School of Human and Health Sciences Fee Waiver Scholarships

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-16 

Supervisor: Dr Amanda Firth  

The Impact of Housing Conditions on the Health and Healthcare Engagement of Asylum- Seeking and Refugee Women During Pregnancy and Early Motherhood in the UK

Housing is a key social determinant of health, shaping wellbeing, safety, and access to healthcare. In the UK, asylum‑seeking and refugee (ASR) women are frequently placed in temporary, overcrowded, or poor‑quality accommodation due to restrictive immigration policies and limited financial resources. During pregnancy and early motherhood, such conditions may heighten stress, compromise privacy and safety, and disrupt engagement with maternity and primary care services. 

Recently arrived migrant women experience disproportionate rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in the UK, highlighting persistent health inequalities. Although housing insecurity is increasingly recognised as a contributing factor, limited qualitative research has examined how specific housing conditions influence health, wellbeing, and healthcare engagement for pregnant ASR women and new mothers. 

This PhD project addresses this gap by exploring lived experiences of housing within the asylum system and examining how accommodation environments intersect with maternity care provision, professional practice, and service organisation. Findings will inform maternity services, housing policy, and public‑health interventions aimed at improving outcomes for ASR mothers and infants. 

Research focus 

The project will explore: 

• How housing conditions influence physical and mental health during pregnancy and early motherhood 

• How housing instability affects engagement with antenatal, postnatal, and primary care services 

• Midwives’ and maternity staff’s perspectives on supporting ASR women living in insecure or poor‑quality housing 

• Barriers and facilitators to healthcare access within asylum and move on accommodation 

Methods 

It is anticipated that the study will use a qualitative, multi‑perspective design, recruiting participants including: 

• Pregnant ASR women and recent mothers 

• Midwives and maternity support staff 

• Senior midwifery managers or service commissioners 

Data will be generated through methods such as semi‑structured interviews/ focus groups and participatory approaches (e.g. photovoice or housing‑pathway mapping) to enhance inclusivity. Data will be informed by social determinants of health and health‑inequalities frameworks. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: a.d.firth@hud.ac.uk

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-12

Supervisor: Dr Dillon Newton

Housing, Workforce Stability and Public Service Resilience: The Role of Housing Affordability in Key Worker Recruitment, Retention and Wellbeing 

Housing affordability and availability are increasingly recognised as critical challenges shaping the sustainability of essential public services in the UK. Rising housing costs, constrained supply and changing local housing markets are making it more difficult for key workers in healthcare, fire and rescue, policing and social care to live near their place of work. These pressures are particularly acute in contexts where operational requirements demand geographic proximity such as emergency services that rely on retained or on-call staffing models. 

This PhD project will investigate how housing markets and the operational geographies of public services interact to influence workforce recruitment, retention, productivity and wellbeing. The research will examine how housing pressures affect key workers’ ability to access suitable accommodation, the implications for commuting, job satisfaction, work-life balance and the wider consequences for service delivery and local resilience. 

The project will adopt a mixed-methods approach that will combine analysis of housing and workforce data with qualitative research exploring the lived experiences of key workers across different sectors. There will be opportunities to engage with policy stakeholders, public service organisations and housing providers to ensure strong real-world relevance. 

The successful candidate will contribute to an emerging and highly policy-relevant field at the intersection of housing, public health and labour markets. The research has the potential to inform national and local policy debates on workforce shortages, housing provision and service sustainability while contributing to academic debates on housing as a key determinant of health and wellbeing. 

This project is well suited to applicants with interests in housing, public policy, social inequalities, public health or urban studies and offers opportunities to develop advanced quantitative and qualitative research skills. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: d.newton@hud.ac.uk

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-13

Supervisor: Dr Dillon Newton

Bridging Informal Support and Formal Care: Improving Mental Health Referral Pathways for Minority Ethnic Communities 

Mental health inequalities among minority ethnic communities in the UK remain a persistent challenge. Despite increased policy attention, many individuals experience barriers to accessing timely and appropriate support. These barriers include cultural stigma, limited awareness of services, language challenges and reliance on informal sources of support such as family, community networks and faith-based organisations. As a result, mental health needs are often unrecognised or addressed outside formal care pathways with engagement frequently occurring at crisis points. 

This PhD project will investigate how mental health support pathways can be improved for minority ethnic communities by examining the relationship between informal coping mechanisms, community environments and formal service provision. The research will explore how individuals understand and respond to mental health challenges, the types of support they access and how these experiences intersect with (or remain disconnected from) NHS and community mental health services. 

Particular attention will be given to the role of social, cultural and environmental-based resources as part of broader social prescribing and preventative health approaches. The project will consider how these spaces may support wellbeing and how they could be better integrated into referral pathways. The research will use qualitative and participatory methods with opportunities to work closely with community organisations, healthcare providers and policy stakeholders. The findings will contribute to the development of more culturally responsive, accessible and preventative mental health systems. 

