About us

The Special Interest Group focusing on research in the area of Prevention and Management of Long-Term Conditions spans a variety of issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, epilepsy, kidney disease, obesity, bipolar disorder, irritable bowel disease, physical disability and sarcopenia.

It further aims to understand and optimise the use of the healthcare system for the management of ill health.

Staff Members

• Dr Julia Fruer (SIG Lead)
• Professor Angel Chater
• Dr Mike Newell
• Dr Lindsey Smith
• Dr Jane Williams

PhD students

• Sarah Mackin: The evaluation of community physical activity programme for the benefits of long term conditions.

PhD student Alumni

• Dr Lindsay MacDonald (UCL): Development of an intervention to support self-management in bipolar disorder

MSc by Research students Alumni

• Lucie Mugridge: Evaluating how feasible a new mobile phone application is for reducing sitting behaviour and improving glucose (blood sugar) control in Type 2 diabetes
• Stephanie White: Associations of sedentary behaviour patterns with cardiometabolic risk in children: the Sit Less for Health study

Current grants/funding

• The Abbeyfield Research Foundation. £99,977. Bailey, D., Victor, C., Hewson, D. & Chater, A.  (Aug 2020). Reducing sarcopenia and maintaining independent living in frail older adults via reductions in sitting time: The Frail-LESS (LEss Sitting and Sarcopenia in Frail older adults) intervention. 18 month research grant
• Institute for Sport and Physical Activity (ISPAR): University of Bedfordshire. £3,966. Bailey, D., & Chater, A. (Mar, 2017). A mobile phone application and online platform to reduce sedentary behaviour and improve glucose regulation and psychological wellbeing in Type 2 diabetes. MSc by Research Studentship. 12 months.
• UCL Grand Challenges of Sustainable Cities. £3,982. Morrison, J. Baral, S., Khanal, S. & Chater, A. (2015, June). Beating diabetes in Nepal. 12 month research grant.

