Robert Copeland

• Sheffield Hallam University

Background: Post-viral issues following acute infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), referred to widely as long COVID, are associated with episodic, persistent, and disabling symptoms affecting quality of life and functional status. Evidence demonstrates a significant impairment and long disease course, but there remains limited empir...

Individual-level interventions are insufficient to create the enabling conditions for population-level shifts in physical activity. This is evidenced by a lack of progress tackling physical inactivity across the globe. A more integrative and holistic approach is needed that recognizes the different contexts within which physical activity takes plac...

Background The value of clinical cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) within healthcare settings has been established in the last decade. CPET methods remain highly relevant in the COVID-19 endemic phase and should be used to assess those recovering from COVID-19 infection. This diagnostic tool could play an integral role in disease prognosticat...

The primary purpose of this research was to explain how co-location of healthcare (community or secondary healthcare clinics) with fitness centres (gyms, leisure centres) works (or does not work) to promote and facilitate access to physical activity opportunities and physical activity behaviour. As part of 2012 London Olympic Legacy and National Ce...

Primary Aim To describe the features of implementation in the setting of primary care (PC) for physical activity (PA) interventions that improved total and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA). Secondary Aim To assess the scalability potential of effective PC PA interventions. Method A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple electronic datab...

Background There is no universally accepted definition for surgical prehabilitation. The objectives of this scoping review were to (1) identify how surgical prehabilitation is defined across randomised controlled trials and (2) propose a common definition. Methods The final search was conducted in February 2023 using MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web...

Background Severe mental ill health (SMI) includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder and is associated with premature deaths when compared to people without SMI. Over 70% of those deaths are attributed to preventable health conditions, which have the potential to be positively affected by the adoption of healthy behaviour...

Cancer patients undergoing major interventions face numerous challenges, including the adverse effects of cancer and the side effects of treatment. Cancer rehabilitation is vital in ensuring cancer patients have the support they need to maximise treatment outcomes and minimise treatment-related side effects and symptoms. The Active Together service...

Sport and Physical Activity (PA) Special Eurobarometer surveys may inform of the physical inactivity (PIA) levels in the European Union (EU). This study aimed to analyse the PIA levels of EU adolescents (15–17 years) in four time points, according to gender. The data were from 2002, 2005, 20013, and 2017 Special Eurobarometers. Adolescents were cat...

Adults with severe mental ill health may have specific attitudes toward physical activity. To inform intervention development, we conducted a survey to assess the physical activity patterns, preferences, barriers, and motivations of adults with severe mental ill health living in the community. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics, and...

Background The lack of systematic factors affecting physical inactivity (PIA) challenges policymakers to implement evidence-based solutions at a population level. The study utilizes the Eurobarometer to analyse PIA-modifiable variables. Methods Special Eurobarometer 412 physical activity (PA) data were analysed (n = 18 336), including 40 variables...

Background: Critiques of public involvement (PI) are associated with failing to be inclusive of under-represented groups, and this leads to research that fails to include a diversity of perspectives. Aim: The aim of this PI project was to understand the experiences and priorities of people from three seldom-heard groups whose musculoskeletal pai...

Background: Long-COVID diagnosis is prominent, and our attention must support those experiencing debilitating and long-standing symptoms. To establish patient pathways, we must consider the societal and economic impacts of sustained COVID-19. Accordingly, we sought to determine the pertinent areas impacting quality of life (QoL) following a COVID-...

Background: Critiques of public involvement (PI) are associated with failing to be inclusive of under-represented groups and this leads to research that fails to include a diversity of perspectives. Aim: The aim of this PI project was to understand the experiences and priorities of people from three seldom heard groups whose musculoskeletal pain ma...

