Advanced Modules in Behaviour Change

The modular structure of this course allows participants to develop specialist knowledge and skills in behaviour change according to their areas of interest.

How to plan, write and disseminate effective policy briefs 

Effective communication with policy makers includes researchers producing policy briefs which are brief summaries of research findings with key actionable and measurable recommendations. Policy briefs are a useful way to raise awareness of research evidence relevant to informing policy. Writing to influence policy requires a different skill set to those often nurtured and celebrated in academia, and thus, many researchers find the brief the most difficult policy tool to write. This module will present advice with illustrative examples to support participants to write summaries of their research in a clear, succinct, non-academic language, develop a dissemination plan, produce effective policy briefs and consider how to measure their impact. 

Date: 17 October 2022         
Time: 1:30pm - 5pm
Facilitators: Professor Angel Chater & Dr Vivi Antonopolou
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Changing behaviour in systems

Behaviour is heavily influenced by context and the systems within which it is embedded. Greater understanding of how systems operate to influence behaviour can enhance the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions. This module will draw together principles of behaviour change and systems thinking to address behavioural problems within systems such as organisations and communities. Participants will be introduced to the principles of understanding behaviour in systems and how to describe and analyse this using the methodology of behavioural systems mapping.

Date: 18 October 2022 
Time: 9am - 5pm
Facilitators: Professor Susan Michie, Dr Paul Chadwick, Dr Jo Hale, Dr Esther Flanagan & Dr Vivi Antonopoulou
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Influencing motivation

This module will review and analyse theories of motivation to help participants design behaviour change interventions. It will introduce the integrative PRIME Theory of Motivation and show how it can support a broadly based, systems approach to intervention design.

Date: 19 October 2022
Time: 9am - 12:30pm
Facilitators: Professor Robert West
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Linking behaviour change techniques to theory

There are many theories of behaviour change but little research explicitly uses them to develop interventions. One reason may be that the theories are not sufficiently precisely formulated to specify how to design interventions using theory. This workshop will describe empirical work aimed at clarifying the links between theory and intervention and introduce the online resource, the Theory-and-Techniques-Tool. This should enable participants to identify links between behaviour change techniques and theoretical constructs, making it easier to develop and evaluate interventions, synthesise evidence, test theory and foster collaborations. This should improve the use and usefulness of theory, improve interventions and our understanding of effective interventions, and advance methods for testing theory.

Date: 19 October 2022 
Time: 1:30pm - 5pm
Facilitators: Professor Susan Michie & Professor Marie Johnston
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

The Human Behaviour-Change Project: using AI and machine learning to predict the outcomes of behaviour change interventions

There is a huge and rapidly growing literature describing the outcomes of behaviour change interventions. Accessing the information, even in a limited way, is extremely expensive and time-consuming so most of the evidence is never used. This is partly because of the volume of information and partly the way it is reported. The Human Behaviour-Change Project has sought to address this by creating an ‘ontology’ to help structure the information and using this to train an AI system based on machine learning to extract information automatically from published reports and make predictions. This module will allow participants to gain an insight into the workings of the HBCP and discuss its uses going forward.

Date: 20 October 2022
Time: 9am - 5pm
Facilitators: Professor Robert West, Professor Janna Hastings, Professor Susan Michie
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Applying the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) Toolbox in Process Evaluation

The process evaluation module will consist of a set of webinars. Key content will be broken down into digestible chunks with time allocated to apply learning to learners’ own interventions and gain support on how to prioritise different aspects of process evaluation based on available resources. Example content covered in webinars will include “What is Process Evaluation and how does it relate to Outcome Evaluation?”, “Implementation and Fidelity” and “Acceptability and Mechanisms of Change”.

Date: 21 October 2022 
Time: 9am - 5pm
Facilitators: Dr Fabi Lorencatto & Dr Danielle D’Lima
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Applying the Behaviour Change Wheel in practice

This course will teach learners to translate foundational knowledge of the behaviour change wheel into practice. It will provide practical opportunities to apply the steps of the behaviour change wheel (from defining behaviours and developing a behavioural diagnosis, to designing interventions and policy options) and show participants different options for how they can draw on research and stakeholder feedback (at different levels depending on resource and skills). Overall, this course aims to help participants feel better equipped to apply behaviour change theory in their own organisations. 

Date: 24 October 2022     
Time: 10am - 3pm
Facilitators: Dr Kristina Curtis & Dr Esther Flanagan 
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Introduction to the Paper Authoring Tool (PAT), an online aid to writing up intervention evaluations

Even highly experienced researchers struggle to write up intervention evaluations, and even published intervention evaluations often omit crucial information or present information in a way that is hard to interpret. PAT is a free online tool that provides users with detailed prompts to ensure that all the required information is presented and helps users to present it accurately. This module will provide participants with everything they need to get started with PAT and give them an opportunity to try it out with guidance from PAT’s designer.

Date: 16 November 2022
Time: 9am - 5pm
Facilitator: Professor Robert West
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Writing for publication 

This module will help researchers have a better understanding of how to get their research published in a peer-reviewed journal in the social and behavioural sciences.  Led by an Associate Editor of a Wiley Journal, this module will provide step-by-step guidance in writing for publication in a peer-reviewed journal from the Abstract to the Discussion.  The module will also focus on how to respond effectively to reviewers’ comments. Short lectures will be interspersed with group activities. The module will conclude with tips for using time wisely and being productive with writing outputs. 

Date: tbc November 2022         
Time: (0.5 day)
Facilitators: Professor Leslie Gutman 
To register your interest in this module, please email behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Fees

Cancellation Policy
 

• Delegates are entitled to a full refund providing they request a cancellation within 7 days of booking
• After 7 days of the booking, and up to 15 days before the event, delegates can request to cancel the booking and will be entitled to a refund of 80% of the total booking price
• If there are 14 days or less to the event delegates can cancel their bookings but are not entitled to a refund.
• Please note that delegates booking within 14 days or less of the event can still cancel, but unlike point 1 where they would be entitled to a full refund, delegates will not be entitled to a refund.

Please send any questions relating to cancellations to behaviourchange@ucl.ac.uk.

Alumni

There are many examples of our Alumni putting Summer School learning into practice, including private and public sector organisations revising their behaviour change strategies. Some academic publications include:

• Applying the COM-B behaviour model and behaviour change wheel to develop an intervention to improve hearing-aid use in adult auditory rehabilitation.
• Barriers and Recommended Interventions to Prevent Melioidosis in Northeast Thailand: a focus group study using the Behaviour Change Wheel.
• Increasing the frequency of physical activity very brief advice for cancer patients. Development of an intervention using the Behaviour Change Wheel.

Stay in touch

We encourage International Training Programme participants to stay in touch and share their learning by joining the ITP’s LinkedIn group.