Behavioural Interventions for Obese Adults with Additional Risk Factors for Morbidity : Systematic Review of Effects on Behaviour, Weight and Disease Risk Factors

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Interplay between spin-relaxation and Andreev reflection in ferromagnetic wires with superconducting contacts

We analyze the change in the resistance of a junction between a diffusive ferromagnetic (F) wire and normal metal electrode, due to the onset of superconductivity (S) in the latter and a double Andreev scattering process leading to a complete internal reflection of a large fraction of the spin-polarized electrons back into the ferromagnet. The superconducting transition results in an additional contact resistance arising from the necessity to match spin-polarized current in F-wire to spin-less current in S-reservoir, which is comparable to the resistance of a piece of a F-wire with the length equal to the spin-relaxation length.Comment: 4 pages, 2 fig

Multiple goals and time constraints : perceived impact on physicians' performance of evidence-based behaviours

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Goal conflict, goal facilitation, and health professionals' provision of physical activity advice in primary care : An exploratory prospective study

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Motivational, volitional and multiple goal predictors of walking in people with type 2 diabetes

Acknowledgment MN’s PhD scholarship was provided by Ministry of Health and Medical Education (Islamic Republic of Iran). This study was funded by the University of Aberdeen reference number: GP007RGC1618. FFS is funded by Fuse, the UK Clinical Research Collaboration Centre of Excellence for Translational Research in Public Health (grant number: MR/K02325X/1). The researchers gratefully acknowledge all the Type 2 diabetic patients and their household members who participated in the study for their contribution to this study; without them there would be no data. The researchers gratefully acknowledge the SDRN for providing the list of Type 2 diabetes and helping for sampling.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Do investors care about impact?

We assess how investors’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for sustainable investments responds to the social impact of those investments, using a framed field experiment. While investors have a substantial WTP for sustainable investments, they do not pay significantly more for more impact. This also holds for dedicated impact investors. When investors compare several sustainable investments, their WTP responds to relative, but not to absolute, levels of impact. Regardless of investments’ impact, investors experience positive emotions when choosing sustainable investments. Our findings suggest that the WTP for sustainable investments is primarily driven by an emotional, rather than a calculative, valuation of impact

“You Can't Always Get What You Want” : A Novel Research Paradigm to Explore the Relationship between Multiple Intentions and Behaviours

Acknowledgements Falko F. Sniehotta is funded by Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, a United Kingdom Clinical Research Collaboration Public Health Research Centre of Excellence based on funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research United Kingdom, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, and the National Institute for Health.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Acceptability of financial incentives for health behaviour change to public health policymakers: a qualitative study

Abstract Background Providing financial incentives contingent on healthy behaviours is one way to encourage healthy behaviours. However, there remains substantial concerns with the acceptability of health promoting financial incentives (HPFI). Previous research has studied acceptability of HPFI to the public, recipients and practitioners. We are not aware of any previous work that has focused particularly on the views of public health policymakers. Our aim was to explore the views of public health policymakers on whether or not HPFI are acceptable; and what, if anything, could be done to maximise acceptability of HPFI. Methods We recruited 21 local, regional and national policymakers working in England via gatekeepers and snowballing. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with participants exploring experiences of, and attitudes towards, HPFI. We analysed data using the Framework approach. Results Public health policymakers working in England acknowledged that HPFI could be a useful behaviour change tool, but were not overwhelmingly supportive of them. In particular, they raised concerns about effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, potential ‘gaming’, and whether or not HPFI address the underlying causes of unhealthy behaviours. Shopping voucher rewards, of smaller value, targeted at deprived groups were particularly acceptable to policymakers. Participants were particularly concerned about the response of other stakeholders to HPFI – including the public, potential recipients, politicians and the media. Overall, the interviews reflected three tensions. Firstly, a tension between wanting to trust individuals and promote responsibility; and distrust around the potential for ‘gaming the system’. Secondly, a tension between participants’ own views about HPFI; and their concerns about the possible views of other stakeholders. Thirdly, a tension between participants’ personal distaste of HPFI; and their professional view that they could be a valuable behaviour change tool. Conclusions There are aspects of design that influence acceptability of financial incentive interventions to public health policymakers. However, it is not clear that even interventions designed to maximise acceptability would be acceptable enough to be recommended for implementation. Further work may be required to help policymakers understand the potential responses of other stakeholder groups to financial incentive interventions

Randomised controlled feasibility trial of an evidence-informed behavioural intervention for obese adults with additional risk factors

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Participants' perspectives on making and maintaining behavioural changes in a lifestyle intervention for type 2 diabetes prevention: A qualitative study using the theory domain framework

Objectives: In a qualitative substudy, we sought to elicit participants' perspectives of their behavioural change and maintenance of new behaviours towards intervention optimisation. Setting: The intervention was delivered in leisure and community settings in a local authority, which according to the UK government statistics ranks as 1 of the 10 most socioeconomically deprived areas in England. Participants: We recruited 218 adults aged 40-65 years at elevated risk of type 2 diabetes (Finnish Diabetes Risk Score≥11) to the intervention. Follow-up at 12 months was completed by 134 (62%). We recruited 15 participants, purposively sampled for physical activity increase, to the qualitative substudy. Intervention: Lifestyle intervention can prevent type 2 diabetes, but translation to service provision remains challenging. The ‘New life, New you' intervention aimed to promote physical activity, healthy eating and weight loss, and included supervised group physical activity sessions. Behavioural change and weight loss at 12-month follow-up were encouraging. Design: We conducted 15 individual semistructured interviews. The Framework approach, with a comparison of emerging themes, was used in analysis of the transcribed data and complemented by the Theory Domains Framework. Results: Themes emerging from the data were grouped as perceptions that promoted initiating, enacting and maintaining behavioural change. The data were then categorised in accordance with the Theory Domains Framework: intentions and goals; reinforcement; knowledge; social role and identity; social influences; skills and beliefs about capabilities; behavioural regulation, memory, emotion, attention and decision processes and environmental context and resources. Participant perceptions of intervention features that facilitated behavioural change processes were then similarly analysed. Conclusions: Social influences, reference to social role and identity (eg, peer support), and intentions and goals (eg, to lose weight) were dominant themes across the three phases of behavioural change. Reinforcement, regulation and decision processes were more evident in the maintenance phase. The socioeconomic status of participants was reflected in the environmental context and resource theme. Analysis of phases and theoretical domains of behavioural change added depth and utility to inform intervention optimisation. We will develop the intervention with improved peer support and explicit monitoring of the behavioural change techniques used, prior to a definitive trial