Development of a Biopsychosocial-spiritual Wellbeing Toolkit for people with life-limiting illness

About the research project

People receiving palliative and end-of-life care experience complex distress that extends beyond physical symptoms. Advanced illness affects the whole person across biological, psychological, social, and spiritual domains. As a result, promoting wellbeing requires holistic approaches that address all dimensions of wellbeing, rather than focusing solely on disease management or symptom control. Experiences of wellbeing are highly individual and influenced by beliefs, values, life experiences, relationships, education, culture, and personal interests.

Existing toolkits for people with life-limiting illness largely focus on information provision, decision-making support, and symptom or comfort management (Cancer Council NSW, 2024; CareSearch, 2026). While valuable, these resources generally do not provide a comprehensive, person-centred collection of strategies that individuals can independently access and tailor to their changing needs and preferences. Similarly, integrated care approaches, including complementary therapies alongside biomedical treatments, are typically delivered within clinical settings and remain dependent on healthcare provider involvement.

There is a lack of comprehensive, evidence-based, theory-informed resources that support wellbeing across the biopsychosocial-spiritual domains for people living with advanced illness and their caregivers, regardless of diagnosis. Few resources are available in a flexible toolkit format that can be used across different care settings and adapted to changing circumstances throughout the illness trajectory.

Addressing this gap would make an important contribution to palliative and end-of-life care. A biopsychosocial-spiritual wellbeing toolkit, informed by consumers and experts and underpinned by a conceptual framework for self-management, would provide a practical, evidence-based resource to support wellbeing and quality of life for people living with life-limiting illness.

The research will adopt a sequential mixed methods design:

Phase 1 Evidence synthesis and thematic analysis

Systematic review of resources and modalities, identifying gaps, needs and implementation barriers in existing resources.

Phase 2 Co-Design and Toolkit Development

Co-design workshops or focus groups (patients, family caregivers, health and social care clinicians, community organisations) to collaboratively co-design the toolkit resources and preferred toolkit format/delivery including appraisal for different users of the resource and considerations of factors such as health literacy and overall usability across populations.

Phase 3 Refinement (Pilot testing) and implementation planning to prepare for real-world use

Pilot test resource with a broad stakeholder group: health/social care professionals including palliative care specialists, allied health professionals, spiritual care practitioners, consumer representatives, volunteers, family caregivers to evaluate content validity and perceived usability.

Primary supervisor

Meet Doctor Sara Karacsony

Funding

Applicants will self fund their studies, no Living Allowance scholarship is available for this project.

If successful, international applicants may receive a University of Tasmania Fees Offset for up to four years.

Other funding opportunities and fees

For further information regarding other scholarships on offer, and the various fees for undertaking a research degree, please visit our Scholarships and fees on research degrees page.

Eligibility

Applicants should review the Higher Degree by Research minimum entry requirements.

Ensure your eligibility for the scholarship round by referring to our Key Dates.

Additional eligibility criteria specific to this project/scholarship:

• Applications are open to Domestic or International applicants.
• International applicants must meet the IELT requirements and essential criteria.

Selection criteria

The project is competitively assessed and awarded. Selection is based on academic merit and suitability to the project as determined by the College.

Additional essential selection criteria specific to this project:

• Health care discipline background or related degree in public health and experience working with people with life-limiting illness in palliative and/or supportive care in health, aged and/or social care settings.

Application process

1. Select your project, and check that you meet the eligibility and selection criteria, including citizenship;
2. Contact Doctor Sara Karacsony to discuss your suitability and the project's requirements; and
3. In your application:
   • Copy and paste the title of the project from this advertisement into your application. If you don’t correctly do this your application may be rejected.
   • Submit a signed supervisory support form, a CV including contact details of 2 referees and your project research proposal.
4. Apply prior to 31 December 2026.

Full details of the application process can be found under the ' How to apply ' section of the Research Degrees website.

Following the closing date applications will be assessed within the College. Applicants should expect to receive notification of the outcome by email by the advertised outcome date.

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