Entry requirements
Only open to master’s students in Psychology with specialisation Health and Medical Psychology (mandatory) or Occupational Health Psychology (elective).
Description
Students will learn how to develop an intervention program to promote health behavior, based on a systematic evidence-based approach. During the lectures, theories on the determinants of health behaviour (change) will be presented including recent insights in health promotion research, and vivid examples from practice. During the practical sessions, students will work in subgroups to design an intervention aimed at preventing the onset and/or continuation of health-compromising behaviours (e.g., snacking, stress-related behaviours) or by encouraging health-enhancing behaviours (e.g., exercise, fruit and vegetable consumption, sleep hygienic behaviour). Students will perform a literature search to establish a state-of-the-art summary of the relationship between this behaviour and relevant health outcomes. They will then design an intervention model including determinants of the behavior and methods of change, based on theoretical and empirical considerations. Following this, they will develop an intervention program and implement and evaluate part of the intervention among employees of the University during the Healthy University days.
Course objectives
On completion of the course students:
Have an understanding of planned intervention development (lectures and workgroups/assignments);
Have experience with the application of theory and evidence with respect to understanding and changing health behaviour (workgroups/assignments); and
Are able to recognize the promises and pitfalls of intervention development, including ethical concerns, such as potential adverse effects of interventions for specific (sub)populations (lectures and workgroups/assignments including practical component/workshops during Healthy University Days).
Designing interventions in a systematic evidence-based way prepares students for future work situations in which they may need to develop intervention programs or trainings for clients and patients or other groups in the general population. Students will also gain some real life experience with implementing such interventions, as they facilitate workshops for employees.
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
NOTE As of the academic year 2021-2022, you must register for all courses in uSis.
You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2.
Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from early August. Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from December. The exact date on which the registration starts will be published on the website of the Student Service Center (SSC)
By registering for a course you are also automatically registered for the Brightspace module. Anyone who is not registered for a course therefore does not have access to the Brightspace module and cannot participate in the first sit of the exam of that course.
Also read the complete registration procedure
Mode of instruction
During the course the whole process of intervention planning will be introduced and illustrated. Students will learn how to systematically design and implement an intervention. The course consists of one lecture and online knowledge clips, weekly work group sessions on either Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday (1,5 hours each), and a workshop for University employees (one whole day). During the lectures the theoretical background of intervention development is presented and discussed, including several illustrative practical examples. Themes of the lectures are amongst others: Which steps need to be followed when systematically designing and planning evidence-based interventions? How perform a Needs Assessment? What are known determinants of behavior (change), and which theories and methods of behavior change are helpful for specifying effective intervention elements? Attention will also be paid to ethical considerations, such as potential adverse effects of interventions, including hardening or stigmatisation. Students collaborate in subgroups and work in their weekly assignments on one specific topic/behavior, e.g. sleeping behavior or sedentary behavior. During the workgroups they present their progress, and discuss difficulties they encounter. The practical component of the course consists of facilitating a workshop during the Healthy University Week.
Assessment method
Final grade is based on:
Attendance during lectures and work group sessions (full attendance is mandatory)
Group assignments (75%)
Individual assignment (25%)
In case the final grade is below 5.5, students may write an alternative individual assignment.
The Institute of Psychology follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of this fraud policy.
Reading list
Bartholomew Eldredge, L.K., Markham, C.M., Ruiter, R.A.C., Fernández, M.E., Kok, G. & Parcel, G.S. (2016). Planning Health Promotion Programs. An Intervention Mapping Approach. 4th edition. Wiley: Jossey-Bass
Course syllabus (which will be made available in BrightSpace)
Contact information
Dr. Sandra van Dijk sdijk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl