PhD – CARE-scapes: The role of language in person-centered acute dementia care for migrants

Have you ever considered the challenges of aging with dementia in a society whose dominant language you do not speak well? While language barriers are often cited as obstacles to equitable dementia care for older migrants, their nature and impact remain underexplored. Research on how home language input may support the mental and cognitive health of people with dementia (PWD) in migrant communities is particularly scarce.

What are you going to do?

Have you ever considered the challenges of aging with dementia in a society whose dominant language you do not speak well? While language barriers are often cited as obstacles to equitable dementia care for older migrants, their nature and impact remain underexplored. Research on how home language input may support the mental and cognitive health of people with dementia (PWD) in migrant communities is particularly scarce.

The CAREful about language project aims to improve dementia care for migrants and their caregivers by generating scientific insights into their language needs as a foundation for person-centred care. As a PhD candidate (1.0 fte), you work closely with supervisors, a fellow PhD student, a project assistant, and societal partners to advance this mission.

You are one of two PhD students driving change in migrant dementia care, contributing primarily to the CARE-scapes work package. You investigate the effect of person-centered home language input delivered through Virtual Reality (VR) on the psychosocial health of migrant PWD during acute hospitalization. Using this novel approach, you investigate whether VR-based home language input can reduce behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).

Over four years, you employ interdisciplinary methods from linguistics, medical, and social sciences to:

• Design and conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
• Evaluate technological tools that deliver home language input to reduce anxiety during acute hospitalization among migrant PWD.
• Examine the effects of these tools on long-term resilience following acute hospitalization.

For this position we are looking for someone with:

• A (Research) Master’s degree in any area related to the project, with a preference for a gerontology or geriatrics, nursing or psychology degree.
• Excellent academic written and oral skills in English.
• An additional native-like command of any migrant language(s) in the Netherlands. This may include but is not limited to Turkish, Moroccan Berber or Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Polish, Chinese, etc.
• Familiarity with RCT research designs and statistical analysis in R.
• A clear vision of the added value of interdisciplinary team science.

• 232 vacation hours per year, based on a 38-hour workweek (1.0 FTE). You can also work more or fewer hours in exchange for more or fewer free hours. For example, with a 40-hour workweek, you save 96 extra free hours, and with a 36-hour workweek, you lose 96 hours.
• End-of-year bonus of 8.3% and 8% holiday allowance.
• Extensive opportunities for personal and professional development.

At the University of Groningen (UG), researchers from all fields of academia and technology are working on academic challenges and societal questions. Lecturers prepare their students for meaningful careers within or outside the academic world. Interdisciplinary research and teaching, sharing of knowledge, collaboration with businesses, government institutions, and societal organizations are aspects that are of the utmost importance to this European top university. The UG aims to be an open academic community with an inclusive and safe working climate that invites you to add your value.

The Faculty of Arts is a large and dynamic faculty located in the heart of the city of Groningen. More than 5,500 students and 900 staff work every day at the frontiers of knowledge. The Faculty offers a diverse range of academic programmes, with 16 Bachelor's programmes and over 40 Master's programmes. With its strong international orientation, the Faculty conducts research in fields including archaeology, cultural studies, history, international relations, journalism, literature, and linguistics. If you would like to learn more about the Faculty of Arts, visit rug.nl/let. 

Programme

As a PhD candidate, you will join the Bilingualism and Aging Lab (BALAB). The Lab, led by PI Merel Keijzer, currently comprises three other staff members, one postdoc and eight other PhD candidates. It is embedded within the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG) and in particular the CLCG’s Neurolinguistics and Language Development (NLD) research group. In addition to the graduate training offered through the Graduate School Humanities (GSH), you will be enrolled in the training programme offered by the Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN). 

Do you have any questions or need more information?

Questions about the content of the job?
Merel Keijzer (Full Professor): M.C.J.Keijzer@rug.nl

Questions about your application process?
Marjolein Talsma (Teacher): m.w.talsma@rug.nl