Brief interventions and making every contact count

Testing health behaviour interventions delivered within routine NHS healthcare consultations and public health settings.

Millions of deaths annually can be attributed to insufficient physical activity and obesity. There are day-to-day interactions with the public where we can intervene to change health behaviours. Our research is pioneering novel health behaviour interventions for physical activity and weight management in primary care, community health and public health settings.

One project we are working on is developing a novel physical activity approach called SnacktivityTM which involves NHS health professionals routinely encouraging patients within consultations, to accumulate small ‘snacks’ of physical activity throughout the whole day.

Theme leads

Claire Madigan

Dr Claire Madigan

Lecturer

Amanda Daley

Professor Amanda Daley

Professor of Behavioural Medicine, Centre Director

Research spotlights

Small changes

Physical activity in primary care

Active Advent

A woman looks at dessert options in a supermarket

Small change approach to prevent weight gain

A dentist talks to a patient in the chair

Weight management at the dentist

2024

  • Large JF, Madigan CD, Graham H, Biddle GJH, Sanders J, Daley AJ. Public and dental teams' views about weight management interventions in dental health settings: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews. 2024. DOI: 10.1111/obr.13726

2023

  • Graham H, Madigan C, Daley AJ. A randomised controlled trial to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a small change approach to prevent weight gain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2023. DOI: 10.1007/s10865-023-00455-1

  • Daley AJ, Griffin RA, Moakes CA, Sanders JP, Skrybant M, Ives N, Maylor B, Greenfield SM, Gokal K, Parretti HM, Biddle SJH, Greaves C, Maddison R, Mutrie N, Esliger DW, Sherar LB, Edwardson CL, Yates T, Frew E, Tearne S, Jolly K. Snacktivity™ to promote physical activity and reduce future risk of disease in the population: protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial and nested qualitative study. Pilot Feasibility Stud, 2023. DOI: 10.1186/s40814-023-01272-8

  • Krouwel M, Greenfield SM, Chalkley A, Sanders JP, Parretti HM, Gokal K, et al. Promoting participation in physical activity through Snacktivity: A qualitative mixed methods study. PLoS ONE, 2023. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291040

  • Daley AJ, Griffin RA, Moakes CA, Sanders JP, Skrybant M, Ives N, Maylor B, Greenfield SM, Gokal K, Parretti HM, Biddle SJH, Greaves C, Maddison R, Mutrie N, Esliger DW, Sherar L, Edwardson CL, Yates T, Frew E, Tearne S, Jolly K. Snacktivity™ to promote physical activity and reduce future risk of disease in the population: protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial and nested qualitative study, Pilot and Feasibility Studies 2023. DOI: 10.1186/s40814-023-01272-8

  • Biddle GJH, Thomas N, Edwardson CL, Clemes SA, Daley AJ. Burnout, psychological wellbeing and musculoskeletal complaints in general practitioners. BJGP Open, 2023. DOI: 10.3399/BJGPO.2023.0007

2022

  • Biddle GJH, Sanders JP, Gokal K, Madigan CD, Thomas JJC, Pyle A et al. A Christmas themed physical activity intervention to increase participation in physical activity during Advent: pilot randomised controlled trial BMJ 2022; 379 :e072807 doi:10.1136/bmj-2022-072807

  • Kettle V, Madigan CD, Coombe A, Graham H, Thomas JJC, Chalkley AE, Daley AJ. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions delivered or prompted by health professionals in primary care settings: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. The BMJ. 2022. DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068465

  • Daley A, Time to get our teeth into reducing obesity: should dentists screen and deliver interventions to reduce obesity in the population? British Dental Journal. 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41415-022-3872-z 

2020

  • Tudor K, Tearne S, Jebb SA, Lewis A, Adab P, Begh R, Jolly K, Daley AJ et al. Gender differences in response to an opportunistic brief intervention for obesity in primary care: Data from the BWeL trial Clinical Obesity, 2020, e12418. DOI: 10.1111/cob.12418

Weight loss interventions in primary care

Strategies to lose weight

  • The role of dentists in screening for obesity and delivering weight management interventions. Led by Jess Large.
  • The effectiveness of the small change approach for weight management. Led by Henrietta Graham.
  • Evaluation of a weight management interventions for postnatal women embedded within child immunisation appointments in primary care (PiMMS). Funded by NIHR. Led by Amanda Daley.
  • The PRE-WELL study: does pre-operative weight loss improve surgical outcomes and long-term behaviour change? Led by Claire Madigan.