Award Title: Policy Research Unit Behavioural Science
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: We propose a PRU incorporating world-class expertise from Newcastle, UCL, Warwick, LSHTM and Cambridge.  Our interdisciplinary team has years of experience of working with policy-makers and with each other. We are committed to achieving a step-change in how behavioural science is generated and utilised to optimise the development, implementation, and evaluation of health and care policy and so support achieving DHSC objectives.  Our aim will be achieved by adopting the following principles:    World class interdisciplinary expertise   We are a team with unrivalled expertise in behavioural science and cutting edge methodology supported by a network of collaborators with expertise in key clinical, policy and public health areas.   We bring together internationally leading behavioural/social scientists with expertise in and beyond psychology, sociology and behavioural economics (Sniehotta/Michie/Bonell/Kaner/Kelly/Vlaev), world-class methodologists (Burton/Craig/Morris/Vale) and leading expertise in inequalities (Bambra/Kelly) to deliver high quality research and advice meeting DHSC requirements. The team covers a range of disciplines and key methodologies (data science, RCTs, agile trial designs, stepped wedged designs, evidence synthesis, health economics, policy translation, cross-sector work, qualitative and quantitative methods), see research team section. Kelly was Director of the Centre of Public Health Excellence at NICE and led the methods stream of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, Michie was DH consultant and founding member of NICE PH Interventions Advisory Committee, Morris was vice-Chair of a NICE PH Advisory Committee. Based on our experience of operating responsive mode facilities such as AskFuse (Bambra/Kaner/Sniehotta/Vale), the NIHR Innovation Observatory (Craig/Kaner) and our involvement in the Obesity (Michie) and Children s (Morris) PRUs we have an excellent understanding of what is required to engage with policy-makers and to provide a facility for effective rapid responses.  Our host universities have world-class reputations and strengths across most areas of sciences and humanities. This breadth of knowledge and experience uniquely positions our PRU to rapidly mobilise expertise to answer requests around behaviour patterns and practices of health and social care professionals, managers, commissioners, decision-makers etc. in various settings (e.g., primary, secondary care, local authorities, educational/justice settings, communities) and to rely on the experience of conducting transparent science meeting the highest ethical and governance standards.       Working with policy-makers   We will work with the DHSC in a collaborative, flexible and responsive manner to co-create a research agenda.  This involves creating opportunities to discuss policy priorities to identify opportunities for behavioural science solutions, being available to respond to research and evidence needs from the DHSC and to proactively bring forward evidence and novel research ideas suited to address current and future policies. We have significant experiences of undertaking research in inter-sectorial collaborative research and team members have been involved in advising DHSC and other government units and collaborating with policy-makers across a range of applications (see: research team). Our dedicated work stream Engagement with policy-makers will ensure that the engagement with the Department is efficient. It will allow us to identify key policy areas for our work and design research suited to optimise policy and policy evaluation.         Working with and for patients and the public and addressing inequalities   Each project undertaken by our unit will have meaningful PPI input and will explicitly address inequalities   Patients and the public are key stakeholders, and that they reflect significant diversity in terms of socio-economic position, protected characteristics, culture, language, geographies and access to services. Our research will serve the interests of all stakeholders. Our PPI work will be jointly led by Green, a lay person with considerable PPI experience and Corner, Newcastle s Director of Engagement and build on existing infrastructure in the NIHR Research Design Service (Vale/Sniehotta) and NIHR Innovation Observatory (Craig/Kaner). Bambra/Kelly will co-lead our inequalities theme, ensuring that all our research is sensitive to key social stratifications and aware of the wider social determinants of health behaviours.       Utilise cutting edge, rigorous science   We will use the best science to address the policy related need for evidence.  