Background Few treatments exist for adolescents living with severe obesity. This qualitative study explored the experiences of severely obese adolescents and their families who participated in the BOB study. Methods Twelve adolescents (5 males;7 females; mean age 15 years; BMI > 3.5 s.d; puberty stage 4 +) who were engaged with the research study...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused disruption to professional and recreational sports across the world. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transmitted by relatively large respiratory droplets that behave ballistically, and exhaled aerosol droplets, which potentially pose a greater risk. This review provides a summary of end-to-end...

In 2014, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) called for the development of a system to collate local data on exercise referral schemes (ERS). This database would be used to facilitate continued evaluation of ERS. The use of health databases can spur scientific investigation and the generation of evidence regarding healthcar...

Background: Public health organizations have been alerted to the high levels of sedentary behaviour (SB) among adolescents as well as to the health and social consequences of excess sedentary time. However, SB changes of the European Union (EU) adolescents over time have not been reported yet. This study aimed to identify SB of the EU adolescents...

Background: Few treatments exist for adolescents living with severe obesity. This qualitative study explored the experiences of severely obese adolescents and their families who participated in the BOB study. Methods: Twelve adolescents (5 males;7 females; mean age 15 years; BMI > 3.5 s.d; puberty stage 4 +) who were engaged with the research study...

COVID-19 is one of the biggest health crises that the world has seen. Whilst measures to abate transmission and infection are ongoing, there continues to be growing numbers of patients requiring chronic support, which is already putting a strain on health care systems around the world and which may do so for years to come. A legacy of COVID-19 will...

Cancer and associated medical treatments affect patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by decreasing functional dimensions of physical, social, cognitive, and emotional well-being, while increasing short and late-term symptoms. Exercise, however, is demonstrated to be a useful therapy to improve cancer patients and survivors’ HRQoL, yet t...

The report, commissioned by EuropeActive's Research Centre THINK Active, included data from the SafeACTiVE survey platform and ukactive Research Institute collected over a 6-month period. Data collection methods and information used are consistent with findings from public health authorities.

Background: Health organizations have been alerted to the high levels of sedentary behaviour (SB) among adolescents as well as to the health and social consequences of excess sedentary time. However, SB changes of European Union (EU) adolescents over time are yet to be reported. This study aimed to identify SB changes the EU adolescents (15-17 year...

Improving cardiorespiratory fitness (CRFit) in cancer patients is crucial to increase survivorship, promote health and improve quality of life. High‐intensity training (HIT) has the potential to increase CRFit, perhaps better than other exercise modalities, but the extant evidence has yet to be fully explored. This systematic review and meta‐analys...

Background People living with serious mental illness (SMI) experience debilitating symptoms that worsen their physical health and quality of life. Regular physical activity (PA) may bring symptomatic improvements and enhance wellbeing. When undertaken in community-based group settings, PA may yield additional benefits such as reduced isolation. Ini...

This report presents an independent critical appraisal of ‘Sheffield - Let’s change4life’ (SLC4L) – a whole systems approach to tackling obesity. The report intends to provide commissioners, providers, practitioners, researchers and evaluators of public health interventions with an informed and empirically sound platform upon which to consider the...

Abstract Background Sedentary behaviour (SB) has been identified as an important mortality risk factor. Health organizations have recognised SB as a public health challenge with major health, social, and economic consequences. Researchers have alerted the need to develop specific strategies, to monitor, prevent, and reduce SB. However, there is no...

An updated review of the positive effects of physical activity and exercise reinforcing immune function considering a second wave of COVID19 across Europe.

This is a tribute to the late Professor Edward Winter from colleagues across the sport and exercise science community

The Health and Fitness Industry fails to invest sufficient resources in the development of the evidence-base supporting its capacity to deliver meaningful and sustainable public health outcomes. In addition, rarely are the wider economic and social impacts of sport explored or reported. This undermines the potential contribution that the sector can...

Objectives: To examine if exercise referral schemes (ERSs) are associated with meaningful changes in physical activity in a large cohort of individuals throughout England, Scotland, and Wales from The National Referral Database. Methods: Data were obtained from 5246 participants from 12 different ERSs, lasting 6-12 weeks. The preexercise referra...

In 2014 Public Health England (PHE) launched the national physical activity (PA) framework ‘Everybody Active, Everyday’. The framework included a key domain for action called ‘Moving Professionals’. The Moving Professionals Programme aimed to build expertise and leadership across key professional sectors and to raise awareness and understanding of...

In 2014 Public Health England (PHE) launched the national physical activity (PA) framework ‘Everybody Active, Everyday’. The framework included a key domain for action called ‘Moving Professionals’. The Moving Professionals Programme aimed to build expertise and leadership across key professional sectors and to raise awareness and understanding of...

There is an emerging evidence base for the value of physical and psychosocial interventions for people with cancer around the time of diagnosis and first treatment. Recent systematic reviews have identified that prehabilitation has the potential to provide several benefits for patients including improvement in psychosocial outcomes. Preparing the p...

Background Physical activity (PA) is critical in the prevention and treatment of non-communicable disease (NCD). Despite benefits to the health and wellbeing of individuals, the economy and the environment, a quarter of adults remain physically inactive globally. Despite increasing research, National and International policies and myriad interventi...

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers physical inactivity (PIA) as a critical noncommunicable factor for disease and mortality, affecting more women than men. In 2013, the WHO set a 10% reduction of the PIA prevalence, with the goal to be reached by 2025. Changes in the 2013-2017 period of physical inactivity prevalence in the...

Background: Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) programmes promoted via healthcare settings worldwide may not currently meet the needs of many patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs). This paper describes the outcomes of a qualitative enquiry into the perspectives of patients and professionals from multiple healthcare services regard...

Background: Physical activity is widely considered to be effective in the prevention, management, and treatment of many chronic health disorders. Yet, population physical activity levels are relatively low and have changed little in recent years. Sufficient physical activity levels for health and wellbeing often do not arise as result of typical ac...

Background: Exercise referral schemes (ERSs) within clinical populations offer inactive individuals the opportunity to increase physical activity levels over the length of scheme. Schemes are also intended to support the treatment of specific health conditions of medically referred individuals through increased physical activity behaviours. The ext...

Background: In 2014 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) called for development of a system to collate local data on exercise referral schemes (ERS) to inform future practice. This database would be used to facilitate continued evaluation of ERS. ‘Big data’ analytics is a current trend in healthcare with the potential to inf...

Background The National Health Service (NHS) seems appropriately placed to be an exemplar employer in providing effective and proactive workplace health and wellbeing services for its staff. However, NHS staff sickness absence costs an estimated £2.4 billion. Evidence suggests staff health and wellbeing services delivered in the NHS can improve hea...

Background: Physical activity interventions are an important adjunct therapy for people with severe to moderate and/or enduring mental health problems. Football is particularly popular for men in this group. Several interventions have emerged over the past decade and there is a need to clearly articulate how they are intended to work, for whom and...

The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) is a London 2012 Olympic Legacy that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation through Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity. The NCSEM in Sheffield has the vision to transform Sheffield into the most active city in the UK through a ‘whole-systems’ approach called ‘Move More...

This study explored the causes of drop-out from a community-based multi-component childhood obesity treatment intervention (MCTI), considering parent and child perspectives in order to develop future interventions which manage potential attrition more effectively. Semi-structured interviews explored attrition amongst a sample of children (n = 10) a...

Objectives Physical activity is recommended for managing chronic health conditions but is rarely maintained. This feasibility study aimed to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioural intervention for long-term physical activity for adults with chronic health conditions. Methods Participants ( N = 37...

”Active for Health” is a robust physical activity (PA) and sport programme linking rehabilitation to community PA for seven long term conditions. This poster discusses the Active for Health process and outlines the evaluation methods. Some interim headline outcomes have been presented including; health service utilization savings, quality of life c...

