2022 Annual Report Behaviour Change

The Behaviour Change group continues to promote and support research incorporating behavioural science in primary care. We have over 80 members, including clinical and non-clinical researchers, from a wide range of disciplines. 

We have held informal meetings and conferences to support networking and held training events relating to new techniques and approaches for developing behaviour change interventions in primary care.

Activities this year:

We hosted a workshop in May 2022 on using the Person-Based Approach for developing behavioural interventions in primary care. The Person-Based Approach (PBA) describes a framework for using iterative mixed methods research combined with theory and PPI/stakeholder input to plan, optimise, evaluate and implement behavioural health interventions. It is an internationally recognised framework and is recommended by the new MRC and INDEX guidance for developing behavioural health interventions, such as involving stakeholders, understanding context, and developing a programme theory. See https://www.personbasedapproach.org/ for more detail.

This workshop was delivered by a team of primary care researchers, including three of the four co-creators of the Person-Based Approach. Spaces were initially offered to Behaviour Change SIG members before being we advertised to members of SAPC more widely.

The workshop was attended by 33 primary care researchers from a wide range of disciplines including clinicians and non-clinicians. Upon registration attendees were asked about their experience of developing behavioural interventions and what they hope to get from the workshop, and we were able to tailor the workshop activities and break-out sessions accordingly.

The breakout sessions were designed to foster discussion and networking, and feedback from the workshop was very positive.

Future plans:

We are hoping to host another SIG workshop in 2023, details to be confirmed.

We plan to hold another virtual meeting, either as a stand-alone event or to coincide with a future SAPC conferences, where researchers can present ongoing behaviour change studies.