We have a very clear scientific vision. Behaviour refers to complex patterns of action and practices influenced by complex systems of interacting environmental, cultural, economic, social and individual factors[1,2]. Our work will be guided by well-established theoretical and methodological tools, developed collaboratively across disciplines and successfully applied to policy-related behavioural research across the world. The Behaviour Change Wheel/COM-B (Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour model[3]) links policy categories to intervention functions (further defined in the V1 Taxonomy of Behaviour Change Techniques[4]) (Michie/Sniehotta/Vlaev) and mechanisms of change. This allows a systematic and transparent linkage of behavioural science to policy questions which adds to other behavioural science approaches, e.g., dual-process models[5], MINDSPACE[6] and EAST[7] (Vlaev/Kelly/Sniehotta). In addition, we have developed and applied a theory of maintenance[8] (Sniehotta) and experience with Normalisation Process Theory[9] (Kaner) to be able to achieve sustainability of behaviour change. Further, we have led the development of realist approaches to understand how intervention mechanisms interact with context to generate outcomes[10] (Bonell).  When analysing policies/interventions we will apply the APEASE Criteria (Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness/cost-effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects/safety and Equity) which integrate issues around PPI and equality/inequality[11]. These tools have been successfully used with DHSC and other policy-makers. We will appoint an independent scientific advisory board to provide outside scrutiny of our work within the PRU.        Achieving sustainability and building capacity   This PRU will lay the foundations for successful behavioural policy research in the future.     Our work will be governed by promoting sustainability for the health and social care systems.  We are promoting a legacy of increased capacity in behavioural science, achieving this through co-design, briefing papers, workshop with stakeholders.  We will seek to use the experience and opportunities offered by the PRU to continue developing behavioural science tools and theories to facilitate future policy related behavioural research.  Finally, we have an excellent track record in capacity development and will actively involve early career researchers and PhD students into the work of the PRU to provide opportunities to contribute to cutting edge translational research (see Research Team Expertise). The UCL Centre for Behaviour Change regularly runs capacity-building workshops, summer schools, conferences, hosts internships and provides consultancy on a co-design basis.

Lay Abstract: We propose a PRU incorporating world-class expertise from Newcastle, UCL, Warwick, LSHTM and Cambridge.  Our interdisciplinary team has years of experience of working with policy-makers and with each other. We are committed to achieving a step-change in how behavioural science is generated and utilised to optimise the development, implementation, and evaluation of health and care policy and so support achieving DHSC objectives.  Our aim will be achieved by adopting the following principles:    World class interdisciplinary expertise   We are a team with unrivalled expertise in behavioural science and cutting edge methodology supported by a network of collaborators with expertise in key clinical, policy and public health areas.   We bring together internationally leading behavioural/social scientists with expertise in and beyond psychology, sociology and behavioural economics (Sniehotta/Michie/Bonell/Kaner/Kelly/Vlaev), world-class methodologists (Burton/Craig/Morris/Vale) and leading expertise in inequalities (Bambra/Kelly) to deliver high quality research and advice meeting DHSC requirements. The team covers a range of disciplines and key methodologies (data science, RCTs, agile trial designs, stepped wedged designs, evidence synthesis, health economics, policy translation, cross-sector work, qualitative and quantitative methods), see research team section. Kelly was Director of the Centre of Public Health Excellence at NICE and led the methods stream of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, Michie was DH consultant and founding member of NICE PH Interventions Advisory Committee, Morris was vice-Chair of a NICE PH Advisory Committee. Based on our experience of operating responsive mode facilities such as AskFuse (Bambra/Kaner/Sniehotta/Vale), the NIHR Innovation Observatory (Craig/Kaner) and our involvement in the Obesity (Michie) and Children s (Morris) PRUs we have an excellent understanding of what is required to engage with policy-makers and to provide a facility for effective rapid responses.  Our host universities have world-class reputations and strengths across most areas of sciences and humanities. This breadth of knowledge and experience uniquely positions our PRU to rapidly mobilise expertise to answer requests around behaviour patterns and practices of health and social care professionals, managers, commissioners, decision-makers etc. in various settings (e.g., primary, secondary care, local authorities, educational/justice settings, communities) and to rely on the experience of conducting transparent science meeting the highest ethical and governance standards.       