Leanne Tyson

Leanne Tyson headshot
PhD Title
Development and Feasibility Testing of a Scalable Behavioural Change Intervention to Promote Physical Activity Among Sedentary Adults with Moderate/Severe Asthma.
Funded by
The University of East Anglia Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research
Supervisors
Andrew Wilson, Andy Jones and Wendy Hardeman/Gareth Stratton and Gwyneth Davies (University of East Anglia/Swansea University)
Based at
University of East Anglia
Email

Development and Feasibility Testing of a Scalable Behavioural Change Intervention to Promote Physical Activity Among Sedentary Adults with Moderate/Severe Asthma

Regular physical activity is considered an important component in the overall management of asthma. However, studies have found that patients with asthma are less physically active compared to people without the condition, possibly due to fear of triggering symptoms.

Behavioural change interventions that promote physical activity have the potential to reduce asthma attacks and the burden of asthma on healthcare services and patients. Recently, there has been a greater focus on using mobile devices (mHealth) to help transform how asthma care is delivered. This technology has the potential to deliver adaptive interventions to provide behaviour change support to patients in a scalable cost-effective way.

The Project 

  1. A systematic review of alternative physical activity interventions to pulmonary rehabilitation (exercise training, education, and behaviour change delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of physicians and health professionals) in adults with asthma. 
  2. Development of a theory and evidence-based physical activity intervention. Development work will include reviews of theories and behaviour change techniques, qualitative research and stakeholder consultations to inform content and delivery. It is envisaged that the intervention will comprise of behaviour change support, individual exercise prescriptions and delivered by a mHealth component. 
  3. Piloting and feasibility testing of the intervention. This will use qualitative and quantitative methods to assess feasibility, acceptability, and implementation of the intervention. Outcomes will include exercise capacity, asthma symptoms, and attack frequency. Focus groups and/or semi-structured interviews will be conducted to explore the findings and aid the development of a definitive trial. 

About me

I have previously completed a BSc in Criminology and Psychology and MSc in Health Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University. I have experience in both qualitative and quantitative research methodology and I am interested in the development of behavioural change interventions to improve public health. 

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