Hardeman, Wendy

Dr Wendy Hardeman - Senior Research Associate in Behavioural Science

PhD, MSc

Wendy's research applies insights from behavioural science, in particular health psychology, to behavioural interventions to promote physical activity and medication taking, and decrease energy intake. Her major interests are the specification of intervention components, intervention fidelity, mechanism of intervention effect, and understanding processes underlying behaviour change.

Wendy has developed interventions to prevent Type 2 diabetes and its consequences and contributed to their evaluation in trials funded by the UK Medical Research Council, National Health Service and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). They include the promotion of physical activity in order to prevent Type 2 diabetes (ProActive, Propels); multiple behaviour change among people with recently diagnosed diabetes (ADDITION Plus); and support for medication taking in Type 2 diabetes (SAMS). Wendy led an NIHR National School for Primary Care Research funded study which aimed to identify the fidelity of delivery and active ingredients of the SAMS intervention through an in-depth assessment of tape-recorded consultations. She is Deputy Director of an NIHR programme grant on the development and evaluation of very brief interventions to increase physical activity in primary care (http://tiny.cc/VBIprog) (PI: Stephen Sutton). She leads two workstreams. The first concerns an evidence review of the cost and effectiveness of very brief interventions, focusing on promising behaviour change techniques such as self-monitoring (use of pedometers). The second develops and tests up to seven promising very brief interventions in a large-scale pilot trial in primary care among adults eligible for the NHS Health Checks.

Methodological research underpins Wendy's empirical studies. In an MRC-funded study with Susan Michie (UCL, PI), Marie Johnston and Jill Francis (University of Aberdeen), Charles Abraham (University of Exeter) and Martin Eccles (University of Newcastle) she is developing a taxonomy of behaviour change techniques for use in public health and implementation interventions (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-psychology/BCTtaxonomy/index.php)

Wendy is co-author of the NHS Health Trainers Handbook and a systematic review of reviews of behaviour change interventions (PI: Colin Greaves, University of Exeter) which fed into the Development and Implementation of a European Guideline and Training Standards for Diabetes Prevention (IMAGE).

Wendy obtained a PhD from the University of Cambridge on the application of psychological theory and evidence to the development and evaluation of behaviour change programmes, supported by an NIHR fellowship. She has an MSc in Human Movement Sciences (Free University, Amsterdam). Before coming to Cambridge she conducted research in AIDS prevention in Italy, worked on international health policy projects at an NGO and evaluated health education campaigns. Wendy has written books about Personal and Social Education for student nurses, published by Elsevier.

Selected publications

Farmer A, Hardeman W, Hughes D, Prevost T, Kim Y, Craven A, Oke J, Boase S, Selwood M, Kellar I, Graffy J, Griffin SG, Sutton S, Kinmonth AL (2012). An explanatory randomised controlled trial of a nurse-led, consultation-based intervention to support patients with adherence to taking glucose lowering medication for type 2 diabetes. BMC Family Practice, 13:30 doi:10.1186/1471-2296-13-30.

Hardeman W, Michie S, Kinmonth AL, Sutton S on behalf of the ProActive project team (2011). Do increases in physical activity encourage positive beliefs about further change in the ProActive cohort? Psychology and Health 26, 7, 899-914. DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2010.512662.

Griffin S, Simmons RK, Williams KM, Prevost AT, Hardeman W, Grant J, Whittle F, Boase S, Hobbis I, Brage S, Westgate K, Fanshawe T, Sutton S, Wareham NJ, Kinmonth AL on behalf of the ADDITION-Plus study team (2011). Protocol for the ADDITION-Plus study: a randomised controlled trial of an individually-tailored behaviour change intervention among people with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes under intensive UK general practice care. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:211. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-211.

Greaves CJ, Sheppard KE, Abraham C, Hardeman W, Roden M, Evans PH, Schwarz P on behalf of the IMAGE Study Group (2011). Systematic review of reviews of intervention components associated with increased effectiveness in dietary and physical activity interventions. BMC Public Health 11:119. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-119.

Michie M, Abraham C, Eccles MP, Francis JJ, Hardeman W, Johnston M (2011). Strengthening evaluation and implementation by specifying components of behaviour change interventions: a study protocol. Implementation Science 6:10. doi:10.1186/1748-5908-6-10.

Hardeman W, Kinmonth AL, Michie S, Sutton S on behalf of the ProActive project team (2011). Theory of Planned Behaviour cognitions do not predict self-reported or objective physical activity levels or change in the ProActive Trial. British Journal of Health Psychology 16, 135–150.

Simmons RK, Van Sluijs E, Hardeman W, Sutton S, Griffin S on behalf of the ProActive project team (2010). Who will increase their physical activity? Predictors of change in objectively measured physical activity over 12 months in the ProActive cohort. BMC Public Health 10:226.

Hardeman W, Kinmonth AL, Michie S, Sutton S on behalf of the ProActive project team (2009). Impact of a physical activity intervention program on cognitive predictors of behaviour among adults at risk of Type 2 diabetes (ProActive randomised controlled trial). The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 6: 16.

Hardeman W and Michie S. Training and quality assurance of self-management interventions (2009). Book chapter in: Newman S, Steed L and Mulligan K (eds). Chronic Physical Illness: Self-Management and Behavioural Interventions. Open University Press, Mc-Graw Hill, pp 98-119.

Hardeman W, Michie S, Fanshawe T, Prevost AT, McLoughlin K, Kinmonth AL (2008). Fidelity of delivery of a physical activity intervention: Predictors and consequences (2008). Psychology & Health, 23, 1, 11-24.

Michie S, Hardeman W, Fanshawe, T Prevost T, Taylor L, Kinmonth AL (2008). Investigating theoretical explanations for behaviour change: The case study of ProActive. Psychology & Health, 23, 1, 25-39.

Kinmonth AL, Wareham NJ, Hardeman W, Sutton S, Prevost AT, Fanshawe T, Williams K, Ekelund U, Griffin SG (2008). Efficacy of a theory-based behavioural intervention to increase physical activity in an at-risk group in primary care ProActive (UK): A randomised trial. The Lancet, 371, 41-48.

Michie S, Johnston M, Francis J, Hardeman W, Eccles M (2008). From theory to intervention: mapping theoretically derived behavioural determinants to behaviour change techniques. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57, 4, 660-680.

Hardeman W, Sutton S, Griffin S, Johnston M, White AJ, Wareham NJ, Kinmonth AL (2005). A causal modelling approach to the development of theory-based behaviour change programmes for trial evaluation. Health Education Research, 20, 6, 676-687.

McLean N, Griffin S, Toney K, Hardeman W (2003). Family involvement in weight control, weight maintenance and weight loss interventions: A systematic review of randomised trials. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 27, 987-1005.

Hardeman W, Johnston M, Johnston DW, Bonetti D, Wareham NJ, Kinmonth AL (2002). Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in behaviour change interventions: A systematic review. Psychology and Health, 17, 123-158.

Hardeman W, Griffin S, Johnston M, Kinmonth AL, Wareham NJ (2000). Interventions to prevent weight gain: a systematic review of psychological models and behaviour change methods. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 24, 2, 131-143.

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The Primary Care Unit

Dr Wendy Hardeman - Senior Research Associate in Behavioural Science

PhD, MSc

Selected publications