This project is well suited to applicants with interests in mental health, health inequalities, social policy, community research or public health and offers opportunities to develop advanced qualitative and applied research skills. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: d.newton@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-14 

Supervisor: Dr Louisa Horner

“Hidden Athletes”: Understanding and Enhancing the Participation and Engagement of Neurodiverse Girls in Sport and Physical Activity

Most neurodiversity research still focuses on boys, leaving the experiences of girls largely invisible. This invisibility is amplified in sport, where gendered expectations, and social norms create unique barriers to participation. Participation in sport supports neurodiverse individuals’ physical health, emotional regulation, executive functioning, and social connectedness. Yet neurodiverse girls often disengage early or avoid sport altogether due to sensory sensitivities, social anxiety, masking, negative school PE experiences, or exclusionary cultures and practices.  

Research Aim: To explore how neurodiverse girls experience participation and engagement in sport. 

Research Questions:  

1. How do neurodiverse girls describe their experiences of sport across school, community, and competitive settings?  

2. What personal, social, and institutional factors support or hinder their engagement?  

3. How do gendered expectations, masking, and late diagnosis shape their sporting identities and participation trajectories?  

4. What inclusive practices can enhance engagement for girls? 

Methodology: 

A multiple methods exploratory sequential design.  

Phase 1: Interviews, focus groups, world café approach, or participatory workshops to inform the intervention design      
Participants: girls (11–16) and their families      
Focus: experiences of PE, school sport, community sport, barriers and enablers      
Aim: identify what inclusive sport feels like from their perspective to inform and co-design an intervention  

Phase 2: Design and deliver an intervention to an experimental group and a comparator group      
Aim: identify how an inclusive environment (experimental group) impacts participation and retention.
Data collected during the intervention from girls and their families.  

Phase 3: Narrative interviews, focus groups, world café approach, or participatory workshops
Participants: girls (11–16) and their families
Focus: experiences of the intervention from experimental and comparator perspectives.
Aim: to establish the importance of additional support and types of support to the inclusion of neurodiverse girls in sport  

Phase 4: Thematic analysis to synthesise the findings. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: l.horner@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-11

Supervisor: Dr Tom Devlin

From coal centre to call centre: exploring language change through shifting employment patterns in North East England

This project charts the effect of changing employment patterns on the local accent of speakers from North East England. Building upon previous research which demonstrated that the loss of the coal mining industry entailed a decline in traditional speech features among local males, this project reflects how the industries which have taken mining’s place affect local people’s speech. 

The intention is to compare how people who work in manufacturing speak compared to those who work in the service sector. Manufacturing work in the region is no longer spread evenly across individual villages, where each community used to have its own pit. Instead, it is concentrated in a larger location outside the local area, with workers commuting from all over the wider area. This shift permits a wider exploration of the spatial effects of commuting, suburbanization, and place identity more generally on language contact, with the potential for dialect levelling or koineization to occur.      

Equally, a range of other service sector jobs have emerged, including contact centre work for national/multinational companies. These occupations are sensitive to how language is used by workers, given that a high degree of the work involved relates to convincing customers to buy a product, or to avoid complaining about a service.  

This project permits an investigation of the ways in which workers in manufacturing and service sectors speak similarly or differently from one another, and whether a linguistic work 'persona' exists in either or both of the work contexts. Contact centre workers might be expected to style-shift to more standard or 'clear' pronunciations due to the nature of their work, but equally there is evidence that contact centre locations are chosen based on the local accent's friendliness or relatability, so equally workers may be encouraged to shift towards their local vernacular with customers. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: t.devlin@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-17

Supervisor: Dr Emily Heavey

Sports opportunities, outcomes, and needs for children and young people with an amputation

While disability sport has received growing scholarly attention, there is a notable lack of research focused specifically on children and young people with an amputation. Consequently, little is known about the range and nature of sporting opportunities available to this group, how they navigate participation, or what outcomes they experience. Furthermore, the perspectives of families, sports providers, and rehabilitation professionals regarding current provision remain underexplored. 

This PhD aims to address these gaps by generating new empirical evidence on sport participation among children and/or young people with amputation. The study will explore young people’s lived experiences of sport, existing formal and informal sporting opportunities, and priorities for improving access, quality, and inclusion. By incorporating the voices of young people, families, and professionals, the research seeks to inform practice across education, community sport, and healthcare contexts. 

The successful candidate will have flexibility to adopt a qualitative or mixed‑methods design aligned with their interests and expertise. Potential phases include mapping sporting provision within a defined geographical area; ethnographic exploration of inclusive and exclusionary practices; interviews or focus groups with young people, families, and rehabilitation professionals; and participatory workshops to co‑develop recommendations for improvement. The project offers a unique opportunity to contribute original, practice‑relevant research with meaningful impact for policy, service delivery, and the everyday lives of young people with amputation.

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: e.e.heavey@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-09

Supervisor: Dr Joanna Blackburn

Understanding Wound Care in Self-Harm: A Compassion-Focused Self-Management Wound Care Approach.

