PhD Student

Start date: October 2021 Mode: Part-time

Supervisor: Professor Angel Chater

Second Supervisor: Dr Martyn Morris

Advisor: Dr Neil Howlett

Partnerships

Study Active: Personal Training Courses & Fitness Qualifications

Working thesis title

Behaviour Change Training for Physical Activity Practitioners Working With People With Long Term Conditions

Abstract

Millions of people in the UK are living with long-term conditions, and at least 4 million of those also have mental health problems. It is well established that physical activity is beneficial for both physical and mental health, however many people with long term conditions aren’t meeting physical activity guidelines. Community based physical activity programmes or referral schemes give people with or at risk of long term conditions an opportunity to meeting with physical activity practitioners and to access options for physical activity. Though physical activity qualifications often include elements of behaviour change training, there is no baseline for the level of behaviour change support practitioners need to be able to provide to encourage long term behaviour change. This body of research aims to understand what behaviour change training practitioners are currently receiving and to produce recommendations for future training opportunities via actioning the objectives below.

Project Objectives

1. To systematically review the literature to establish how the Behaviour Change Wheel and its components are used in physical activity interventions for people with, or at risk of, non-communicable diseases which include real time deliverer contact, with specific focus on the education and training of those who deliver the intervention. (Study 1: Systematic Review)

2. To explore the experiences of and preferences for behaviour change training from physical activity practitioners working with people with long term conditions. (Study 2: Qualitative Semi-Structured Interviews)

3. To understand the impact of behaviour change training on physical activity practitioners behaviour when working with people with, or without, long term conditions to support their behaviour change. (Study 3: Quantitative Cross Sectional Survey)

4. To generate an expert consensus on the core content and mode of delivery for behaviour change education and training for physical activity practitioners who work with people with long term conditions. (Study 4: Delphi study)

Get involved

If you are working in the area of behaviour change and physical activity practitioners please don’t hesitate to get in contact (details below).

If you are a physical activity practitioner you can also support the research by completing this online survey

Publications

Brook-Rowland, P., & Finlay, K. A. (2022). Lack of Awareness, Body Confidence and Connotations of Sex: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Barriers Affecting the Decision to Attend Initial Cervical Cancer Screening. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-022-09819-y

Chater, A. M., Brook-Rowland, P., Tolani, F., Christopher, E., Hart, J., Byrne-Davis, L. M. T., Moffat, A., Shorter, G. W., Epton, T., Kamal, A., O’Connor, D. B., Whittaker, E., Lewis, L. J. M., McBride, E., Swanson, V., & Arden, M. A. (2023). Understanding a constellation of eight COVID-19 disease prevention behaviours using the COM-B model and the theoretical domains framework: A qualitative study using the behaviour change wheel. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1130875. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1130875

Manning, R., & Brook-Rowland, P. (2023). “The Bloody WhatsApp Thing”: A Qualitative Investigation of Experiences of Social Messaging in a Volunteering Setting. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 0(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2247557

Contact Information

Email: Phoebe.Brook-Rowland1@study.beds.ac.uk

LinkedIn: Phoebe Brook-Rowland