What If? The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits

Gives an overview of scenario thinking customized for a nonprofit audience. Outlines the basic phases of scenario development, and provides examples and advice for putting the process into practice. Includes an annotated bibliography of select readings

Looking Out for the Future: An Orientation for Twenty-first Century Philanthropists

The final report of a four-year initiative, supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, shows how long-term trends (privatization, connectivity, acceleration, etc.) are combining to create a new reality for philanthropy. Anyone who wants to give has more choices than ever. The authors believe that if donors understand how philanthropy is evolving, they will make better decisions in support of the issues, institutions, and communities they care about. The authors explain the new context for philanthropy, which they call "the new ecology of social benefit." Then they offer examples how philanthropists (individual and institutional) are responding in imaginative ways. The new context and the emerging responses combine to create the future of philanthropy, which the authors illustrate by stories and scenarios of the year 2025, such as the development of mutualist societies, the decline of foundations, joint venture philanthropy, or googling giving

A digital intervention to increase motivation and access to NHS Stop Smoking Services: Applying the Behaviour Change Wheel to develop the ‘Stop-app’.

Background: Smokers are four times more likely to stop smoking with the help of an NHS Stop Smoking Service (SSS). However attendance is in decline, possibly due to the increase in popularity of e-cigarettes. SSS’s will support smokers who choose to use e-cigarettes as part of a quit attempt, therefore interventions are needed to encourage continued access and uptake of SSS. Aim: To design an evidence based intervention (Stop-app) to increase referrals, 4 week quit rates and reduce ‘did not attend’ (DNA) rates within SSS. Methods/Results: In Phase 1 we collected data to explore the barriers and facilitators to people using SSS. Smokers and ex-smokers identified a number of barriers, including a lack of knowledge about what happens at the service; the belief that there would be ’scare tactics’, ‘nagging’, that the service would be unfriendly and clinical; and a lack of perceived efficacy of the service. In Phase 2, data from extant literature and phase 1 were subject to behavioural analysis as outlined by the Behaviour Change Wheel framework. A range of factors were identified as needing to change. These aligned with capability (e.g. a lack of knowledge about the benefits of SSS), opportunity (e.g. beliefs that SSS are not easy to access) and to motivation to act (e.g. beliefs that they did not need and would not benefit from SSS). We describe the content development process, illustrating the choice of 19 ‘Behaviour Change Techniques’ included in our digital intervention. In Phase 3 we assessed the acceptability of the proposed intervention by interviewing stop smoking service advisors and non-NHS provider sites (e.g. library services and children’s centres). Findings from interviews are presented and have been used to consider the best path for implementation of the web-app within service provision. Conclusion: The ‘Stop –app’ is in development and will be accessible online, linking with the SSS booking system used by Public Health Warwickshire, and other local authorities nationally for NHS and non-NHS providers. Stop-app incorporates a brief behaviour change intervention to increase motivation to attend SSS, along with an e-referral system for instant appointment booking. Examples of content and functionality of the app are outlined. Usability and feasibility testing are planned for Phase 4; and a pilot efficacy trial protocol is in development

What's Next for Philanthropy: Acting Bigger and Adapting Better in a Networked World (Executive Summary)

Our final report highlights how changes in the world around philanthropy will call on funders to not only adopt today's best practices, but also to pioneer "next practices"—effective approaches that are well-suited to tomorrow's more networked, dynamic, and interdependent landscape of public problem solving. It details 10 specific next practices that we believe will help funders have greater impact on growing social and environmental problems

On the Brink of the New Promise: The Future of US Community Foundations

This report provides a synthesis of the changing environment for community philanthropy and its implications for community foundations

What's Next for Philanthropy: Acting Bigger and Adapting Better in a Networked World (Snapshot)

Where the cutting edge of philanthropic innovation over the last decade was mostly about improving organizational effectiveness, efficiency, and responsiveness, we believe that the next practices of the coming 10 years will have to build on those efforts to include an additional focus on coordination and adaptation. The most innovative funders in the future will do more than operate as effective, independent institutions.This two-page overview of the report and links to the full suite of materials; complete report, executive summary, and an innovation toolkit

Lost in Translation: Transforming Behaviour Change Techniques into Engaging Digital Content and Design for the StopApp.

