Patient experiences of multimorbidity within specialist UK HIV services
Supervisors:
Prof. Martyn Pickersgill, Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society & Usher Institute (University of Edinburgh)
Dr. Jaime Garcia Iglesias, Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society & Usher Institute (University of Edinburgh)
Professor Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society & Usher Institute (University of Edinburgh)
Summary:
Specialist HIV clinics exist at the intersection of clinical care, activism, and community connections. They have played a key role in the history of HIV in the UK. However, with the widespread use of effective treatment, people living with HIV (PLWIH) now live longer, grow older, and—in turn—are more likely to develop multimorbidity. In this context, what is the role of specialist HIV clinics for the patients and the communities they serve? What are the experiences of people accessing them, working in them, and working with them? And how can care for PLHIV and multimorbidity be further enhanced?
Through this project, you will develop skills in qualitative methods in order to explore specialist HIV services and the experiences of older adults using them in the current age of HIV-as-treatable. You will engage with a variety of stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, policy makers and community organisations. You will emerge from the PhD with expertise at the intersection between public health and medical sociology, with the skills and training needed to make actionable recommendations for how to improve patient experiences that are grounded in the lived experiences of those for who services provide care.