Choosing healthy lifestyle behaviours helps to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and to stop it progressing once a diagnosis is made.
Increasing physical activity is a major public health goal. Our research group focuses on developing, testing, and implementing interventions that encourage children and adults to be more active. We are particularly interested in how to encourage people with a range of medical conditions to increase their physical activity.
Key research areas
• Physical activity referral schemes Dr Coral Hanson, Mr Jordan Bell, Dr Amanda Pitkethly
• Cardiac rehabilitation and exercise for people with heart disease Professor Lis Neubeck, Dr Sheona McHale, Dr Coral Hanson, Alice Pearson
• Exercise and cancer Professor Anna Campbell
• Physical activity for school children Dr Katy Weston
• Active transport Professor Adrian Davies
Publications
Basterfield, L., Burn, N. L., Galna, B., Karoblyte, G., & Weston, K. L. (2021). The association between physical fitness, sports club participation and body mass index on health-related quality of life in primary school children from a socioeconomically deprived area of England. Preventive medicine reports, 24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101557
Bell, J., Neubeck, L., Jin, K., Kelly, P., & Hanson, C. (2021). Understanding leisure centre-based physical activity after physical activity referral: evidence from scheme participants and completers in Northumberland UK. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062957
Burn, N. L., Weston, M., Atkinson, G., Graham, M., & Weston, K. L. (2021). Brief Exercise at Work (BE@Work): A Mixed-Methods Pilot Trial of a Workplace High-Intensity Interval Training Intervention. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.699608
Burn, N. L., Weston, M., Atkinson, G., & Weston, K. L. (2021). Using Focus Groups and Interviews to Inform the Design of a Workplace Exercise Programme: An Example From a High-Intensity Interval Training Intervention. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63(2), e63-e74. https://doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000002092
Campbell, A. (2021). The Role Of Exercise In Cancer Rehabilitation. Journal of Cancer Rehabilitation, 4, 103-104. https://doi.org/10.48252/JCR22
Gallagher, R., Woolaston, A., Tofler, G., Bauman, A., Zhao, E., Jeon, Y., …Naismith, S. (2021). Cognitive Impairment and Psychological State in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: A prospective descriptive study at Cardiac Rehabilitation Entry, Completion and Follow-up. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 20(1), 56-63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474515120933105
Grimmett, C., Bates, A., West, M., Leggett, S., Varkonyi-Sepp, J., Campbell, A., …Jack, S. (2021). SafeFit Trial: Virtual clinics to deliver a multimodal intervention to improve psychological and physical wellbeing in people with cancer. Protocol of a COVID-19 targeted non-randomised phase III trial. BMJ Open, 11(8), https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048175
Hanson, C. L., Neubeck, L., Kyle, R. G., Brown, N., Gallagher, R., Clark, R. A., …Dawkes, S. (2021). Gender differences in uptake, adherence and experiences: a longitudinal, mixed methods study of a physical activity referral scheme in Scotland, UK. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041700
Hanson, C., Kelly, P., Neubeck, L., Bell, J., Gibb, H., & Jin, K. (2021). The Contribution of Leisure Center Usage to Physical Activity in the United Kingdom: Evidence From a Large Population-Based Cohort. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 18(4), 382-390. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2020-0422
Hartwig, T. B., Sanders, T., Vasconcellos, D., Noetel, M., Parker, P. D., Lubans, D. R., …del Pozo Cruz, B. (2021). School-based interventions modestly increase physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness but are least effective for youth who need them most: an individual participant pooled analysis of 20 controlled trials. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 55(13), 721-729. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102740
Kocanda, L., Schumacher, T. L., Kerr, J., May, J., Rollo, M. E., Neubeck, L., & Brown, L. J. (2021). Current Nutrition Practice in Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention, 41(6), E32-E38. https://doi.org/10.1097/hcr.0000000000000588
Malik, A. A., Williams, C. A., Weston, K. L., & Barker, A. R. (2021). Influence of personality and self-efficacy on perceptual responses during high-intensity interval exercise in adolescents. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 33(6), 590-608. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2020.1718798