Frameworks to support the application of behaviour change theory to the choice of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) in designing digital behaviour change interventions (DBCIs) are becoming well established, and have been employed by the authors in the development of StopApp. However, guidance on the next stage—effective operationalisation (translation) of these BCTs to a digital context, including the precise delivery and design of “behavioural intervention technology” (BIT) elements, is still in its infancy. This is despite growing recognition of the need to optimise engagement and usability, alongside a theoretical basis, for intervention effectiveness. The aim of this study was to explore methods to translate BCTs into digital content in an accurate and systematic manner. We describe the process of using co-creation (user-led) rather than expert-driven methods in the development of user-facing features and design in StopApp, including the iterative “bottom-up” and “top-down processes” necessary for accurate BCT translation. We found a small disparity between the intended and actual BCT content, reflecting the difficulties of translating BCTs into digital intervention content and the need for better guidance and methodical approaches to enhance this under-researched process. The involvement of our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group throughout these processes is described

Stop-app: Using the Behaviour Change Wheel to develop an app to increase uptake and attendance at NHS Stop Smoking Services.

Smokers who attend NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSS) are four times more likely to stop smoking; however, uptake has been in decline. We report the development of an intervention designed to increase uptake of SSS, from a more motivated self-selected sample of smokers. In Phase 1 we collected data to explore the barriers and facilitators to people using SSS. In Phase 2, data from extant literature and Phase 1 were subject to behavioural analysis, as outlined by the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) framework. Relevant Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) were identified in order to address these, informing the content of the StopApp intervention. In Phase 3 we assessed the acceptability of the StopApp. Smokers and ex-smokers identified a number of barriers to attending SSS, including a lack of knowledge about what happens at SSS (Capability); the belief that SSS is not easy to access (Opportunity); that there would be ’scare tactics’ or ‘nagging’; and not knowing anyone who had been and successfully quit (Motivation). The ‘StopApp’ is in development and will link in with the commissioned SSS booking system. Examples of the content and functionality of the app are outlined. The next phase will involve a full trial to test effectiveness

Detention attention: Framing a Manus Island riot

This article reports on a research project that investigated the framing of asylum seekers in the Australian news publicationsThe Australian and The Guardian Australia Edition, during their coverage of a riot that occurred in an asylum seeker processing centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, in February 2014. Analysis found themes of asylum seekers represented as threats to national identity, State sovereignty, and as victims. The research discusses the potential impacts framing may have on the way asylum seekers are perceived by readers of these publications. Its findings showed that the process of framing in news reports can both privilege and exclude aspects of an event being reported

Do automated digital health behaviour change interventions have a positive effect on self-efficacy? A systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2019 Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Health Psychology Review on 20/01/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2019.1705873.Self-efficacy is an important determinant of health behaviour. Digital interventions are a potentially acceptable and cost-effective way of delivering programmes of health behaviour change at scale. Whether behaviour change interventions work to increase self-efficacy in this context is unknown. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to identify whether automated digital interventions are associated with positive changes in self-efficacy amongst non-clinical populations for five major health behaviours, and which BCTs are associated with that change. A systematic literature search identified 20 studies (n=5624) that assessed changes in self-efficacy and were included in a random effects meta-analysis. Interventions targeted: healthy eating (k=4), physical activity (k=9), sexual behaviour (k=3), and smoking (k=4). No interventions targeting alcohol use were identified. Overall, interventions had a small, positive effect on self-efficacy (푔 = 0.190, CI [0.078; 0.303]). The effect of interventions on self-efficacy did not differ as a function of health behaviour type (Qbetween = 7.3704 p = 0.061, df = 3). Inclusion of the BCT ‘information about social and environmental consequences’ had a small, negative effect on self-efficacy (Δ푔= - 0.297, Q=7.072, p=0.008). Whilst this review indicates that digital interventions can be used to change self-efficacy, which techniques work best in this context is not clear.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio