Claire Lyne Cleland

Queen's University Belfast | QUB · Centre for Public Health

Background In 2016, large-scale 20 miles per hour speed limits were introduced in the United Kingdom cities of Edinburgh and Belfast. This paper investigates the role that scientific evidence played in the policy decisions to implement lower speed limits in the two cities. Methods Using a qualitative case study design, we undertook content analysi...

Background The number of people living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is increasing. A supportive urban environment can prevent or delay the progress of cognitive decline. There is evidence for the existence of causal mechanisms between the urban environment and cognitive decline, but the interrelations between these mechanisms a...

Background Evidence regarding the effectiveness of 20 miles per hour (mph) speed limit interventions is limited, and rarely have long-term outcomes been assessed. We investigate the effect of a 20 mph speed limit intervention on road traffic collisions, casualties, speed and volume at 1 and 3 years post-implementation. Methods An observational, re...

Background: A supportive urban environment can prevent or delay the progress of cognitive decline. There is evidence for the existence of mechanistic pathways between the urban environment and cognitive decline, but the interrelations between these pathways are unclear. In this study, we aimed to map the mechanistic pathways by which urban environ...

Background Transport initiatives such as 20-mph (≈30-km/h) speed limits are anticipated to result in fewer road casualties and improve perceptions of safety, leading to increases in active travel. Lower speeds may also lead to more pleasant environments in which to live, work and play. Objectives The main objective was to evaluate and understand t...

Background In 2016, large scale 20mph speed limits were implemented in the cities of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Belfast (Northern Ireland). The fact that both cities succeeded in implementing 20mph speed limit interventions is important. They illustrate the processes of transport and public health policy change. This paper describes how 20mph speed l...

Between 2016 and 2018 a policy was implemented to increase the proportion of 20mph (32km/h) streets in Edinburgh, UK from approximately 50% to 80%, providing the opportunity to evaluate how behaviour and public perceptions change over time. This is important as negative public responses have been reported to limit the implementation of transport po...

Objectives Traffic speed is important to public health as it is a major contributory factor to collision risk and casualty severity. 20mph (32km/h) speed limit interventions are an increasingly common approach to address this transport and health challenge, but a more developed evidence base is needed to understand their effects. This study describ...

Introduction Reductions in traffic speed can potentially offer multiple health and public health benefits. In 2016, implementation of 20mph (30kph) speed limit interventions began in Edinburgh (city-wide) and Belfast (city centre). The aims of this paper are to describe 1) the broad theoretical approach and design of two natural experimental studie...

Use of parks is important for the healthy ageing of older adults as it is associated with substantial physical, mental and social health benefits. However, parks are generally underused by older adults, and we know little about which physical environmental factors influence their use of parks. This study aimed to use interviews to qualitatively exp...

Background Liveability is a complex, multifaceted concept with various definitions, but with an agreed core set of features (e.g., safety, walkability). Typically, liveability is measured at the macro-level (city or regional-level), and has been used in advocacy by local populations. However, micro-level (street-level) liveability measurements coul...

Reducing car dependency requires orchestrated multi-sectoral, multi-policy action in a complex landscape. Thus, development of proposed interventions to reduce car dependency should be informed by systems thinking, complexity science, and socio-technical transition theory. We aim to co-design sustainable systems-oriented intervention approaches to...

Twenty miles per hour (mph) speed limits can impact the health of the public (e.g., road safety, active travel). However, a better understanding of how individuals experience 20mph limits is required, to ensure interventions are cognisant of perceptions and potential un/intended outcomes. Focus groups (n = 9, 60 participants) to explore the Belfast...

This paper is concerned with the strategic policy processes, economic structures and tactics within which age and plac e programmes are formed, implemented and evaluated. The research draws on the Multiple Streams Approach to understand the relationship between problem identification, policy processes and politics and how they come together to resp...

Age-friendly cities and communities have emerged as a significant policy, participative and governance response to ageing and its spatial effects. This paper argues that it has important benefits in mobilizing older people, placing age on the urban agenda and building recognition across politicians, policy makers and programme managers. Based on th...

Processing decisions for accelerometry data can have important implications for outcome measures, yet little evidence exists exploring these in older adults. The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of three potentially important criteria on older adults, physical activity, and sedentary time. Participants ( n = 222: mean age 71.7...

