Thesis Proposals

Researchers

Research Group

Behavioural Design in Public Health

How do we help people change their behaviour or daily routines? How do we design behavioural solutions for controlling a chronic condition, getting back in shape or any other need or interest? How do we increase engagement and adherence to clinical guides between health professionals? In sum, how do we develop effective behavioural design to help public health administration to design, implement and evaluate  health interventions in the field of health promotion?

Behavioural design refers to the specific theoretical models and applied strategies used in interventions and its aim is to:

• Understand how the mind makes decisions;
• Describe the key factors (barriers and facilitators) that must converge in order for action to be taken; and
• Develop strategies for changing behaviour.

Behavioural change techniques are one of the most important factors in determining the success or failure of online interventions (e-health).

Research topics:

• The design of eHealth intervention to «desimplement »low value clinical practices.
• Personal motivation and decision-making processes and their role in starting and sustaining changes in behaviour.
• Persuasive systems design for online interventions aimed at disease prevention or health promotion.
• Theoretical models (Behaviour Change Wheel, Persuasive System Design, Behavior Fogg Model) and their application in Health Promotion.

Further information: 

In this research line, we have been working funded both by public and private partners. 

We are interested in facilitating the participation of PhD students in "Industrial Doctoral Programs of the Government of Catalonia (MOU with a company) as the request for additional funds.

Dr Manuel Armayones Ruiz
Mail: marmayones@uoc.edu

Dr Beni Gómez-Zúñiga 
Mail: bgomezz@uoc.edu

Dr Modesta Pousada Fernández
Mail: mpousada@uoc.edu

(Digital) Health Literacy (dHL)

How does (d)HL help people make better decisions about health? How do social networks further the reach of health messages and ultimately improve health?

What skills are needed by people (professionals and the public) to navigate digital healthcare services?

Health literacy is an issue on the global agenda and one of the three pillars of health promotion.

Health literacy means more than simply being able to 'read pamphlets', 'make appointments', 'understand food labels' or 'comply with prescribed actions' from a doctor.

It is not just a personal skill. Rather, it depends on individual skills, community resources, and the complexity and demands of the health system.

Health literacy aims to:

• Improve health and quality of life from a public health perspective; and
• Support informed and efficient decision-making around health.

Research topics:

• Learning ecologies in digital mental health in adolescents through social networks.
• Assessing and promoting health literacy and digital health literacy among health professionals, patients and the wider public.
• Health interventions through social networks.

Within this research line, we are now working with public and private funds, and together with mental health institutions and the Spanish Network for Health Literacy.

We are interested in admitting PhD students to apply for "Industrial Doctoral Programs of the Government of Catalonia" (implying a memorandum of understanding with a company), as well as the application for additional funds.

Dr Adrián Montesano del Campo
Mail: amontesano@uoc.edu

Interpersonal Relationships and Psychotherapy

Our research seeks to contribute to enhancement of the quality of psychological interventions in both individual and in couple and family therapy from an integrative perspective. Within this field, we pay special attention to the following topics: self-identity and change; relational welfare; narrative change; systemic therapy; grief therapy; couple and sexual therapy; patterns of interpersonal interaction.

We aim at developing applied research projects focused on the improvement of the socio-sanitary response to participants with different health problems, as well as the promotion of psychological and relational welfare in the community. 

Research topics:

• Focused on the development of innovative methodologies of constructivist assessment of change, relational dynamics or personal identity, especially through the use of ICT (Virtual/Mixed Reality and Health).
• Focused on the study of the role of relational welfare in psychological and physical health.
• Focused on the effectiveness of individual, family and couple psychotherapy, from a practitioner-oriented approach.

Loneliness: behavioural insights into experience, cognitive processes and mediating social resources

Unwanted loneliness is an interdisciplinary topic for which a psychological perspective is especially important, regardless of the group being studied (e.g. the elderly, people with disabilities or parents of children with chronic illnesses). This research line focuses on:

• Approaching loneliness interventions from behavioural design (both in public policies and individual or group technology-based interventions);

• Targeting those who perceive loneliness;

• Analysing factors that mediate loneliness in different social groups, with a special focus on disabled people; and

• Studying the effectiveness of public policies in terms of the perception of loneliness among specific groups.

Further information:

Our research in this line has been funded by both public and private partners. We are therefore interested in admitting PhD students who are involved in the Government of Catalonia's industrial doctoral programmes (memorandum of understanding with a company).

Psychopathology, Adaptation Processes and Resilience 

Our research starts from the study of psychopathology and clinical psychology to better understand certain clinical disorders, their risk and protection factors and the processes of adaptation to adversity. Thus, some of the topics addressed are the evaluation and diagnosis of psychopathological conditions, the assessment of psychotherapy outcomes and processes, routine monitoring, the psychopathology of trauma, victimization and resilience processes, and response to psychosocial stressors (grief and loss, crisis intervention, care responsabilities, etc.)

• Focused on the psychology of bond and affective relationships: stress management, grief and loss, adaptation processes, separations/divorces, psychosocial stressors, etc.
• Focused on the field of emergency psychology: study of the benefits of early crisis intervention, communication of bad news, needs of victims and social support, effectiveness of interventions in trauma, care for vulnerable groups (evictions, immigration, etc.).
• Focused on victimization: forms, risk and protective factors, intervention programs with victims, child abuse, sexual abuse/assault, partner violence, workplace/school harassment, etc.

Research in legal psychology

Can psychological research favour criminal investigation? Is it possible to determine the mental processes of an individual who has committed a crime? Can we improve police and judicial intervention in victims and mitigate the effects caused by the experience of a traumatic process? Our purpose is to develope research projects that answer these questions and, with them, contribute and promotes the excercise of psychology in the legal system.

• Design and evaluation of techniques that improve the recall of witnesses who saw a criminal act.
• Study and evaluation of psychological phenomena, behavioural and relational, that have an impact on criminal behaviour.
• Improvement of the victim's situation and their interaction with the legal system, and intervention and developing prevention programs for secondary victimization.

Dr Adrián Montesano del Campo
Mail: amontesano@uoc.edu