Recent papers

• McBride, E., Arden, M., Chater, A., & Chilcot, J. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on health behaviour, well-being, and long-term physical health. British Journal of Health Psychology. doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12520
• Spillane, D., Courtenay, M., Chater, A., Family, H., Whitaker, A., & Acton, J. H. (2021). Factors influencing the prescribing behaviour of independent prescriber optometrists: a qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. doi.org/10.1111/opo.12782
• Finlay, K. A., Hearn, J. H., & Chater, A. (2021). The impact of neurological disability and sensory loss on mindfulness practice. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-9. doi.10.1080/09638288.2021.1887946
• Courtenay, M. & Chater, A. (2021). Antimicrobial stewardship: a competency framework to support the role of nurses. Primary Health Care, 31(2). doi: 10.7748/phc.2021.e1709
• Lawes-Wickwar, S, Ghio, D., Tang, M.Y., Keyworth, C., Stanescu, S., Westbrook, J., Jenkinson, E., A.P., Kassianos, Scanlan, D., Garnett, N., Laidlaw, L., Howlett, N., Carr, N., Stanulewicz, N., Guest, E., Watson, D., Sutherland, L., Byrne-Davis, L., Chater, A., Hart, J., Armitage, C., Shorter, G., Swanson, V. & Epton, T. (2021: 14-01-21). A rapid systematic review of public responses to health messages encouraging vaccination against infectious diseases in a pandemic or epidemic. Vaccines, 9(2), 72.
• Chater, A. M., Smith, L., Ferrandino, L., Wyld, K., & Bailey, D. P. (2020). Health behaviour change considerations for weight loss and type 2 diabetes: nutrition, physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Practical Diabetes, 37(6), 228-231.
• Bailey, D., Mugridge, L., Dong, F., Zhang, X. & Chater, A. (2020). Randomised controlled feasibility study of the MyHealthAvatar-Diabetes smartphone app for reducing prolonged sitting time in Type 2 diabetes mellitus. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), 4414; doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124414
• Chapman, S., Sibelli, A., St-Clair Jones, A., Forbes, A., Chater, A. & Horne, R. (2020). Personalised adherence support for maintenance treatment of inflammatory bowel disease: A tailored digital intervention to change adherence-related beliefs and barriers. Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis. doi.org/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjz034
• Sécula, F., Erismann, S., Cerniciuc, C., Chater, A., Shabab, L., Glen, F., Curteanu, A., Serbulenco, A., Silitrari, N., Demiscan, D. & Prytherch, H. (2020). Evidence-based policy making for health promotion to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases in Moldova. BMC Proceedings, 14(1), 1-10
• Bailey DP, Hewson DJ, Champion RB, Sayegh SM. (2019) 'Sitting time and risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis', American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(3), pp.408-416.
• Chater, A., Williams, J. & Courtenay, M. (2019). The prescribing needs of community practitioner nurse prescribers: A qualitative investigation using the Theoretical Domains Framework and COM-B. Journal of Advanced Nursing. doi: 10.1111/jan.14170
• Gilmartin-Thomas, J., Sleath, B., Cooper Bailey, S., Carpenter, D., Chater, A., MacAllister, C., Pyzik, O., Wayman, B., Annis, I. & Smith, F. (2019). Preparing pharmacy students to communicate effectively with adolescents. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. doi: 10.1111/ijpp.12581
• Chater, A. (2018). Developing and applying translational behavioural science to improve population health and reduce inequalities. Health Psychology and Public Health. 2, (2), 5-7.
• Wei, L., Chapman, S., Li, X., Li, X., Li, S., Chen, R., Bo, N., Chater, A. & Horne, R. (2017). Beliefs about medicines and non-adherence in patients with stroke, diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study in China. BMJ Open, 7(10): e017293
• Cook, E., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A., Chater, A & Pang, D. (2016) Geographical dispersion of calls made to NHS Direct: The impact of location on the uptake of telephone based healthcare. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, 6(6), 39-47.
• Cook, E., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A., Chater, A, & Ali, N. (2015) Satisfaction of using a nurse-led telephone based healthcare service among mothers and caregivers of young children. Journal of Health Policy and Technology, 5: 113-122. Doi:10.1016/j.hlpt.2015.12.002
• Cook, E., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A., Chater, A. M. & Ali, N. (2014). A qualitative exploration of staff views towards the uptake of NHS Direct. Health Policy & Technology, 3, 132-138.
• Napier, D., Arcano, C., Butler, B., Calabrese, J., Chater, A. & Woolf, K. (2014). Lancet and University College London Commission on Cultures of Care. Lancet. 384 (9954): 1607-1639.
• Chater, A. M., Parham, R., Reilly, S., Hutchinson, A. & Horne, R. (2014). Profiling patient attitudes to phosphate-binding medication: A route to personalising renal treatment and adherence support. Psychology and Health, 29, (12) 1407-1420.
• Chapman, S. C. E., Horne, R., Chater, A., Smithson, W. H., & Hukins, D. (2014). Patients’ perspectives on antiepileptic medication: Relationships between beliefs about medicines and adherence among patients with epilepsy in UK primary care. Epilepsy and Behavior, 31, 312-320.
• Chater, A. M., Parham, R., Reilly, S., Hutchinson, A. & Horne, R. (2014). Profiling patient attitudes to phosphate-binding medication: A route to personalising renal treatment and adherence support. Psychology and Health, 29(12) 1407-1420.
• Cook, E. J., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A., Chater, A. M., &Ali, N. (2014). Barriers and facilitators to using NHS Direct: a qualitative study of users and non-users. BMC Health Services Research. 14: 487, doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0487-3
• Cook, E. J., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A., Chater, A. M., & Pang, D. (2014). Who uses NHS Direct? Investigating the impact of ethnicity and gender on the uptake of telephone based healthcare. International Journal for Equity in Health. 13: 99, doi:10.1186/s12939-014-0099-x
• Cook, E. J., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A., Chater, A. M., & Pang, D. (2013). Young people’s use of NHS Direct: a national study of symptoms and outcome of calls for children aged 0-15. BMJ Open, 3(12), e004106. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004106
• Cook, E., Randhawa, G., Large, S., Guppy, A. & Chater, A. (2013). Who uses telephone based helplines? Relating deprivation indices to users of NHS Direct. Health Policy and Technology, 2, 69-74.
• Kolotourou, M., Radley, D., Chadwick, P., Smith, L. R., Orfanos, S., Kapetanakis, V., Singhal, A., Cole, T., & Sacher, P. M. (2013). Is BMI alone a sufficient outcome to evaluate interventions for child obesity? Childhood Obesity, 9(4), 350–6.
• Kolotourou, M., Radley, D., Gammon, C. S., Smith, L. R., Chadwick, P., & Sacher, P. M. (2015). Long-term outcomes following the MEND 7-13 child weight management program. Childhood Obesity, 11(3), 1-6.
• Smith, L. R., Chadwick, P., Radley, D., Kolotourou, M., Gammon, C. S., Rosborough, J., & Sacher, P. M. (2013). Assessing the short-term outcomes of a community-based intervention for overweight and obese children: The MEND 5-7 programme. BMJ Open, 3(5),
  1–8.

Recent conference presentations

• Chater, A. & Wyld, K. A patient voice: The University of Bedfordshire exercise clinic. Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research (ISPAR) Annual Conference (Online, September, 2020).
• Brierley, M., Chater, A.Smith, L., & Bailey, D. The effectiveness of sedentary behaviour reduction workplace interventions on cardiometabolic risk markers: A systematic review and assessment of behaviour change techniques. BPS Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference (Manchester, July 2019)
• Chapman, S., Sibelli, A., Bondarek, P., Horne, R., Forbes, A., Driscoll, R.,& Chater, A.  Modifying adherence-related beliefs in inflammatory bowel disorder: Randomized controlled trial of an online intervention. Paper presented at International Congress of Behavioural Medicine, Groningen, (The Netherlands, August, 2014).
• Page, A. & Smith, L. R.  Identifying the prevalence and determinants of Metabolically Healthy Obesity in Male Rugby Players. Paper presented at BASES Student Conference. (March, 2014). 
• Radley, D., Gammon, C. S, Chadwick, P., Kolotourou, M., Smith, L. R., Cole, T., Sacher, P. M. Two-year Follow-up of a Community-based Intervention for Childhood Obesity: the MEND Program. Paper presented at The Obesity Society Conference. (July, 2013)