Background Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of preventable death globally, but can be reduced by introducing speed lowering interventions such as 20 mph or 30 km/h speed ‘zones’ and ‘limits’. ‘Zones’ utilise physical traffic calming measures and ‘limits’ only utilise signage and lines. Transport is a social determinant of health and theref...

Background: As populations become increasingly urbanised, the preservation of urban green space (UGS) becomes paramount. UGS is not just dedicated recreational space such as public parks, but other types of informal green space are important, for example, street trees and roof gardens. Despite the potential from cross-sectional evidence, we know l...

The potential legacy of mega-sport events to increase physical activity and sports participation among the host community has been recognized. As part of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014, a longitudinal dataset was collected, focusing on the ‘Active’ legacy domain, which aimed to help the Scottish population become active and lead healthier life...

Background In order to accurately measure and monitor levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) in older adults, cost efficient and valid instruments are required. To date, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) has not been validated with older adults (aged 60 years plus) in the United K...

Introduction: The influence of environments upon older adult physical activity (PA) is becoming increasingly widely documented. However, whilst our understanding of ‘macroscale’ influences (e.g. walkability) advances, there remains limited understanding on the influence of ‘micro- scale’ features, i.e. those characteristically found along streetsca...

Background: The ability to 'age in place' is dependent on a range of inter-personal, social and built environment attributes, with the latter being a key area for potential intervention. There is an emerging body of evidence that indicates the type of built environment features that may best support age friendly communities, but there is a need to...

The overall aim of the HULAP Study is to enhance the understanding of the built environment influence on the physical activity and sedentary behavior of older adults in the UK (Belfast), and Brazil (Curitiba). This will be done using a combination of measurement approaches, including; accelerometry, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), surveys, Geogra...

After weight loss, most individuals regain lost weight. Interventions to support the transition from successful loss to weight loss maintenance (WLM), regardless of the method of prior weight loss, are needed. The aims of this study were to (1) develop a face-to-face behavioural intervention session to support overweight and obese individuals who h...

After weight loss, most individuals regain lost weight. Interventions to support the transition from successful loss to weight loss maintenance (WLM), regardless of the method of prior weight loss, are needed. The aims of this study were to (1) develop a face-to-face behavioural intervention session to support overweight and obese individuals who h...

Background It is recognised that life events (LEs) which have been defined as incidents necessitating adjustment to habitual life either permanently or temporarily, not only have the potential to be detrimental to health and well-being, but research suggests some LEs may be beneficial. This study aimed to determine the individual and cumulative occ...

Background: Integrating stakeholder involvement in complex health intervention design maximizes acceptability and potential effectiveness. However, there is little methodological guidance about how to integrate evidence systematically from various sources in this process. Scientific evidence derived from different approaches can be difficult to in...

BACKGROUND: Integrating stakeholder involvement in complex health intervention design maximizes acceptability and potential effectiveness. However, there is little methodological guidance about how to integrate evidence systematically from various sources in this process. Scientific evidence derived from different approaches can be difficult to int...

A focus on the ‘mega’ aspect of hallmark events can divert attention from the micro – those local communities who are most impacted by the event. Similarly, attention to the ‘event’ aspect underplays the long process of bidding and preparation before any putative legacy of urban transformation for local people. This paper uses qualitative data to u...

GoWell East: studying change in Glasgow’s East End Headline indicators report for wave 2 (2015) in comparison with wave 1 (2012).

Moving home and home improvements are significant life events, but their health impacts are rarely studied in relation to other life events that occur relatively frequently in deprived populations. This article examines both housing and personal life events over a three year period among a study group living in deprived areas of Glasgow, in order t...

This report provides report on household survey

Feasible, cost-effective instruments are required for the surveillance of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) and to assess the effects of interventions. However, the evidence base for the validity and reliability of the World Health Organisation-endorsed Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) is limite...

Background There is an urgent need to increase population levels of physical activity, particularly amongst those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. Multiple factors influence physical activity behaviour but the generalisability of current evidence to such ‘hard-to-reach’ population subgroups is limited by difficulties in recruiting them int...

Background Most adults in Europe lead sedentary lives; their physical inactivity is associated with a rising prevalence of obesity and is considered to contribute significantly to health inequalities. A recent NICE (2006) review concluded that, “there is an urgent need to conduct research into the effectiveness of environmental interventions, parti...