Publications by authors named "Neil Howlett"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to evaluate the feasibility of an exercise intervention for young people aged 13-17 with mild to moderate depression, comparing high-intensity exercise, low-intensity exercise, and social activities.
  • Participants were recruited through mental health services and schools, with the intervention delivered over 12 weeks by trained professionals.
  • Results showed a 71.4% retention rate and over 67% attendance, although only 14 participants were randomized from the initial referrals, indicating challenges in recruitment.
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Background: Exercise Referral Schemes (ERSs) have been implemented across Western nations to stimulate an increase in adult physical activity but evidence of their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is equivocal. Poor ERS uptake and adherence can have a negative impact on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and, if patterned by socio-demographic factors, can also introduce or widen health inequalities. Different modes of ERS delivery have the potential to reduce costs and enhance uptake and adherence.

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Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health teams tried several approaches to circulate accurate health information and engage with community members to understand what they need from public health services. Two such approaches were community champions and community participatory action research (CPAR). This study evaluates two champion programmes and a CPAR programme in terms of what worked, for whom, and in what contexts, including the funding and resourcing associated with implementation.

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Despite the many health benefits of physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) most adolescents do not meet current guidelines which poses future health risks. This review aimed to (1) identify whether adolescent PA and HE interventions show promise at promoting behaviour change and maintenance, (2) identify which behaviour change techniques (BCTs) are associated with promising interventions, and (3) explore the optimal approaches to training deliverers of adolescent PA/HE interventions. Nine databases were searched for randomised controlled, or quasi-experimental, trials targeting 10-19 year olds, with a primary aim to increase PA/HE, measured at baseline and at least six months post-intervention, in addition to papers reporting training of deliverers of adolescent PA/HE interventions.

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Background: Physical activity benefits physical and mental health. However, limited research investigates if physical activity can improve outcomes from the grieving process following the death of a parent.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 individuals (n = 8 female; age M = 31.

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Background: A high proportion of UK adults are inactive, which can lead to a range of physical and mental health concerns. Active Herts is a community-based physical activity programme for inactive adults at risk of cardiovascular disease and/or low mental wellbeing. This paper provides a pragmatic evaluation of this programme.

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Background: There has been a lack of systematic exploration of remotely delivered intervention content and their effectiveness for behaviour change outcomes. This review provides a synthesis of the behaviour change techniques (BCT) contained in remotely delivered alcohol and/or substance misuse approaches and their association with intervention promise.

Methods: Searches in MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO (ProQuest), and the Cochrane Library, included studies reporting remote interventions focusing on alcohol and/or substance misuse among adults, with a primary behaviour change outcome (e.

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Background: Substance misuse is a significant global health concern. In the UK, the prevalence of substance misuse has increased over the past decade and the number of alcohol and drug related deaths are increasing. Individuals with substance dependency issues are entitled to access treatment services.

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Obesity is a global epidemic affecting all age groups, populations and income levels across continents. The causes of obesity are complex and are routed in health behaviours, environmental factors, government policy and the cultural and built environment. Consequently, a Whole System Approach (WSA) which considers the many causes of obesity and shifts the focus away from individuals as points of intervention and puts an emphasis on understanding and improving the system in which people live in is required.

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: It is estimated that approximately 41,000 children and young people experience the death of a parent each year. Grief responses, such as anxiety and depression, can follow. This research investigated the adult reflections of experiencing parental death as a young person.

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Background: Individual behaviour changes, such as hand hygiene and physical distancing, are required on a population scale to reduce transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. However, little is known about effective methods of communicating risk reducing information, and how populations might respond.

Objective: To synthesise evidence relating to what (1) characterises effective public health messages for managing risk and preventing infectious disease and (2) influences people's responses to messages.

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Introduction: Alcohol and substance misuse are a public health priority. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that harmful alcohol use accounts for 5.1% of the global burden of disease and that 35.

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Background: Community-based physical activity programs typically evolve to respond to local conditions and feedback from stakeholders. Process evaluations are essential for capturing how programs are implemented, yet often fail to capture delivery evolution over time, meaning missed opportunities for capturing lessons learned.