Background People with long-term serious mental illness live with severe and debilitating symptoms that can negatively influence their health and quality of life, leading to outcomes such as premature mortality, morbidity and obesity. An interplay of social, behavioural, biological and psychological factors is likely to contribute to their poor phy...

Intragastric Balloons are a temporary, reversible, and safer option compared to bariatric surgery to promote significant weight loss leading to improved metabolic outcomes. However due to subsequent weight regain, alternative procedures are now preferred in adults. In adolescents, more amenable to lifestyle change, balloons may be an alternative to...

Background: Physical activity (PA) levels are lower among some UK Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups than the majority White British population and a variety of tailored interventions have emerged. This study documents the characteristics and logic of local adaptations, a vital first step in evaluating such innovations. Methods: An English P...

Background: Severe obesity in childhood is associated with significant morbidity including systolic hypertension, fatty liver, obstructive sleep apnoea, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes. Evidence that even small changes in BMI SDS bring about significant clinical benefit is strong. Objectives: To assess the impact of weight loss associated with int...

Background: Severe adolescent obesity (body mass index (BMI) >99.6th centile) is a significant public health challenge. Current non-invasive treatments, including community-based lifestyle interventions, are often of limited effectiveness in this population, with NICE guidelines suggesting the use of bariatric surgery as the last line of treatment...

Solutions to the global challenge of physical inactivity have tended to focus on interventions at an individual level, when evidence shows that wider factors, including the social and physical environment, play a major part in influencing health-related behaviour. A multidisciplinary perspective is needed to rewrite the research agenda on physical...

Background Long-term weight management consists of weight-loss, weight-loss maintenance, and weight-gain stages. Qualitative insights into weight management are now appearing in the literature however research appears to be biased towards explorations of weight-loss maintenance. The qualitative understanding of weight loss, which begets weight-loss...

Aims: Alongside the increasing prevalence of chronic health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes has been an increase in interventions to reverse these ill-health trends. The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal impact of the Sheffield Hallam University Staff Wellness Service on health indicators over a five-year per...

Background: Recruitment issues continue to impact a large number of trials. Sharing recruitment information is vital to supporting researchers to accurately predict recruitment and to manage the risk of poor recruitment during study design and implementation. The purpose of this article is to build on the knowledge available to researchers on recr...

An international group of experts convened to provide guidance for employers to promote the avoidance of prolonged periods of sedentary work. The set of recommendations was developed from the totality of the current evidence, including long-term epidemiological studies and interventional studies of getting workers to stand and/or move more frequent...

Background Adolescent obesity is a complex condition involving social, emotional, behavioural and cultural issues.DesignOne-to-one interviews and small focus groups with overweight and obese young people were conducted. Qualitative research is an appropriate method to explore the complexity of this issue.Setting and participantsOverweight and obese...

Weight management appears to be multidimensional and complex, and registered nutritionists might work to educate, promote and provide weight-management services to communities, groups and individuals. However, nutrition education might not adequately reflect the weight-management requirements of individuals and groups. The aim of the present study...

Recent evidence suggests that small increases in the physical activity of those considered least active can have a bigger health impact than raising levels of those already achieving or close to achieving recommendations. Profiling the characteristics of those who are least active allows for appropriate targeting of interventions. This study theref...

Introduction Poor staff health costs £11 billion per year to the UK economy. 60% of adults waking hours are spent in the workplace providing an ideal setting for health promotion. National Health Service (NHS) staff health and wellbeing is found to be poorer than other sectors (Boorman, 2009). Therefore, we developed an onsite NHS workplace healt...

A ‘real’ Olympic Legacy has never been achieved on any large scale. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games was awarded with the commitment to 'encourage the whole population to be more physically active'. The aim of London 2012 was therefore not just to deliver a successful sporting event but to act as a driver for lasting change in the cont...

This study investigated the effects of a pragmatic lifestyle intervention in obese adults with continuous positive airway pressure-treated obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS). Sixty patients were randomised 1 : 1 to either a 12-week lifestyle intervention or an advice-only control group. The intervention involved supervised exercise...

