Behavioural Science

Behavioural Research

Behavioural Research in Health eXchange (BRIHX) 
Dr Gaby Judah leads the Behavioural Research In Health eXchange (BRIHX) seminar, a regular discussion on behavioural science and behaviour change in health.  

BRIHX is open to anyone with an interest in behavioural science in healthcare: i.e. in understanding why people behave in certain ways, or trying to change behaviour. to improve health, healthcare, or patient safety.  It aims to provide an open forum for people to present research findings, or research in progress for discussion. To present at a seminar this year, or to join the mailing list to hear about future seminars, please contact Gaby Judah. 

Behavioural Research in Health Group (BRIHG) 

We are a group of researchers who apply behavioural sciences to understand and address a broad range of challenges in health and healthcare. The application of behavioural science theories and methods allows understanding of the underlying barriers and facilitators to the behaviour, so that interventions can be designed to addressed these in an effective way. The group meets to provide practical and academic support for researchers in IGHI working on behavioural science.    

Researchers in the group work on a variety of behaviours, such as increasing cancer screening uptake, improving medication adherence, improving hand hygiene in hospitals, and reducing the environmental impact of healthcare.  

The Behavioural Research in Health Group (BRIHG) is led by Dr Gaby Judah.

Change Lab

The Change Lab is a collaboration between the IGHI, the NHS (Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust – ICHT) and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT - a global social purpose organisation). This collaboration allows the Change Lab to address the most important safety and strategic priorities within healthcare.

The team at the Change Lab works closely with key stakeholders to understand the determinants of the target behaviour, co-design behavioural science informed interventions  and evaluate them robustly and pragmatically in the field. This process of co-design with key stakeholders improves the chance of successful behaviourally informed interventions being adopted at scale.  

Recent projects at ICHT have included the improvement of barcode medication administration by nursing staff through a gain-framed feedback intervention, designing a visual prime to improve hand hygiene compliance. The Change Lab has also used behaviourally informed text messages and letters to improve uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations in NW London.

The Fleming Initiative

The Fleming Initiative aims to protect global populations from the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It will co-locate behavioural scientists with public engagement experts, scientists and policy makers, creating an accelerated route to real-world impact and the mitigation of AMR.   

Behavioural Science within the Fleming Initiative has three main goals. The first is to understand attitudes towards AMR (both public and professional), co-design communication strategies that aim to raise awareness and change behaviours around antimicrobial use.  

The second goal is to co create a series of behaviourally informed “nudges”, in collaboration with the Behavioural Insights Team. These will each address key priorities for behaviour change related to AMR, such as completing the course of antibiotics, or only requesting them when really needed. Our first study involved the co-design of a new “name” for AMR, which is being evaluated in an online randomised controlled trial.  

The third goal is to understand and evaluate the impact of online video based content on AMR related behaviours. This workstream includes the creation of a clinician creators network (CHAIN), where engagement and the effect of releasing AMR related content will be evaluated. The workstream will also explore ways to create online content that inspires behaviour change, and trial novel ways of evaluating their real world impact.