Oliver, E., Buckley, B., Dodd-Reynolds, C., Downey, J., Hanson, C., Henderson, H., …Watson, P. (2021). Where next for the design, delivery and evaluation of community-based physical activity prescription? Emerging lessons from the United Kingdom. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 46(11), 1430-1434. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2021-0101
Ollier, J., Neff, S., Dworschak, C., Sejdiji, A., Santhanam, P., Keller, R., …Kowatsch, T. (2021). Elena+ Care for COVID-19, A Pandemic Lifestyle Care Intervention: Intervention Design and Study Protocol. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.625640
Rashidi, A., Whitehead, L., Newson, L., Astin, F., Gill, P., Lane, D. A., …Jones, I. D. (2021). The Role of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Cardiovascular and Diabetes Healthcare: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15), https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158126
Schmitz, K. H., Stout, N. L., Maitin‐Shepard, M., Campbell, A., Schwartz, A. L., Grimmett, C., …Sokolof, J. M. (2021). Moving Through Cancer: Setting the Agenda to Make Exercise Standard in Oncology Practice. Cancer, 127(3), 476-484. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.33245
Weller, S., Hart, N. H., Bolam, K. A., Mansfield, S., Mina, D. S., Winters-Stone, K. M., …Campbell, K. L. (2021). Exercise for individuals with bone metastases: A systematic review. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 166, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2021.103433
Weston, K. L., Innerd, A., Azevedo, L. B., Bock, S., & Batterham, A. M. (2021). Process Evaluation of Project FFAB (Fun Fast Activity Blasts): A Multi-Activity School-Based High-Intensity Interval Training Intervention. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.737900
Zhang, S., Wang, J., & Pitkethly, A. (2021). Task-efficacy predicts perceived enjoyment and subsequently barrier-efficacy: investigating a psychological process underpinning schoolchildren's physical activity. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 19(6), 943-956. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2020.1849352
Clark, B., Chatterjee, K., Martin, A., & Davis, A. (2020). How commuting affects subjective wellbeing. Transportation, 47, 2777–2805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-019-09983-9
Davis, A. L. (2020). Moving to healthy transport: the drivers of transformational change – a view from Scotland. In M. J. Nieuwenhuijsen, & H. Khreis (Eds.), Advances in Transportation and Health (407-421). (1). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819136-1.00019-X
Davis, A. (2020). Transport and health: A personal and UK perspective. In C. Curtis (Ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Transport (48-57). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789900477.00016
Davis, A., & Whyte, B. (in press). Making the shift to sustainable transport in Scotland. Cities and Health, https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1812332
Hanson C.L., Oliver E.J., Dodd-Reynolds C.J., Pearsons A., Kelly P. (2020) A modified Delphi study to gain consensus for a taxonomy to report and classify physical activity referral schemes (PARS) International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 17:158 (doi: 10.1186/s12966-020-01050-2)
Kelly, P., Williamson, C., Baker, G., Davis, A., Broadfield, S., Coles, A., …Gill, J. M. (2020). Beyond cycle lanes and large-scale infrastructure: a scoping review of initiatives that groups and organisations can implement to promote cycling for the Cycle Nation Project. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(23), 1405-1415. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101447
McHale, S.; Pearsons, A.; Neubeck, L.; Hanson, C.L. (2020) Green Health Partnerships in Scotland; Pathways for Social Prescribing and Physical Activity Referral. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17, 6832. (doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186832)
Audrey, S., Fisher, H., Cooper, A., Gaunt, D., Garfield, K., Metcalfe, C., …Procter, S. (2019). Evaluation of an intervention to promote walking during the commute to work: a cluster randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6791-4
Davis, A. (2019). Police Scotland and enforcement of 20mph speed limits in the context of the Restricted Roads (20mph Speed Limit) (Scotland) Bill: What do the police need to do to adequately enforce 20mph speed limits?. SIPR
Pilkington, P., & Davis, A. (2019). A public health approach to assessing road safety equity - The Rose cycle. In Measuring Transport Equity (159-170). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814818-1.00010-X