
Charles AbrahamUniversity of Exeter | UoE · Medical School
Charles Abraham
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315
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (315)
Background
Empirical research indicates that impulsive processes that operate below conscious monitoring can undermine peoples’ attempts to change behaviour patterns, especially those that have become habitual. This may, therefore, be a serious challenge for those trying to lose weight. A novel smartphone app-based intervention (ImpulsePal) offers...
Background
Impulsive processes driving eating behaviour can often undermine peoples’ attempts to change their behaviour, lose weight and maintain weight loss.
Aim
To develop an impulse management intervention to support weight loss in adults.
Methods
Intervention Mapping (IM) was used to systematically develop the “ImpulsePal” intervention. The d...
Background
Rates of participation in centre (hospital)-cardiac rehabilitation by patients with heart failure are suboptimal. Heart failure has two main phenotypes differing in underlying pathophysiology: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction is characterised by depressed left ventricular systolic function (‘reduced ejection fraction’), where...
Background
Whilst almost 50% of heart failure (HF) patients have preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), evidence-based treatment options for this patient group remain limited. However, there is growing evidence of the potential value of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. This study reports the process evaluation of the Rehabilitation Enablement i...
Attitudes towards travel mode choice have been regarded as bi-polar evaluations of travel options that remain stable across time and context. Intra-personal attitudes can be variable, becoming more or less salient and changing in strength or valence across decisional contexts. This study draws on theoretical underpinnings of attitudinal ambivalence...
Violence prevention programs aim to raise awareness, change attitudes, normative beliefs, motivation, and behavioral responses. Many programs have been developed and evaluated, and optimistic claims about effectiveness made. Yet comprehensive guidance on program design, implementation, and evaluation is limited. The aim of this study was to provide...
Background:
Although there is trial evidence that complex interventions are effective for the self-management of heart failure, little evidence supports their effectiveness in routine practice. We used Social Practice Theory to guide a Type 1 Hybrid Trial: a mixed methods process evaluation of a complex intervention for heart failure. The objectiv...
Background: Whilst heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) affects almost 50 percent of the HF population, evidence-based treatment options remain limited. However, there is emerging evidence of the potential value of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. This study reports the process evaluation conducted as part of the REACH-...
Background: Whilst heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) affects almost 50 percent of the HF population, evidence-based treatment options remain limited. However, there is emerging growing evidence of the potential value of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. This study reports the process evaluation of the Rehabilitation E...
Background: Whilst heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) affects almost 50 percent of the HF population, evidence-based treatment options remain limited. However, there is growing evidence of the potential value of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. This study reports the process evaluation of the Rehabilitation Enablement...
Background: Whilst almost 50 percent of heart failure (HF) patients have preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), evidence-based treatment options for this patient group remain limited. However, there is growing evidence of the potential value of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. This study reports the process evaluation of the Rehabilitation Enab...
Purpose: Alcohol education must ensure that young people have appropriate information, motivation, and skills. This paper describes the fifth phase in a programme of intervention development based on principles of social marketing and intervention mapping. The aim was to enhance Drink Refusal Self-Efficacy (DRSE) and help develop skills for non-dri...
Objective:
This two-site randomised trial compared the effectiveness of a voluntary sector-led, community-based diabetes prevention programme to a waiting-list control group at 6 months, and included an observational follow-up of the intervention arm to 12 months.
Methods:
Adults aged 18-75 years at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes d...
Objective
To identify and explore change processes explaining the effects of the Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) intervention taking account of reach, amount of intervention received, delivery fidelity and patient and caregiver perspectives.
Design
Mixed methods process evaluation parallel to a randomised controlled t...
Cities are responding to their growing transportation demands in different ways. We interviewed city dwellers in two cities, Singapore and London, with highly developed transport infrastructure to understand individual transport decisions and experiences in the context of two different city cultures that support distinct transport policies. Compare...
Objectives:
Although many health interventions are delivered in groups, it is unclear how group context can be best used to promote health-related behaviour change and what change processes are most helpful to participants. This study explored participants' experiences of attending type 2 diabetes prevention and management programme, and their per...
Group-based interventions are widely used to promote health-related behaviour change. While processes operating in groups have been extensively described, it remains unclear how behaviour change is generated in group-based health-related behaviour-change interventions. Understanding how such interventions facilitate change is important to guide int...
Background
Theories and meta-analyses have elucidated individual-level mechanisms of action in behaviour change interventions. Although group-based interventions are commonly used to support health-related behaviour change, such interventions rarely consider theory and research (e.g. from social psychology) on how group-level mechanisms can also in...
Background
In western countries, men who have sex with men (MSM) are most affected by HIV and increasingly likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour. MSM who experience a potential sexual exposure to HIV (PEPSE) and receive a preventative regimen of anti-HIV treatment are at particularly high risk of acquiring HIV and could potentially benefit fro...
Background:
Caregivers frequently provide support to people living with long-term conditions. However, there is paucity of evidence of interventions that support caregivers in their role. Rehabilitation EnAblement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) is a novel home-based, health-professional-facilitated, self-management programme for patients with...
Objective
To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the Takeaway Masterclass, a three-hour training session delivered to staff of independent takeaway food outlets that promoted healthy cooking practices and menu options.
Design
A mixed-methods study design. All participating food outlets provided progress feedback at 6 weeks post-intervent...
Encouraging the purchase of low-emission vehicles could reduce the environmental impact of growing global car ownership. To date, however, there is relatively little research into the degree to which environmental features, such as reduced CO2 emissions, are considered important when reflecting on car purchase decisions using large representative s...
Background:
The REACH-HF (Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure) trial found that the REACH-HF home-based cardiac rehabilitation intervention resulted in a clinically meaningful improvement in disease-specific health-related quality of life in patients with reduced ejection fraction heart failure (HFrEF). The aims of this study were t...
Background The REACH-HF (Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure) trial found that the REACH-HF home-based intervention resulted in a clinically meaningful improvement in disease-specific health-related quality of life in patients with reduced ejection fraction heart failure (HFrEF). The aim of this study was to assess the longterm cost-...
Background
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to represent a major public health challenge. There is evidence that behavioural interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviours can reduce STI rates in patients attending sexual health (SH) services. However, it is not known if these interventions are effective when implemented at scale in...
Supplemental material for The effects and costs of home-based rehabilitation for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: The REACH-HF multicentre randomized controlled trial
Background
The internet is a potentially promising medium for delivering weight loss interventions. The current study sought to explore factors that might influence primary care patients’ initial uptake and continued use (up to four-weeks) of such programmes to help inform the development of novel, or refinement of existing, weight management inter...
Human and environmental health are important globally. Reduced car use could improve human health by promoting physical activity and consequent decreases in carbon dioxide emissions would help achieve greenhouse gas emissions targets. The aim of this study was to explore how travellers evaluate seven transport choices. We compared the evaluative sp...
Background:
Physical activity guidelines state that children should achieve at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on each day of the week. Accurate assessment of adherence to these guidelines should, ideally, include measurement over 7 days. When less than 7 days of data are available, researchers often report the av...
Background:
Cardiac rehabilitation improves health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and reduces hospitalizations in patients with heart failure, but international uptake of cardiac rehabilitation for heart failure remains low.
Design and methods:
The aim of this multicentre randomized trial was to compare the REACH-HF (Rehabilitation EnAblement i...
Background
Home-based models of cardiac rehabilitation may overcome suboptimal rates of participation.
Aim
This study sought to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a novel healthcare professional facilitated home-based comprehensive self-management REACH-HF rehabilitation intervention for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection...
Introduction
Evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised trials has led the National Institute of health and Care Excellence (NICE) and international guideline bodies to recommend centre-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) as an effective and safe intervention for heart failure. CR reduces the risk of hospitalisations and improve...
Introduction:
Home-based cardiac rehabilitation may overcome suboptimal rates of participation. The overarching aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the novel Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Hear Failure (REACH-HF) rehabilitation intervention for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFp...
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to assess children's compliance with wrist-worn accelerometry during a randomized controlled trial and to examine whether compliance differed by allocated condition or gender.
Methods:
A total of 886 children within the Healthy Lifestyles Programme trial were randomly allocated to wear a GENEActiv accelerom...
Personal car use is increasing globally and is an important contributor to poor air quality and global greenhouse gas emissions. Although individuals have little direct control over some emission sources (e.g. heavy industry), they can modify their car use thereby reducing their own contribution. There have been many attempts to understand the psyc...
Background:
Small groups are used to promote health, well-being, and personal change by altering members' perceptions, beliefs, expectations, and behaviour patterns. An extensive cross-disciplinary literature has articulated and tested theories explaining how such groups develop, function, and facilitate change. Yet these theoretical understanding...
Background:
Many weight-loss interventions are delivered in groups but evidence on their effectiveness, and characteristics associated with effectiveness, is limited. We synthesised evidence on (1) design and delivery of group-based weight-loss interventions; (2) effectiveness; and (3) associations between intervention characteristics, change tech...
Background:
Much of the food available from takeaways, pubs and restaurants particularly that sold by independent outlets, is unhealthy and its consumption is increasing. These food outlets are therefore important potential targets for interventions to improve diet and thus prevent diet related chronic diseases. Local authorities in England have b...
