Energy use in social housing residents in the UK and recommendations for developing energy behaviour change interventions

AbstractBackgroundMen who have sex with men (MSM) experience significant inequalities in health and well-being. They are the group in the UK at the highest risk of acquiring a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Guidance relating to both HIV infection prevention, in general, and individual-level behaviour change interventions, in particular, is very limited.ObjectivesTo conduct an evidence synthesis of the clinical effectiveness of behaviour change interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviour among MSM after a negative HIV infection test. To identify effective components within interventions in reducing HIV risk-related behaviours and develop a candidate intervention. To host expert events addressing the implementation and optimisation of a candidate intervention.Data sourcesAll major electronic databases (British Education Index, BioMed Central, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, EMBASE, Educational Resource Index and Abstracts, Health and Medical Complete, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, PubMed and Social Science Citation Index) were searched between January 2000 and December 2014.Review methodsA systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of individual behaviour change interventions was conducted. Interventions were examined using the behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy, theory coding assessment, mode of delivery and proximity to HIV infection testing. Data were summarised in narrative review and, when appropriate, meta-analysis was carried out. Supplemental analyses for the development of the candidate intervention focused on post hoc realist review method, the assessment of the sequential delivery and content of intervention components, and the social and historical context of primary studies. Expert panels reviewed the candidate intervention for issues of implementation and optimisation.ResultsOverall, trials included in this review (n = 10) demonstrated that individual-level behaviour change interventions are effective in reducing key HIV infection risk-related behaviours. However, there was considerable clinical and methodological heterogeneity among the trials. Exploratory meta-analysis showed a statistically significant reduction in behaviours associated with high risk of HIV transmission (risk ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.62 to 0.91). Additional stratified analyses suggested that effectiveness may be enhanced through face-to-face contact immediately after testing, and that theory-based content and BCTs drawn from ‘goals and planning’ and ‘identity’ groups are important. All evidence collated in the review was synthesised to develop a candidate intervention. Experts highlighted overall acceptability of the intervention and outlined key ways that the candidate intervention could be optimised to enhance UK implementation.LimitationsThere was a limited number of primary studies. All were from outside the UK and were subject to considerable clinical, methodological and statistical heterogeneity. The findings of the meta-analysis must therefore be treated with caution. The lack of detailed intervention manuals limited the assessment of intervention content, delivery and fidelity.ConclusionsEvidence regarding the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions suggests that they are effective in changing behaviour associated with HIV transmission. Exploratory stratified meta-analyses suggested that interventions should be delivered face to face and immediately after testing. There are uncertainties around the generalisability of these findings to the UK setting. However, UK experts found the intervention acceptable and provided ways of optimising the candidate intervention.Future workThere is a need for well-designed, UK-based trials of individual behaviour change interventions that clearly articulate intervention content and demonstrate intervention fidelity.Study registrationThe study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42014009500.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.

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Should We Play Games Where Energy Is Concerned? Perceptions of Serious Gaming as a Technology to Motivate Energy Behaviour Change among Social Housing Residents

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10061729 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1729 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Christine Boomsma ◽

Rebecca Hafner ◽

Sabine Pahl ◽

Rory Jones ◽

Alba Fuertes

Keyword(s):

Behaviour Change ◽

Social Housing ◽

Serious Gaming ◽

Energy Behaviour

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Capability, opportunity and motivation to enact hygienic practices in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK

10.31234/osf.io/typqv ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jilly Gibson Miller ◽

Todd K. Hartman ◽

Liat Levita ◽

Anton Philipp Martinez ◽

Liam Mason ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Global Health ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Regression Models ◽

Longitudinal Survey ◽

Survey Study ◽

Design Data ◽

Behaviour Change Interventions ◽

Early Stages ◽

The Uk

Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the greatest global health threats facing humanity in recent memory. This study aimed to explore influences on hygienic practices, a set of key transmission behaviours, in relation to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model of behaviour change (Michie et al., 2011).Design Data from the first wave of a longitudinal survey study was used, launched in the early stages of the UK COVID-19 pandemic.Methods Participants were 2025 adults aged 18 and older, representative of the UK population, recruited by a survey company from a panel of research participants. Participants self-reported motivation, capability and opportunity to enact hygienic practices during the COVID-19 outbreak.ResultsUsing regression models, we found that all three COM-B components significantly predicted good hygienic practices, with motivation having the greatest influence on behaviour. Breaking this down further, the sub-scales psychological capability, social opportunity and reflective motivation positively influenced behaviour. Reflective motivation was largely driving behaviour, with those highest in reflective motivation scoring 51% more on the measure of hygienic practices compared with those with the lowest scores.ConclusionsOur findings have clear implications for the design of behaviour change interventions to promote hygienic practices. Interventions should focus on increasing and maintaining motivation to act and include elements that promote and maintain social support and knowledge of COVID-19 transmission. Groups in particular need of targeting for interventions to increase hygienic practices are males and those living in cities and suburbs.

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Reducing Peak Energy Demand among Residents Who Are Not Billed for Their Electricity Consumption: Experimental Evaluation of Behaviour Change Interventions in a University Setting

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18168406 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (16) ◽

pp. 8406

Author(s):

Bradley S. Jorgensen ◽

Sarah Fumei ◽

Graeme Byrne

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Energy Use ◽

Low Cost ◽

Effective Means ◽

Electricity Consumption ◽

Peak Demand ◽

Behaviour Change Interventions ◽

Peak Energy

Behaviour change interventions aiming to reduce household energy consumption are regarded as an effective means to address disparities between demand and supply and reduce emissions. Less recognised is their success in shifting consumers’ energy consumption from peak demand periods to off-peak times of the day. This study reports two experiments that test the effect of feedback and reminder notifications on energy consumption in university halls-of-residence. A quasi-experiment and a randomised controlled experiment were conducted with residential students to evaluate behaviour change interventions aimed at reducing daily peak and critical peak demand, respectively. The results of Experiment One (n = 143) demonstrated significant reductions in the energy use of the treatment group relative to the control. On average, the treatment group’s energy use was 12.4 per cent lower than their pre-intervention baseline. In Experiment Two (n = 88), normative elements of the intervention were supplemented with a reminder notification prior to the onset of the simulated critical peak demand period. The results showed that, relative to the control condition, the 8-h notification reduced demand by 20% on average with a 12% decrease for the 24-h notification (with 2-h follow-up). These results indicate that peak energy issues can be alleviated using low-cost and easily implemented behaviour change strategies.

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Retrofitting social housing in the UK: Home energy use and performance in a pre-Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP)

Energy and Buildings ◽

10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.11.045 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 88 ◽

pp. 25-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Heba Elsharkawy ◽

Peter Rutherford

Keyword(s):

Energy Saving ◽

Social Housing ◽

Energy Use ◽

And Performance ◽

The Uk

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Results and insight gained from applying the EnergyCat energy-saving serious game in UK social housing

International Journal of Serious Games ◽

10.17083/ijsg.v7i2.333 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 27-48

Author(s):

Rebecca Hafner ◽

Alba Fuertes ◽

Sabine Pahl ◽

Rory Jones ◽

Christine Boomsma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Design Process ◽

Social Housing ◽

Game Design ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Energy Use ◽

Serious Game ◽

Energy Awareness ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Household Energy ◽

The Uk

Concerns about climate change associated with the combustion of fossil fuels urge a call for widespread reductions in household energy use. Determining means of achieving this is a key challenge faced by environmental scientists. The current research presents insights gained from a 12-month empirical trial of new serious game for energy, ‘EnergyCat’; which was designed to encourage household energy reductions in the UK social housing sector. Effects of gameplay on consumption behaviours and energy awareness were explored using 82 UK social housing households (versus a no-game control). Results indicated the intervention did not lead to any substantive changes in awareness or consumption practices. However, post-intervention feedback highlighted several issues in terms of game design and usability that may explain why the game failed to change behaviour in this instance. We provide a framework of suggestions as to how the game design process could be improved in order to engage residents in future, including use of adaptive fonts for older residents, and provision of clearer instructions on gameplay objectives at the outset. In addition, researchers should ensure close collaboration is maintained with residents throughout the design process in future efforts, in order to maximise likelihood of ongoing engagement from this population.