Methods: This research paper reports on a staged approach to a process evaluation undertaken within a community-based UK 12-month physical activity program that aimed to capture change and adaptation to program implementation.

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Background: In 2018, there were 616,014 registered deaths in the United Kingdom (UK). Grief is a natural consequence. Many mental health concerns, which can be identified as grief outcomes (e.

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Public health teams need to understand how the public responds to vaccination messages in a pandemic or epidemic to inform successful campaigns encouraging the uptake of new vaccines as they become available. A rapid systematic review was performed by searching PsycINFO, MEDLINE, healthevidence.org, OSF Preprints and PsyArXiv Preprints in May 2020 for studies including at least one health message promoting vaccine uptake of airborne-, droplet- and fomite-spread viruses.

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Background: Over the last 10 years HENRY has been working to reduce and prevent child obesity by training health and early years professionals to deliver its evidence-based programme to parents. The aim and unique contribution of this study was to evaluate whether training volunteers to deliver this programme on a one-to-one basis was feasible.

Methods: Mixed-methods service evaluation with parent-reported pre- and post-programme outcomes and focus groups conducted with parents and volunteer facilitators.

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To identify the behaviour change techniques and intervention components associated with the promotion of physical activity (PA) for children and young people living with and beyond cancer. A systematic review and narrative synthesis was conducted on the evidence on PA interventions for children and young people (up to 30 years of age) living with and beyond cancer using a social ecological framework. Out of 12 studies, 8 were shown to change PA.

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Objective: In relation to sitting behaviour, to investigate which theoretical domains best formed the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation constructs of the COM-B, and compare the predictive validity to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), taking habit strength into consideration.

Design: Using a prospective design, 186 adults completed measures capturing domains from the Theoretical Domains Framework for the three COM-B constructs, and habit strength, which were examined using a formative measurement model. Predictive validity was then compared to the TPB.

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Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior relate to poor health outcomes independently. Healthy inactive adults are a key target population for prevention. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of physical activity and/or sedentary behavior interventions, measured postintervention (behavior change) and at follow-up (behavior change maintenance), to identify behavior change techniques (BCT) within, and report on fidelity.

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Introduction: There is a high prevalence of inactive adults in the UK, and many suffer from conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) or poor mental health. These coexist more frequently in areas of higher socioeconomic deprivation. There is a need to test the effectiveness, acceptability and sustainability of physical activity programmes.

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This study examined the constructs of capability, opportunity and motivation from the COM-B model and their influence on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Using a prospective survey design, 186 healthy adults completed measures representing the theoretical domains framework mapped to the COM-B, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 1 week later. The main indicators for the COM constructs were 'habits' (Capability), 'subjective norms' (Opportunity) and 'exercise self-identity' (Motivation).

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Purpose: The objective of this study was to systematically review the evidence for the potential promise of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) to increase physical activity among people with dementia (PWD).

Methods: PsychINFO, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched 01/01/2000-01/12/2016. Randomized controlled/quasi-randomized trials were included if they recruited people diagnosed/suspected to have dementia, used at least one BCT in the intervention arm, and had at least one follow-up measure of physical activity/adherence.

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Individuals often receive judgements from others based on their clothing and their posture. While both of these factors have been found to influence judgements of competency independently, their relative importance in impression formation is yet to be investigated. We address this by examining interactive effects of posture and clothing on four competency measures: confidence, professionalism, approachability, and likeliness of a high salary.

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Introduction: Large proportions of the population are not meeting recommended levels of physical activity and have increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Low levels of physical activity are predictive of poor health outcomes and time spent sedentary is related to a host of risk factors independently of physical activity levels. Building an evidence base of the best approaches to intervene in the lifestyles of inactive individuals is crucial in preventing long-term disease, disability and higher mortality rates.

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Data are presented from a longitudinal investigation examining the relationship between maternal mind-mindedness (MM) in infancy and socio-cognitive development in childhood. We revisited children (n = 18) who had taken part in a longitudinal study as infants. MM had been assessed at 10, 12, 16, and 20 months of age.

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