Background: Physical activity is promoted to help adults manage chronic health conditions, but evidence suggests that individuals relapse after intervention cessation. The objective of this study was to explore the determinants and strategies for successful and unsuccessful physical activity maintenance. Methods: A qualitative study using semist...

More evidence is needed on the potential role of 'booster' interventions in the maintenance of increases in physical activity levels after a brief intervention in relatively sedentary populations. To determine whether objectively measured physical activity, 6 months after a brief intervention, is increased in those receiving physical activity 'boos...

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to assess if self-reported measures of walking limitation correlate better with a community-based assessment of maximum walking distance (MWD) than they do with laboratory-based tests in patients with intermittent claudication. A secondary aim was to examine the effect of prior objective testing on thes...

London 2012 is the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to explicitly try and develop socioeconomic legacies for which success indicators are specified - the highest profile of which was to deliver a health legacy by getting two million more people more active by 2012. This editorial highlights how specialists in Sport and Exercise Medicine can contr...

Isolated proximal-without-distal (buttock but not calf) exercise-related lower-limb ischemia (IPI) might develop in the presence of arterial lesions impairing the blood flow supply toward the hypogastric vascular bed. In IPI, lower-limb sensory nerve dysfunction might occur from the sacral nerve plexus becoming ischemic during exercise. The purpose...

Background: Healthy lifestyle behaviors could have a role in ameliorating some of the adverse effects of androgen suppression therapy (AST) in men with prostate cancer. The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a tapered supervised exercise program in combination with dietary advice in men with advanced prostate cancer receivin...

Over the past three decades, there has been a dramatic global increase in childhood obesity. A better understanding of stakeholders' perceptions of intervention requirements could contribute to developing more effective interventions for childhood obesity. This study provides a qualitative, in-depth, analysis of stakeholders' (children, parents and...

Growing levels of both obesity and chronic disease in the general population pose a major public health problem. In the UK, an innovative 'health and weight' cohort trials facility, the 'South Yorkshire Cohort', is being built in order to provide robust evidence to inform policy, commissioning and clinical decisions in this field. This protocol rep...

Childhood obesity trends have increased dramatically over the past three decade’s. The purpose of this quantitative systematic review is to provide an update of the evidence, illustrating the efficacy of childhood obesity treatment, considering whether treatment fidelity has been measured and/or reported and whether this related to the treatment ef...

Systematic reviews have identified a range of brief interventions which increase physical activity in previously sedentary people. A randomised controlled trial is needed to assess whether providing motivational interviewing, three months after giving initial advice, sustains physical activity levels in those who recently became physically active....

T he prevalence of obesity is increasing in virtually all populations and age groups worldwide (Behn and Ur, 2006). In the UK, without intervention predictions suggest nearly 60% of adults will be clinically obese by 2050 (Foresight, 2007). Obesity is associated with numerous co-morbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, sleep apnoea, hypertensio...

Systematic reviews have identified a range of brief interventions which increase physical activity in previously sedentary people. There is an absence of evidence about whether follow up beyond three months can maintain long term physical activity. This study assesses whether it is worth providing motivational interviews, three months after giving...

A qualitative study nested within a randomized controlled trial explored obese adolescents' experiences of participation in an exercise therapy intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants assigned to exercise therapy. Participants' reported feeling more energetic during and after exercise, than before. Many participant...

We conducted a proof-of-concept, randomized, controlled trial to investigate the effects of a supervised exercise therapy intervention on psychopathologic outcomes in obese adolescents. The participant sample consisted of 81 adolescents (age: 11-16 years) who had been referred to a children's hospital for evaluation of obesity or who responded to a...

Background While obesity is known to have many physiological consequences, the psychopathology of this condition has not featured prominently in the literature. Cross-sectional studies have indicated that obese children have increased odds of experiencing poor quality of life and mental health. However, very limited trial evidence has examined the...