Self-harm remains a significant public health issue, yet many people who self-injure experience inadequate, fragmented, or stigmatising care. Current approaches often focus on psychological risk assessment or crisis management, with limited attention to the physical consequences of self-harm, including wound care. As a result, some individuals may avoid formal healthcare and instead rely on informal or self-directed wound management, increasing the risk of infection, delayed treatment, and further distress. 

This PhD will explore how compassion-focused wound care approaches can improve experiences of care for people who self-harm and support healthcare professionals in providing more effective and non-stigmatising responses. The project will use a sequential mixed-methods design beginning with a systematic review of the evidence on the psychological impact of self-harm wound care and existing interventions. This will be followed by surveys and qualitative interviews with people with lived experience of self-harm and healthcare professionals involved in their care. Findings will inform a co-design phase to develop a compassion-focused framework for wound care self-management and professional education. 

The project will address an important gap in self-harm care by integrating emotional support, physical wound management, and healthcare professional training. It aligns with mental health, public health, and allied health research priorities, and has potential to improve compassionate care, reduce avoidance of services, and support safer wound management for people who self-harm. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: J.Blackburn3@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: HHS-2026-08

Supervisor: Dr Gurjog Bagri

Exploring Belonging and Impostorism in British South Asians University Students Using Photovoice 

Research has shown that imposterism leads to a challenging experience in specific groups, such as racially-minoritized students and contributes to feelings of unbelonging. Specific environments, such as universities, contain diverse platforms enabling students to explore their identities. However, belonging to multiple social categories, specifically race-class-gender intersections, shapes experiences and outcomes. Given the challenges that racially minoritized students face it is worth exploring if universities are facilitating or even hindering opportunities to ‘safely’ explore the experience of impostorism and belongingness in this group.

For students, being part of a working environment that is ‘safe’ can be conducive to positive learning by promoting greater participation in interpersonal risky behaviour such as speaking up or seeking support from staff or peers without experiencing the consequences. Furthermore, psychological safety is related to the development of a positive identity and possessing an authentic self. Importantly, the feeling that one belongs and feels ‘psychologically safe’ in a campus environment links to inclusiveness. Here, a student will feel a ‘sense of inclusion’ when they identify and connect themselves with the university community, producing a feeling of belongingness. This study will explore the voices of British South Asian students enrolled in a Northern, West Yorkshire university. Using a participatory action research design, photovoice will be implemented to explore how these subsets of students perceive and experience impostorism and belongingness, allowing them to construct knowledge about their realities in collaboration with researchers. Photovoice will be used as a research method because it involves participants taking pictures in their environment. Participants will then be asked to discuss their photographs, perceptions, and experiences with an interviewer. This study will examine impostorism and belongingness in the sample of students through the lens of photovoice. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: g.s.bagri@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: HHS-2026-10

Supervisor: Dr Joanna Blackburn

Understanding Wound Care in Self-Harm

Self-harm remains a significant public health concern, and people who self-harm often report negative or stigmatising experiences when seeking care. While existing support frequently focuses on psychological assessment and risk management, less attention has been given to experiences of wound care and self-management following self-injury. Some individuals may avoid formal healthcare due to previous negative experiences, instead managing wounds themselves, which can increase the risk of infection, delayed treatment, and further distress. 

This MSc project will explore how people who self-harm experience wound care and what could improve their care experiences. The study will focus on how individuals perceive, access, and engage with wound care, including barriers to seeking professional support and views on self-compassionate wound care approaches. 

The project will involve a systematic review and qualitative data collection through semi-structured interviews or focus groups with people who have lived experience of self-harm. Findings will help identify how wound care support could be made more compassionate, acceptable, and responsive to service users’ needs. 

This project aligns with mental health, public health, and allied health research priorities. It has potential to inform future development of compassionate wound care resources and improve understanding of how physical and emotional aspects of self-harm care can be better integrated. 

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: J.Blackburn3@hud.ac.uk 

ID Number: ID Number: HHS-2026-15

Supervisor: Dr Leeanne Olivant

What Makes a Good Social Worker: Learning From the Experiences of Children with Disabilities

Children with disabilities are significantly more likely to have contact with social work services than non-disabled children, yet their perspectives on social work practice remain under-represented in research. Existing studies often focus on the experiences of parents or professionals, meaning that we know relatively little about how children themselves understand and experience their relationships with social workers. This study will explore the question “what makes a good social worker?” from the perspectives of children with disabilities who have experience of social work involvement. By centring children’s own views, the research will generate new insights into what children value in their interactions with social workers, including communication, trust, feeling listened to, and relationship-building.  The study will also contribute to the development of inclusive and creative research methods that support meaningful participation of children with diverse communication needs in social work research. Findings will provide valuable insights for social work policy, practice, and education, helping to ensure that the experiences of children with disabilities inform how services are delivered and how future social workers are trained to engage with disabled children.

Deadline: Friday 19th June 2026

For subject specific enquiries please contact: l.olivant@hud.ac.uk