010704

Salary: £32,676 - £36,317 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Posted: 24-Nov-2020

Closing date: 01-Dec-2020

Business unit: IoPPN Department: Psychological Medicine

Contact details: Professor Stephani Hatch, stephani.hatch@kcl.ac.uk

Denmark Hill Campus   Research

Job description
The post-holder will join the Health Inequalities Research Group (HIRG), led by Professor Stephani Hatch. The HIRG is focused on discrimination and other forms of social adversity; community mental health; and inequalities in mental health and health services. The post-holder’s primary responsibility will be qualitative data collection and analysis for the Tackling Inequalities and Discrimination Experiences in Health Services (TIDES) Study (www.tidesstudy.com). 

The study involves service users and racial and ethnic minority staff representatives through all stages of the research, and it aims to:  

• Identify racial and ethnic inequalities in mental health and occupational outcomes amongst NHS healthcare staff and social care workers, how COVID-19 exacerbates such inequalities, and the processes through which inequalities are produced, maintained and resisted.   
• Develop a Race Equality Assessment toolkit to help ensure staff perspectives are prioritised in research and education for all NHS and social care staff. 
• Develop education and training resources targeted at improving racial and ethnic minority health and social care staff experiences, job retention and relevant NHS / social care policies.  

The post-holder will play a central role in primary data collection through surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews and contribute to qualitative data analysis. The post-holder will also contribute to data cleaning, data entry, general administrative duties, web content management, public engagement related to this project and writing draft research papers. 

This full-time post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 12 months. Extension beyond this time is a possibility but not guaranteed.

Key responsibilities  

• To assist in recruitment and facilitation of both health and social care practitioners and community members for focus groups and in-depth interviews 
• To recruit health and social care practitioners to take part in the study survey and ensuring project goals are achieved  
• To collect and analyse qualitative in-depth interview data. 
• To support cleaning and analysis of free text data in electronic patient records 
• To maintain a database/record of interviews conducted and respondents contact details and work alongside the Database Administrator to ensure databases are maintained efficiently and accurately 
• To ensure the security and confidentiality of data 
• To conduct relevant literature searches, summarise research and draft papers for publication under the supervision of senior academics  
• To prepare monthly reports on progress of data collection and maintain clear and up to date written documentation
• To attend project meetings and take notes/minutes if required 
• To undertake any administrative tasks if required 
• To support research workers on the study’s other work packages (quantitative and experimental) 
• To support public engagement activities directly related to the aims of the study
• To manage study email account, social media and web content for study website
• To present findings at departmental seminars and team meetings  
• Prioritising workload according to discussion with managers 
• Working flexibly to ensure that deadlines are met 
• Good attention to detail and accuracy are essential 
• To develop good working relationships with other team members, researchers and students working with the TIDES study. 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria 

• A first degree in social sciences, anthropology, health, epidemiology or similar  
• MSc in mental health research, epidemiology, social sciences or similar 
• Experience of recruitment and data collection with focus groups and/or in-depth interviews  
• Strong qualitative analysis skills 
• An interest in social and health inequalities  
• Ability and willingness to learn new skills, such as quantitative research methods  
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills 
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to use initiative 
• Understanding of data confidentiality and data security 
• Excellent time management and ability to work flexibly to ensure that deadlines are met 
• Good attention to detail and accuracy  
• Willingness to work occasional evenings or weekends 

Desirable criteria  

• Good writing and presentation skills  
• Experience of literature reviewing 
• Experience of writing reports and presenting results 
• Experience in public engagement 
• Experience of managing web content and social media accounts  

Further information 
This advertisement does not meet the requirements for a Certificate of Sponsorship under Home Office regulations and therefore the university will not be able to offer sponsorship for this role.