Working with policy-makers   We will work with the DHSC in a collaborative, flexible and responsive manner to co-create a research agenda.  This involves creating opportunities to discuss policy priorities to identify opportunities for behavioural science solutions, being available to respond to research and evidence needs from the DHSC and to proactively bring forward evidence and novel research ideas suited to address current and future policies. We have significant experiences of undertaking research in inter-sectorial collaborative research and team members have been involved in advising DHSC and other government units and collaborating with policy-makers across a range of applications (see: research team). Our dedicated work stream Engagement with policy-makers will ensure that the engagement with the Department is efficient. It will allow us to identify key policy areas for our work and design research suited to optimise policy and policy evaluation.         Working with and for patients and the public and addressing inequalities   Each project undertaken by our unit will have meaningful PPI input and will explicitly address inequalities   Patients and the public are key stakeholders, and that they reflect significant diversity in terms of socio-economic position, protected characteristics, culture, language, geographies and access to services. Our research will serve the interests of all stakeholders. Our PPI work will be jointly led by Green, a lay person with considerable PPI experience and Corner, Newcastle s Director of Engagement and build on existing infrastructure in the NIHR Research Design Service (Vale/Sniehotta) and NIHR Innovation Observatory (Craig/Kaner). Bambra/Kelly will co-lead our inequalities theme, ensuring that all our research is sensitive to key social stratifications and aware of the wider social determinants of health behaviours.       Utilise cutting edge, rigorous science   We will use the best science to address the policy related need for evidence.  We have a very clear scientific vision. Behaviour refers to complex patterns of action and practices influenced by complex systems of interacting environmental, cultural, economic, social and individual factors[1,2]. Our work will be guided by well-established theoretical and methodological tools, developed collaboratively across disciplines and successfully applied to policy-related behavioural research across the world. The Behaviour Change Wheel/COM-B (Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour model[3]) links policy categories to intervention functions (further defined in the V1 Taxonomy of Behaviour Change Techniques[4]) (Michie/Sniehotta/Vlaev) and mechanisms of change. This allows a systematic and transparent linkage of behavioural science to policy questions which adds to other behavioural science approaches, e.g., dual-process models[5], MINDSPACE[6] and EAST[7] (Vlaev/Kelly/Sniehotta). In addition, we have developed and applied a theory of maintenance[8] (Sniehotta) and experience with Normalisation Process Theory[9] (Kaner) to be able to achieve sustainability of behaviour change. Further, we have led the development of realist approaches to understand how intervention mechanisms interact with context to generate outcomes[10] (Bonell).  When analysing policies/interventions we will apply the APEASE Criteria (Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness/cost-effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects/safety and Equity) which integrate issues around PPI and equality/inequality[11]. These tools have been successfully used with DHSC and other policy-makers. We will appoint an independent scientific advisory board to provide outside scrutiny of our work within the PRU.        Achieving sustainability and building capacity   This PRU will lay the foundations for successful behavioural policy research in the future.     Our work will be governed by promoting sustainability for the health and social care systems.  We are promoting a legacy of increased capacity in behavioural science, achieving this through co-design, briefing papers, workshop with stakeholders.  We will seek to use the experience and opportunities offered by the PRU to continue developing behavioural science tools and theories to facilitate future policy related behavioural research.  Finally, we have an excellent track record in capacity development and will actively involve early career researchers and PhD students into the work of the PRU to provide opportunities to contribute to cutting edge translational research (see Research Team Expertise). The UCL Centre for Behaviour Change regularly runs capacity-building workshops, summer schools, conferences, hosts internships and provides consultancy on a co-design basis.

Research Activity Codes: 3.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (PREVENTION);4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION);7.4 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DISEASE MANAGEMENT);8.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health Categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE;INFECTION