Thursday, May 7 – Conference Opening Activities

Friday, May 8 – Scientific Plenary Day

Saturday, May 9 – Workshop Day

WORKSHOP 1: Designing interventions using the Behaviour Change Wheel and COM-B Model

Morning Session (9h00 to 12h00) – Marta Marques, PhD (Portugal)

The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) is a systematic, evidence-based framework for designing behaviour change interventions. At its centre is the integrative COM-B model of human behaivour, which provides a way to systematically identify and categorize barriers and enablers to change. This workshop introduces you to applying the BCW and COM-B model to intervention development, with emphasis on the Behaviour Change Technique Ontology—a comprehensive classifation for standardizing and specifying evidence-based teqhniques.  Case examples will illustrate each step, with opportunity to discuss how to apply these on your own.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain the Behaviour Change Wheel framework and its key components to understand the systematic approach to designing behavior change interventions
2. Use the COM-B model to diagnose what needs to change—identifying the capabilities, opportunities and motivations that are barriers or enablers to behavior change
3. Select and specify evidence-based behaviour change techniques using the Behaviour Change Technique Ontology to design targeted, effective interventions

WORKSHOP 2: Co-creation of behavioural interventions: Methods for integrating stakeholders to optimize implementation

Morning Session (9h00 to 12h00) – Molly Byrne, PhD (Ireland)

In this workshop, you will learn about approaches to engage key stakeholders in co-designing research to develop, evaluate and implement effective behaviour change interventions. You will apply your learning to your own research area and develop ideas and strategies in discussion with other workshop participants.

This workshop will introduce key themes, frameworks and references relevant to stakeholder engagement and coproduction. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to learn about the application of stakeholder engagement across all stages of the research development pipeline: from conceiving the initial research question, through intervention development, to selecting which outcomes matter, and evaluating and implementing interventions in the ‘real world’. The workshop will provide hands-on experience and guidance in using stakeholder engagement and coproduction in participants’ own research.

WORKSHOP 3: Attacking the roots of mis/disinformation: How health misinformation spreads and how we can apply lessons from behavioural science to combat it

Morning Session (9h00 to 12h00) – Emily Vraga, PhD (USA)

*Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop or a tablet to this workshop.

Leading health organizations and government agencies have recognized the threat that mis- and disinformation can create for public health and democratic societies. A number of complementary forces contribute to the spread of misinformation, including how individuals process information, institutional constraints in how information is produced, and the affordances by which individuals encounter diverse information, particularly in digital media environments. With this framework, we turn our attention to identifying the critical intervention points where efforts to disrupt misinformation supply, distribution, uptake, and demand are most likely to be effective (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2025). We’ll consider how inoculation theory may inform intervention efforts and pay special attention to the rewards and risks of attempting to mitigate misinformation in online spaces.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how information processing contributes to misinformation belief
• Recognize contextual affordances that encourage the spread of mis/disinformation
• Identify critical intervention points to mitigate misinformation spread

WORKSHOP 4: Moving From Preliminary Studies to Randomized Trials: Guidance from the ORBIT Model

Afternoon Session (13h30 to 16h30) – Lynda Powell, PhD (USA), Susan Czajkowski, PhD (USA) and Ken Freeland, PhD (USA)

ORBIT is a widely used translational research model that is designed to guide the development, refinement, and testing of health-related behavioral and psychosocial interventions. This workshop will focus on transitioning from early phases of the model to studies demonstrating Proof-of-Concept (Phase IIa), Feasibility (Phase IIb), and Efficacy (Phase IIc and Phase III Efficacy trials). We will first provide an overview of the ORBIT model, highlighting its key objectives, features and methods. Speakers will then address topics such as how to identify and use specific milestones or “Go-No Go criteria” to move from one phase to another; the use of hybrid phases (e.g., combining Proof-of-Concept and Feasibility studies); and the distinction between Phase II and Phase III Efficacy trials. Examples of studies illustrating these points will be used throughout the session, and the speakers will answer questions about how to apply the learnings in the session to participants’ own intervention development projects.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe the specific “Go-No Go criteria” used to move from one phase to the next in the ORBIT model;
2. Identify when and how phases of the model can be combined;
3. Describe how Phase II efficacy trials are different from Phase III trials;
4. Apply the learnings from this session to their own intervention development projects.

Readings:

1. Czajkowski & Hunter, 2021; Powell et al chapter 3 on “Behavioral Treatment Development” from Behavioral Clinical Trials and Powell et al 2018 (Download this bundle)
2. NIH Guidance on Phase II vs. Phase III trials 
3. Freedland 2020, Pilot Trials in Health-Related Behavioral Intervention Research: Problems, Solutions, and Recommdations

WORKSHOP 5: Bringing Evidence to the People: Strategies to Enable the Uptake of Evidence-Based Public Health Interventions for Population Health and Equity

Afternoon Session (13h30 to 16h30) – Falko Sniehotta, PhD (Germany)

Despite a growing body of robust evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of public health interventions in reducing risk and preventing disease, their uptake in real-world settings remains limited. This “evidence-to-practice gap” is particularly pronounced in settings with constrained resources and contributes to persistent health inequities.

Barriers to adoption extend beyond the strength of evidence. Challenges include limited transferability and generalisability of findings across contexts, insufficient attention to implementation feasibility, and a lack of structured support for local decision-makers tasked with selecting, adapting, and delivering interventions. As a result, many proven interventions fail to achieve meaningful population-level impact.

This interactive workshop will explore key barriers to the translation of public health evidence into practice, drawing on real-world examples and participant experience. It will introduce practical strategies to enhance the design, adaptation, and implementation of interventions in diverse settings. Participants will engage in structured discussions and applied exercises to identify actionable approaches for increasing the real-world impact of public health research and improving health equity.

Learning Objectives

• By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
• Identify key barriers to the uptake and implementation of evidence-based public health interventions across different contexts.
• Critically assess the transferability and generalisability of public health evidence.
• Develop strategies to enhance implementability, including stakeholder engagement, contextualisation, and feasibility assessment.
• Reflect on how research design can better support real-world impact, particularly in advancing population health and reducing inequities

WORKSHOP 6: Strategies for rapid design and prototype testing of digital behavioural interventions

Afternoon Session (13h30 to 16h30) – Sam Liu, PhD (Canada)

*Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop or a tablet to this workshop.

Learning Objectives

1. Apply behavioural science theories and user-centered design approaches to the rapid development of mobile and web-based behavioural interventions.
2. Discuss evaluation methods (e.g., optimization trial designs) and measures used to refine interventions based on user feedback and behavioural data.
3. Develop and prototype mobile and web-based intervention components using “no-code” software tools.