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A computational model for designing energy behaviour change interventions

User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction ◽

10.1007/s11257-017-9199-9 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 1-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Nataliya Mogles ◽

Julian Padget ◽

Elizabeth Gabe-Thomas ◽

Ian Walker ◽

JeeHang Lee

Keyword(s):

Computational Model ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Behaviour Change Interventions ◽

Energy Behaviour

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Impact of Emerging Interaction Techniques on Energy Use in the UK Social Housing

Future Cities and Environment ◽

10.5334/fce.36 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shuli Liu ◽

Obiajulu Iweka ◽

Ashish Shukla ◽

Georgina Wernham ◽

Atif Hussain ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Housing ◽

Energy Use ◽

Interaction Techniques ◽

The Uk

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Smoking status and attractiveness among identical twins discordant for smoking

10.31234/osf.io/nh9gf ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Andy Skinner ◽

Andy ◽

Ian Penton-Voak ◽

Marcus Robert Munafo

Keyword(s):

Behaviour Change ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Smoking Behaviour ◽

Identical Twins ◽

Facial Appearance ◽

Same Sex ◽

Facial Aging ◽

Male And Female ◽

Separate Sample ◽

Behaviour Change Interventions

Background and aims: Smoking is associated with negative health of skin and increased signs of facial aging. We aimed to address two questions about smoking and appearance: 1) how does smoking affect the attractiveness of faces, and 2) does facial appearance alone provide an indication of smoking status?Methods: Faces of identical twins discordant for smoking were averaged to make male and female smoking and non-smoking prototypes faces. In Task 1, we presented same sex smoking and non-smoking prototypes side-by-side and participants (n=590) indicated which face was more attractive. Participants were blind to prototype smoking status. In Task 2 a separate sample (n=580) indicated which prototype was the smoker.Results: In Task 1 both male and female participants judged non-smoking prototypes more attractive, irrespective of the sex of the prototype face. In Task 2, both male and female participants selected the smoking prototype as the smoker more often, again irrespective of the sex of the prototype face.Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that smoking may negatively impact facial appearance, and that facial appearance alone may be sufficient to indicate smoking status. We discuss the possible use of these findings in smoking behaviour change interventions.

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The characteristics of behaviour change interventions used among Pacific people: a systematic search and narrative synthesis

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10420-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Amio Matenga-Ikihele ◽

Judith McCool ◽

Rosie Dobson ◽

Fuafiva Fa’alau ◽

Robyn Whittaker

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Social Support ◽

New Zealand ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Health Behaviour ◽

Narrative Synthesis ◽

Pacific Region ◽

Behaviour Change Interventions ◽

Pacific People ◽

The Pacific

Abstract Background Pacific people living in New Zealand, Australia, United States, and the Pacific region continue to experience a disproportionately high burden of long-term conditions, making culturally contextualised behaviour change interventions a priority. The primary aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of behaviour change interventions designed to improve health and effect health behaviour change among Pacific people. Methods Electronic searches were carried out on OVID Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase and SCOPUS databases (initial search January 2019 and updated in January 2020) for studies describing an intervention designed to change health behaviour(s) among Pacific people. Titles and abstracts of 5699 papers were screened; 201 papers were then independently assessed. A review of full text was carried out by three of the authors resulting in 208 being included in the final review. Twenty-seven studies were included, published in six countries between 1996 and 2020. Results Important characteristics in the interventions included meaningful partnerships with Pacific communities using community-based participatory research and ensuring interventions were culturally anchored and centred on collectivism using family or social support. Most interventions used social cognitive theory, followed by popular behaviour change techniques instruction on how to perform a behaviour and social support (unspecified). Negotiating the spaces between Eurocentric behaviour change constructs and Pacific worldviews was simplified using Pacific facilitators and talanoa. This relational approach provided an essential link between academia and Pacific communities. Conclusions This systematic search and narrative synthesis provides new and important insights into potential elements and components when designing behaviour change interventions for Pacific people. The paucity of literature available outside of the United States highlights further research is required to reflect Pacific communities living in New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific region. Future research needs to invest in building research capacity within Pacific communities, centering self-determining research agendas and findings to be led and owned by Pacific communities.

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