Funded PhD: Co-creating an open source health economic model for national decisions on care in Alzheimer's disease and dementia

• Principal investigator(s) Dr Jonathan Briody, Dr Emma O'Shea, Dr Fiona Boland
• Research theme Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders, Population Health and Health Services

Alzheimer's disease and dementia (AD) represent a significant and growing socioeconomic challenge globally and in Ireland, with estimated annual costs reaching €2 billion, half-borne informally by family carers.

National decisions on healthcare resource allocation typically rely on health economic cost-effectiveness analysis. However, current methods applied to AD may be flawed. Generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures often used in these analyses show poor reliability and validity in the AD context, failing to capture disease complexities and potentially leading to inappropriate conclusions about the value of interventions. Condition-specific HRQOL tools exist but are not commonly employed in economic modelling.  

Furthermore, the significant costs and quality of life impacts experienced by family carers are frequently omitted from analyses. Systematic reviews show that including carer impacts often reverses conclusions about an intervention's cost-effectiveness.

Pilot work completed by applying a simplified version of the proposed study model to AD in the Irish setting, demonstrates that incorporating family carer data and appropriately considering quality of life and costs for people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia (PwAD), shifts conclusions on cost-effectiveness, such that some care decisions would move to now be nationally recommended under HSE thresholds.  

This indicates a critical gap: currently applied health economic models used for national decision-making in AD care may systematically undervalue interventions by failing to accurately capture disease costs and quality of life impacts for both PwAD and their family carers.

This project's approach aims to produce a more accurate and meaningful decision-making tool tailored to the AD population, improving healthcare delivery and outcomes for this growing public health concern.

This research project is funded by Research Ireland.

Tenure: Four years

Start date: 1 September 2025

Specification

Minimum requirements

• Upper second class (2.1) honours degree (NFQ Level 8) or equivalent in a quantitatively focused or health-related discipline – e.g. health economics, economics, statistics, public health, pharmacy, mathematics/biostatistics, data analytics, epidemiology, health-services research, psychology, sociology.
• Eligible to register as a full-time research student at RCSI and to take up the post on 1 September 2025.
• Applicants whose first language is not English must present IELTS ≥ 6.5 overall with no band < 6.0, or an equivalent TOEFL/PTE score.

Desirable candidate specifications

• The aim of this study is to create an open-source health-economic model for AD in Ireland that accurately reflects the attitudes and preferences of PwAD and their family caregivers. The candidate will assist the project PI in collecting and analysing data from PwAD and their family caregivers using various methods, including a systematic literature review to identify the lived experience of the costs of AD, a psychometric analysis of the health-related quality of life of PwAD and their caregivers using AD specific questionnaires applied in workshops, a thematic analysis of interviews with PwAD and their caregivers to gain insight into their experiences and challenges relating to AD, and a preference elicitation technique known as the analytic hierarchy process to capture the values and trade-offs of PwAD and their caregivers for different care options, which will then be studied in this open-source model.
• The candidate will support the project PI in using the data from these methods to develop a health-economic model, which will compare the costs and benefits of different care options for AD. The candidate will then test the model with a real-world example of an intervention that PwAD and their caregivers have chosen. Subsequently, they will make the model publicly accessible through an online platform, where anyone can use it or modify it to suit their needs.
• A health economic or economic background is desirable but not mandatory. Candidates from other quantitative or health-related disciplines, such as public health, pharmacy, mathematics, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, health services research, health policy, psychology, and sociology, who demonstrate analytical skills are encouraged to apply.

Application process

Please apply for the research project through the link below.

Applications must include:

• A completed application form
• English language requirements