CEDAR (COAF), but paid for by Newcastle University
Background
Approximately one-third of children in England leave primary school overweight or obese. There is little evidence of effective obesity prevention programmes for children in this age group.
Objective
To determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a school-based healthy lifestyles programme in preventing obesity in children aged...
Background
Although childhood overweight and obesity prevalence has increased substantially worldwide in the past three decades, scarce evidence exists for effective preventive strategies. We aimed to establish whether a school-based intervention for children aged 9–10 years would prevent excessive weight gain after 24 months.
Methods
This pragmat...
Background
The Healthy Lifestyles Programme (HeLP) was a novel school-located intervention for 9–10 year olds, designed to prevent obesity by changing patterns of child behaviour through the creation of supportive school and home environments using dynamic and creative delivery methods. This paper reports on both the quantitative and qualitative da...
Background
Groups are often used to promote personal and health-related psychological and behavioural change. Although there is considerable literature on group dynamics and intra- and inter-personal change processes in groups, this knowledge is dispersed across different disciplines and rarely used in the design, delivery and evaluation of group-b...
Older adults’ negative beliefs about ageing are related to their health and functioning, but little is known about how perceptions of ageing (POA) relate to frailty status. This study aimed to explore the relationship between POA and frailty. Secondary analysis of data used were from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Waves 2 and 5. A POA sco...
Reduced private car use can limit greenhouse gas emissions and improve public health. It is unclear, however, how promotion of alternative transport choices can be optimised. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to identify potentially modifiable cognitive mechanisms that have been related to car use and use of alternative transport...
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Background
Ready-to-eat meals (to eat in, to take away or to be delivered) sold by food outlets are often more energy dense and nutrient poor compared with meals prepared at home, making them a reasonable target for public health intervention. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to systematically identify and describe interventions...
Background Ready-to-eat meals (to eat in, to take away or to be delivered) sold by food outlets are often more energy dense and nutrient poor compared with meals prepared at home, making them a reasonable target for public health intervention. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to systematically identify and describe interventions...
INTRODUCTION: Ready-to-eat meals sold by food outlets that are accessible to the general public are an important target for public health intervention. We conducted a systematic review to assess the impact of such interventions. METHODS: Studies of any design and duration that included any consumer-level or food-outlet-level before-and-after data w...
Introduction:
Ready-to-eat meals sold by food outlets that are accessible to the general public are an important target for public health intervention. We conducted a systematic review to assess the impact of such interventions.
Methods:
Studies of any design and duration that included any consumer-level or food-outlet-level before-and-after dat...
Background:
Children with disabilities are often the target of prejudice from their peers. The effects of prejudice include harmful health consequences. The Contact Hypothesis has previously shown to promote positive attitudes towards a range of social groups.
Objective:
To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of sc...
Introduction
The Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure in patients with Heart Failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (REACH-HFpEF) pilot trial is part of a research programme designed to develop and evaluate a facilitated, home-based, self-help rehabilitation intervention to improve self-care and quality of life (QoL) in heart f...
Background:
We aimed to establish the support needs of people with heart failure and their caregivers and develop an intervention to improve their health-related quality of life.
Methods:
We used intervention mapping to guide the development of our intervention. We identified "targets for change" by synthesising research evidence and internation...
Objective:
This systematic review aimed to (a) identify and categorize techniques used to modify or manage impulsive processes associated with unhealthy eating behavior, (b) describe the mechanisms targeted by such techniques, and (c) summarize available evidence on the effectiveness of these techniques.
Method:
Searches of 5 bibliographic datab...
Background:
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are more common in young people and men who have sex with men (MSM) and effective in-service interventions are needed.
Methods:
A systematic review of randomized control trials (RCTs) of waiting-room-delivered, self-delivered and brief healthcare-provider-delivered interventions designed to redu...
Sail training refers to sea voyages designed to foster personal and social change. Such training has mainly involved young people but may have the potential to benefit adults who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. During the voyage described here clients in drug rehabilitation centres across the UK were given the opportunity to partici...
Background:
The use of Internet and related technologies for promoting weight management (WM), physical activity (PA), or dietary-related behaviours has been examined in many articles and systematic reviews. This overview aims to summarize and assess the quality of the review evidence specifically focusing on mobile and Web 2.0 technologies, which...
Daily commutes form an integral part of the urban dweller’s life but much remains unknown
about these decisions are made and its consequent wellbeing implications. With the landscape
of an ever-increasing population density in cities, transport infrastructures are also tested to
the limits. This has resulted in congestions and degradation of air qu...
Background:
Behaviour change interventions are likely to be reproducible only if reported clearly. We assessed whether the behaviour change technique taxonomy version 1 (BCTTv1), with and without training in identifying BCTs, improves the clarity and replicability of written reports of observed behaviour change interventions.
Methods:
Three stud...