The newly-established AWARD Network (Advancing Workforce Analysis and Research for Dementia Network) will offer programs and activities to create a strong community of researchers engaged in research on the direct care workforce and its role in care for people living with dementia. The AWARD Network will develop infrastructure and relationships to generate research that supports evidence-based policy and practice to advance the capacity of the direct care workforce in serving people living with dementia. This work will ultimately inform policy leaders and healthcare organizations striving to ensure appropriate care and reduce health disparities for this population. Activities of the AWARD Network will include: (1) hosting an annual meeting, (2) holding monthly virtual trainings, webinars, and workshops, (3) organizing two Summer Training Institutes, (4) supporting competitive research internships, (5) directly funding pilot research, and (6) developing resources and data to harmonize and accelerate research.
The AWARD Network is linked to the UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care (HWRC), which is supported by a collaborative agreement with the U.S. National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (in the Health Resources and Services Administration). The HWRC conducts research on a wide range of topics related to the workforce that serves individuals with long-term care needs. Past projects conducted by the HWRC have considered the full range of long-term care occupations – including direct care workers, geriatricians, nurses, social workers, and community paramedics – and all settings in which long term services and supports are provided.
These programs are based at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS). IHPS is a University of California Organized Research Unit dedicated to improving the health of all through evidence-informed policy. We are an interdisciplinary group of researchers who seek to improve health and transform healthcare in America by working across competing interests, collecting evidence, informing policy, and improving practice. Our researchers work across disciplines, championing improved health and better healthcare by generating, sharing, and advocating for new evidence with practitioners and policymakers who can put it to work. This work is facilitated by being based at a health sciences campus focused on graduate-level education, science, and community engagement. We are the administrative home of 11 faculty and our campus-wide network includes more than 20 additional core faculty and more than 100 affiliated faculty and staff with backgrounds in anthropology, dentistry, economics, epidemiology, ethics, journalism, law, medicine, nursing, political science, public health, public policy, sociology, and other disciplines. Our areas of research include patient experience and quality of care, health equity, social determinants of health, healthcare value and economics, access to care and insurance, healthcare workforce, aging and long-term care, informatics and digital health, child and adolescent health, industry influences on health, substance use and mental health, gender and reproductive health, behavioral factors and health, and environmental effects on health. Faculty teach in the Institute’s Master’s Degree in Health Policy and Law program, in degree programs in other UCSF departments, and in the UCSF professional schools. The Post-Doctoral Scholar will have opportunities to participate in many professional activities, including Works-in-Progress seminars and other programs of IHPS and UCSF.
The Post-Doctoral Scholar also will have a relationship with Healthforce Center at UCSF, which has 30 years of experience in workforce and evaluation research. These efforts have encompassed short (months) and long-term (years) projects, qualitative and quantitative methods, and single and multi-site projects. Our work has addressed a range of health professions, including nursing, behavioral health, long-term care assistants, paramedicine, physicians, community health, public health, and oral health workforce, within all levels of care in delivery systems across the nation.
Site: San Francisco Bay Area or remote; on-site presence is required for some program work, approximately quarterly
Affiliation: Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies - University of California- San Francisco (UCSF).
Duration: One year, with the potential for extension to up to three years.
Effort: 100%; Full-time
Start date: Negotiable; no later than July 1, 2023
Equal Employment Opportunity: The University of California San Francisco is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
The Post-Doctoral Scholar will serve as Program Coordinator for the AWARD Network, with the remainder of their time supported by the UCSF HWRC. The Postdoctoral Scholar will work closely with the leadership team of the AWARD Network in the development of training, shared data, and collaboration activities. The Scholar will support development of resources and data on the direct care workforce, communications with Network stakeholders, and creation of curricula. For the HWRC, the Scholar will lead or contribute to one or more research projects annually, most of which will involve quantitative analysis. Each year’s projects are developed collaboratively with the U.S. National Center for Health Workforce Analysis; the specific projects on which the Scholar will work will depend on the specific projects launched for the year. The Scholar have opportunities to lead projects and author or co-author peer-reviewed publications and reports for both the AWARD Network and the HWRC.
Applicants with a PhD in public health, gerontology, public policy, any social science, epidemiology, nursing, or a related field, or a clinical doctorate and health services research training, are encouraged to apply. PhD must be conferred by the date of hire. Applicants must have experience with quantitative analysis methods. Applicants with expertise in long-term care policy and practice, health workforce research, and/or Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia will be prioritized.
Interested applicants can send a cover letter, CV and list of referees to Catherine Woodward Calder ([email protected]).