Blogs - Practical Health Psychology

2026-02-262026-03-03Goal setting, Habit, Interventions, Physical activity, Public Health, Self-regulation

Sitting less: Small changes that make a big difference

By Zofia Szczuka, SWPS University, Poland and Deakin University, Australia

Sedentary behaviors: more than just “not being active”

The health benefits of increasing physical activity are widely known. But do we give the same attention to so-called ‘sedentary behaviors’?

Sedentary behaviors are any waking activities we do while sitting or lying down during the day that require very little energy from our bodies. Importantly, sedentary behaviors are NOT the same as low physical activity. You may spend your mornings jogging for 30 minutes each day, yet still spend the rest of the day sitting for prolonged periods at work or at home. This is sometimes described as the “active couch potato” phenomenon, where regular exercise coexists with long hours of sitting. Reducing sedentary behavior and increasing physical activity are complementary goals in current World Health Organization guidelines.

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2026-01-262026-03-05Behavioural theory, Communication, Interventions, Public Health

Supporting health workers in addressing vaccine hesitancy

By Dawn Holford, University of Bristol, UK, Linda Karlsson, University of Turku, Finland, Frederike Taubert, Erfurt University, Germany, Emma C. Anderson, University of Bristol, UK, Virginia C. Gould, University of Bristol, UK

Correcting misconceptions about vaccination

Vaccination is one of the most successful tools of public health—they have been estimated to save 6 lives every minute. But vaccines have also faced public resistance, with persistent disinformation undermining public trust in vaccination, and posing a challenge for health workers with vaccination roles. How do health workers keep up with the flood of false narratives about vaccines? What can they say to patients who cite these narratives as reasons not to vaccinate themselves or their children?

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2025-10-302026-03-03E-health, Mental Health

Rethinking aging to stay active and healthy

By Aïna Chalabaev, Grenoble Alpes University, France

As outlined in a previous post, the health benefits of regular physical activity are well established for people aged 65 and over. Clear guidelines have been set by the World Health Organization on the amount and type of activity associated with health gains. However, older people remain among the most inactive segment of the population worldwide.

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2025-08-052025-12-08Interventions, Self-regulation

MyLifeTool: A person-centred, holistic approach to the self-management of long-term conditions

By Dr Stephanie Kılınç, Teesside University, UK and Jo Cole, the Tees Valley, Durham and North Yorkshire Neurological Alliance, UK

Long-term conditions are a major concern for global health care systems given their high prevalence and disease burden, including their significant impact on disability-adjusted life years. They also have a significant negative impact on health-related quality of life and are associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression than the general population.

MyLifeTool is a self-management tool for people living with any long-term condition (e.g. diabetes, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, asthma, anxiety, neurodevelopmental conditions, Acquired Brain Injury, Fibromyalgia). It was developed in partnership with people with long-term conditions, members of Neuro Key and psychologists from Teesside University. It is underpinned by our self-management framework which takes a person-centred, non-instructive perspective on self-management. People with long-term conditions were at the heart of the project, forging the decisions on what MyLifeTool would become and choosing the name. (more…)

2025-07-252026-01-30Interventions, Public Health

Above Water: Rethinking Drowning Prevention at All Levels

By Kyra Hamilton, Griffith University, Australia and Amy Peden, University of New South Wales, Australia

Drowning is a leading, yet largely preventable, cause of death and injury that remains underrecognized. One common myth: drowning isn’t always fatal. The definition of drowning was revised to clarify that drowning is a process, not an outcome. The outcomes of the drowning process can be death (fatal drowning) or survival with or without persisting injury such as cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain (non-fatal drowning). Terms like “dry drowning”, “secondary drowning”, or “near-drowning” are often used in the media, but they’re outdated and medically inaccurate, so it’s time to stop using them. (more…)

2025-04-152026-01-30Habit

Old habits die hard: Disrupting unwanted habitual behaviour

By Annabel Stone and Phillippa Lally, University of Surrey, UK

The New Year is often a time where we aim for change, determined to form new habits and to leave our bad habits behind as the clock strikes midnight. Dusting off our running trainers, filling our shopping trollies with fresh fruit and veg… who hasn’t thought “New Year, New Me”? But a month down the line, why is it our trainers have only seen daylight twice, and that fresh fruit is starting to fur? It seems our bad habits have followed us into the New Year. (more…)

2025-02-212025-11-04Communication, Interventions, Physical activity

Making Every Health Care Consultation Count: Promoting physical activity in health care settings

By Amanda Daley, Loughborough University, UK

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Making Every Contact Count initiative aims to use the thousands of consultations that take place every day between health professionals and patients, to promote healthy behavioural changes. Specifically, Making Every Contact Count aims to enable and encourage health professionals to capitalise on naturally occurring opportunities in routine practice to deliver brief health behaviour change interventions to patients. The success of approaches such as Making Every Contact Count are dependent on health professionals being willing to have these conversations in consultations every day. Making Every Contact Count is for everyone, and it is not restricted to specific health professionals, health services or patients. For these reasons, Making Every Contact Count may reduce health inequalities because the idea is that an inclusive approach is taken whereby all patients receive this support within consultations.

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2024-12-092026-03-03Cancer, Fear

What if it comes back? The question that is on the minds of those who experienced cancer treatment and their loved ones

By Gozde Ozakinci, University of Stirling

Cancer is very much associated with scary statistics. For instance, like the one ‘1 in 2 people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime’. But there are encouraging developments too that suggests that cancer survival rates are improving. The last count in 2018 suggests that there are nearly 44 million people who survived the cancer diagnosis and treatment in the world. This is welcome news to those who have experienced cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The improvement in survival rates also means that more and more people live with the consequences of cancer treatment. One of these consequences is experiencing fears about cancer coming back. In the literature, it is defined as “fear, worry, or concern relating to the possibility that cancer will come back or progress” and recognised widely as one of the most significant issues that impact on the quality of life of those living after a cancer diagnosis. (more…)

2024-05-242025-11-04Communication

Understanding what influences organ donation

By Dr Lee Shepherd, Northumbria University, UK and Professor Ronan E. O’Carroll, University of Stirling, UK and Professor Eamonn Ferguson, University of Nottingham, UK

There are numerous stories of how deceased organ transplantation has offered a lifeline for people. Indeed, each deceased organ donor can change the lives of up to nine people. However, there are too few organs available for transplantation. This shortage results in large waiting lists and people dying before they receive an organ. Therefore, we need to understand what factors influence the likelihood that someone will donate their organs when they die.

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