Contact the Behavioural Science Unit
The Behavioural Science Unit: enabling the use of behavioural science for better health and wellbeing.
The Behavioural Science Unit (BSU) provides specialist expertise on behavioural science, and champions and enables the increasingly routine application of it, to improve health and wellbeing in Wales.
The BSU offers support for decision makers and professionals who are planning, developing and providing activities aiming for better health and wellbeing for the people of Wales, to apply behavioural science in their work to help improve impact and optimise outcomes. This support is available to anyone working for better health and wellbeing and improving health equity in Wales – whether that ‘work’ is services, policy, quality improvement, communications or partnership and systems working.
BSU vision and mission
The BSU was established in 2022 and has a shared vision that, “activity across Wales public health system to deliver better health and reduce health inequity is optimised through the systematic application of behavioural science, in its development, implementation and evaluation”.
The Unit mission is to enable the routine use of behavioural science for better health within PHW and its stakeholders.
The Unit have developed an enabling plan that serves as a route map for how behavioural science will support delivery of Public Health Wales’ Long Term Strategy, so more people live longer, healthier lives and all people have fair and equal access to the things that lead to good health and well-being. You can view the full enabling plan drafted to help achieve this.
About the team
The BSU team has a strong mix of qualifications, specialist knowledge and professional skills from across behavioural science including: psychology, sociology, public health, consultation, training and professional education, research and evaluation and project management. The unit also routinely collaborate with a range of academic behavioural science colleagues and other behavioural science units in the development, delivery and evaluation of their work with partners.
Independent evaluation of the Unit’s work has demonstrated that in addition to the specialist skills and knowledge of the team, their partners highly valued their approachability and flexibility, their willingness to meet partners where they are, and the development of productive relationships during their work together. The evaluation, and other assessments, have shown that working with the BSU has enabled people to build behavioural science into their work in a meaningful way.
How can the Behavioural Science Unit support you work?
The BSU works with professionals from Public Health Wales, Welsh Government, health boards and NHS trusts, Welsh Local Government Association and Local Government, to help build behavioural science into policy, strategy, service development and improvement, communications and systems working.
The Unit works with partners across the range of health and wellbeing topics and particularly the six strategic priorities in Public Health Wales’ Long Term Strategy.
The Unit provides a range of responsive bespoke support to partners’ immediate priorities and it delivers programmes of work that analysis shows will help partners use behavioural science in their work. Here are some of the services the BSU provides:
- Timely specialist consultation and feedback on partners interventions
- Direct specialist capacity – doing the application of behavioural science for partners
- Training and development opportunities (bespoke and planned, in a variety of formats)
- Developing and improving communications interventions with partners
- Incorporating behavioural science into policy and strategy development
- Produce guides and tools to help partners use behavioural science
- Supporting commissioning of behavioural science services
- Bespoke behaviourally-informed problem definition and solution generation
- Enhancing systems working approaches
- Optimising approaches in service and quality improvement
- Contributing to behavioural science research and academic collaboration
- Enabling connection and collaboration between behavioural science researchers and the those leading and delivering health and wellbeing interventions
- Supporting and undertaking evaluation of behaviour change interventions
Direct support on request
The BSU provides timely support to requests received from health and care decision makers and professionals to support the use of behavioural science in their practice as part of their efforts for better health and wellbeing for the people of Wales.
The Unit has provided this responsive service with staff who are planning, developing or delivering services, policy, quality improvement, communications and systems working activities.
The specialist capacity provided includes: specialist consultation, advice and guidance, workshopping problem and solutions from behavioural science, bespoke training and development and, direct behavioural science services such as insight gathering, intervention recommendations, behaviourally informed content, feedback on products or input to commissioning.
A key principle the Unit applies in this responsive service is “meeting the client where they are”, the Unit aims to meet partners’ needs by balancing rigour from behavioural science with proportionality and pragmatism, and the time and resource available to partners.
To make a request for behavioural science support, please complete the form below or email [email protected].
Improving your communications using behavioural science
The NHS and local government send out millions of letters, texts and emails to patients and the public every year, encouraging them to make best use of services for better health and wellbeing. They put up thousands of posters, distribute information and develop multi-media campaigns all ultimately aiming to influence behaviours, and there is strong evidence that making them behaviourally informed can improve their effectiveness.
The BSU run the Behaviourally Informed Communications Initiative (BICI), a programme designed to improve direct communications – e.g. letters, text, emails, – through the integration of behavioural science.
BICI offers a blend of direct support from the BSU, guided workshops, and self-directed activities to help teams increase the impact of their communications and develop their own behavioural science skills to do so in the future.
You can sign up now to be a part of the next BICI programme to improve your ‘communication’ intervention for behaviour change.
Use BSU tools and guides
The BSU publications include practical tools and guides to help you apply behavioural science at every stage of your work. There are also reports and infographics on the work of the Unit, and on a number of different topics where behavioural science can be and has been applied. View the unit’s publications to get more ideas and support to help you use behavioural science in your practice.
Training, learning, and development to use behavioural science
The BSU offers a range of training and development to help you use behavioural science in practice. You can contact the unit to discuss and arrange for bespoke training and development for your team, tailored to your needs by completing the form at the bottom of this page outlining your needs and one of the team will be in touch. Or, if you prefer, you can simply contact the unit by email: [email protected].
You can express an interest in joining the Behaviour Change Agents (BCA) Programme. This free programme is designed to equip professionals to be able to use behavioural science in their practice and to support others to do so in their teams and services. The learning is based on evidence-based models and approaches in professional education and behavioural science, developed in collaboration with the external experts and co-produced with colleagues here in Wales. This is a multi-modal learning and development programme that integrates e-learning, in-person and online sessions, drawing from Teams-Based Learning and Action Learning approaches. It is designed to strike the balance between quality learning components delivering value and the need to fit around busy professional schedules. To express an interest in joining the next cohort of BCAs, simply contact us on our email [email protected].
The Unit are developing other learning programmes including an e-learning module introduction to behavioural science for all staff across the system and programmes for leaders and for whole teams. Watch this space for more information on that.
How to work with the Behavioural Science Unit
Whether you know what you need or if you just want to explore how the BSU can help, complete the below form providing the essentials and one of the team will be in touch. Or, if you prefer, you can simply contact the unit by email: [email protected].