PhD Studentship: Time discounting risk preference, personal health behaviours and screening in older people

Excellent PhD opportunity at Queen's University Belfast

The Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Aging (NICOLA) uses a series of follow-up interviews of a random sample of 8500 people over 50. NICOLA will study important aspects of ageing and health. This project will use data linkages within NICOLA and other sources to explore behavioural economic theories which relate data on individual respondent’s time and risk preferences to health related behaviours in the areas of mental and physical health and wellbeing, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, physical activity and compliance in health screening programs. This economic data can be used to identify classes of respondents likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours and for whom special incentives and initiatives may be designed.