School for Public Health Research (NIHR SPHR)

Project details

UCL is one of eight leading academic centres with excellence in applied public health research which make up the NIHR School for Public Health Research (NIHR SPHR). The NIHR SPHR aims to build the evidence base for effective public health practice. SPHR research looks at what works practically to improve population health and reduce health inequalities, which can be applied across the country and meets the needs of policymakers, practitioners and the public.

The NIHR School for Public Health Research is a partnership between the Universities of Sheffield; Bristol; Cambridge; Imperial; and University College London; The London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); LiLaC – a collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool and Lancaster; and Fuse - The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities.

UCL is one of eight leading academic centres with excellence in applied public health research which make up the NIHR School for Public Health Research (NIHR SPHR). The NIHR SPHR aims to build the evidence base for effective public health practice. SPHR research looks at what works practically to improve population health and reduce health inequalities, which can be applied across the country and meets the needs of policymakers, practitioners and the public.

The NIHR School for Public Health Research is a partnership between the Universities of Sheffield; Bristol; Cambridge; Imperial; and University College London; The London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); LiLaC – a collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool and Lancaster; and Fuse - The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health a collaboration between Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside Universities.

Several UCL-led projects have been funded through this programme including SMI-smoking which aims to address inequalities in access to smoking cessation support for people with mental health problems, an extension of the ATS (Alcohol Toolkit Study) project, and a project aiming to optimising the alcohol reduction app Drink Less.

From April 2019 to March 2022, the NIHR SPHR will focus its research on three programmes -  Public Mental Health, Places and Communities, and Children, Young People and Families – and three cross-cutting themes – Changing Behaviour at Population Level, Health Inequalities and Efficient and Equitable Public Health Systems.

UCL involvement in the SPHR is led by Professor Susan Michie, Professor Rosalind Raine, Professor Russell Viner, Professor David Osborn, and Professor Kate Walters.
The current SPHR grant follows on from the previous grant which ran April 2012 - March 2017. Within the previous round, UCL was involved in the School-wide Programmes on Alcohol and Ageing. Other projects funded through the first phase of SPHR included the Active Buildings project (Professor Alexi Marmot) and an evaluation of the Coping Through Football initiative (Dr Oliver Mason).

Publications

Beard, E., Brown, J., West, R., Drummond, C., Kaner, E., & Michie, S. (2019). Predictive Validity, Diagnostic Accuracy and Test-Retest Reliability of the Strength of Urges to Drink (SUTD) Scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(19), 3714. doi:10.3390/ijerph16193714

Beard, E., Marsden, J., Brown, J., Tombor, I., Stapleton, J., Michie, S., & West, R. (2019). Understanding and using time series analyses in addiction research. Addiction, 114(10), 1866–1884. doi:10.1111/add.14643

Angus, C., Brown, J., Beard, E., Gillespie, D., Buykx, P., Kaner, E. F. S., … Meier, P. (2019). Socioeconomic inequalities in the delivery of brief interventions for smoking and excessive drinking: findings from a cross-sectional household survey in England. BMJ Open, 9(4), e023448. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023448

Garnett, C., Crane, D., West, R., Brown, J., & Michie, S. (2019). The development of Drink Less: an alcohol reduction smartphone app for excessive drinkers. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 9(2), 296–307. doi:10.1093/tbm/iby043

Beard, E., Brown, J., West, R., Kaner, E., Meier, P., & Michie, S. (2019). Associations between socio-economic factors and alcohol consumption: A population survey of adults in England. PLOS ONE, 14(2), e0209442. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209442

Garnett, C., Perski, O., Tombor, I., West, R., Michie, S., & Brown, J. (2018). Predictors of Engagement, Response to Follow Up, and Extent of Alcohol Reduction in Users of a Smartphone App (Drink Less): Secondary Analysis of a Factorial Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR MHealth and UHealth, 6(12), e11175. doi:10.2196/11175

Garnett, C. V., Crane, D., Brown, J., Kaner, E. F. S., Beyer, F. R., Muirhead, C. R., … Michie, S. (2018). Behaviour Change Techniques Used in Digital Behavior Change Interventions to Reduce Excessive Alcohol Consumption: A Meta-regression. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(6), 530–543. doi:10.1093/abm/kax029

Dunne, J., Kimergård, A., Brown, J., Beard, E., Buykx, P., Michie, S., & Drummond, C. (2018). Attempts to reduce alcohol intake and treatment needs among people with probable alcohol dependence in England: a general population survey. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 113(8), 1430–1438. doi:10.1111/add.14221

O’Donnell, A., Abidi, L., Brown, J., Karlsson, N., Nilsen, P., Roback, K., … Thomas, K. (2018). Beliefs and attitudes about addressing alcohol consumption in health care: a population survey in England. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 391. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5275-2

Crane, D., Garnett, C., Michie, S., West, R., & Brown, J. (2018). A smartphone app to reduce excessive alcohol consumption: Identifying the effectiveness of intervention components in a factorial randomised control trial. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 4384. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22420-8

Garnett, C., Crane, D., Brown, J., Kaner, E., Beyer, F., Muirhead, C., … Michie, S. (2018). Reported Theory Use by Digital Interventions for Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Consumption, and Association With Effectiveness: Meta-Regression. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(2), e69. doi:10.2196/jmir.8807

de Vocht, F., Brown, J., Beard, E., West, R., Michie, S., Campbell, R., & Hickman, M. (2018). Motivation to reduce alcohol consumption and subsequent attempts at reduction and changes in consumption in increasing and higher-risk drinkers in England: a prospective population survey. Addiction, 113(5), 817–827. doi:10.1111/add.14132

Beard, E., West, R., Michie, S., & Brown, J. (2017). Association between smoking and alcohol-related behaviours: a time-series analysis of population trends in England. Addiction, 112(10), 1832–1841. doi:10.1111/add.13887