Overview

I am a social psychologist with expertise in group processes. I received my PhD in 2000 from University of Leicester and joined the University of Exeter in 2011. My research examines how social group memberships impact health. I lead a programme of funded research focused on the development and evaluation of group-based behaviour change interventions for improving health. In 2020 I was awarded a £2.5m NIHR programme grant (joint-PI) to refine and conduct a definitive trial of a new group-based intervention (called 'PROGROUP') for managing severe obesity. 

Qualifications

PhD Psychology, University of Leicester, 2000

BA (hons) Applied Social Science, Coventry University, 1996

Career

The use of social groups to deliver behaviour change programmes for promoting health has grown exponentially in recent years but this development has rarely been informed by research relevant to the social psychological processes that inevitably come into play when (patient) groups are assembled. My research is focused on the design and evaluation of group-based health / behaviour change interventions that are informed by an understanding of processes, and specifically by the social identity approach to health. My current funded research (as PI or joint-PI) is focused in the areas of stroke rehabilitation and obesity: 

1. The 'Community Groups for post-Stroke Support' (CoGS) project (http://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/research/healthresearch/cogs/) is a mixed-methods evaluation of peer support groups for stroke survivors, funded by the Stroke Association (2019-2021). The project focuses on how group processes including social identification and social support may shape health outcomes of loneliness, social isolation and wellbeing amongst stroke survivors.
2. The 'ImPROving GROUP treatment for people with severe obesity' (PROGROUP) project (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/primarycare/obesity/progroup) is funded by NIHR PGfAR (2021-2026) and seeks to optimise and test a new group-based intervention for promoting health lifestyles amongst people with severe obesity.    

Other funded projects I collaborate on (co-I) include: the Healthy Parent Carers project (NIHR RfPB), which involves the development and evaluation of a group-based peer intervention for parent carers of disabled children: http://sites.exeter.ac.uk/healthyparentcarers/about/the-team/, the Nature on Prescription project (MRC PHIND), focused on group-based nature-on-prescription interventions for people with common mental health conditions: https://www.ecehh.org/research/nature-prescription/, and an Association for the Study of Medical Education-funded project examining social connectedness amongst medical students, with a particular focus on BAME students.  

Recently-completed projects

Stroke Association (PI). Singing for People with Aphasia (SPA): A pilot randomised controlled trial of a group singing intervention to improve wellbeing (2017-2019): https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/1/e040544 

MRC/NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (Co-I). Identifying and understanding mechanisms of action in group-based health behaviour change interventions (2016-2017): https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/14/202/03

Links

• The Institute of Health Research

Research group links

• Health services research

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Research

Research interests

My research is focused on how group processes can be systematically managed within health intervention settings. In essence, my research concerns the manualisation of social identity and, through this, aims to develop effective group-based behaviour change interventions across a range of health conditions. 

Research projects

Research networks

Research grants

• 2020 NIHR Programme Grant
  Optimisation and evaluation of the PROGROUP behavioural intervention for managing severe obesity
• 2017 The Stroke Association
  Singing for people with aphasia (SPA): A pilot randomised controlled trial of a group singing intervention to improve wellbeing
• 2016 Medical Research Council
  Identifying and understanding mechanisms of action in group-based health behaviour change interventions
• 2015 Drinkaware
  Mixed methods assessment of a new intervention for encouraging responsible alcohol behaviour in the night time economy: the "Club Host" intervention
• 2015 Drinkaware
  Mixed methods assessment of a new intervention for encouraging responsible alcohol behaviour in the night time economy: the "Club Host" intervention.
• 2015 Drinkaware
  Mixed methods assessment of a new intervention for encouraging responsible alcohol behaviour in the night time economy: the "Club Host" intervention.
• 2013 Leverhulme Trust
  Using social identity to promote psychological well-being and reduce maladaptive eating amongst morbidly obese people
• 2007 ESRC
  Effects of perspective taking on attitudes towards outgroups: The moderating role of social identification
• 0 The Stroke Association
  £69,940 Evaluating the Stroke Association’s peer support programme

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External Engagement and Impact

External Examiner Positions

External Examiner positions:

University of Durham, Department of Psychology, Behavioural Science BSc/MSc (2020-)

Keele University Medical School, Medicine MBChB (2020-)

Strathclyde University, School of Psychological Sciences, Psychology BA

Editorial Duties

Deputy Editor, Behaviour Change (2021-)

Associate Editor, Journal of Applied Social Psychology (2012-2021)

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Teaching

Modules

2023/24

Information not currently available

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Supervision / Group

Research Fellows

Postgraduate researchers

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