Applying Health Behaviour Theory to understand health in clinical populations
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This is a specialised course. This means that 80% of the seats are reserved to PhD students enrolled at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH and 20% og the seats are reserved to PhD students from other Danish Universities/faculties (except CBS).
The course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. This also applies to PhD students from NorDoc member faculties. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. Describe and compare key theories and concepts related to health behaviour change and health promotion.
2. Analyze the relevance and applicability of selected theories in relation to their own research questions and hypotheses.
3. Reflect on how individual, social, and structural factors shape the potential for behaviour change in diverse populations and settings.
Content
The course covers both established cognitive-behavioural models and more recent sociologically and system-informed approaches to behaviour change. Selected theories will be explored in depth, including their historical development, scope of application, and relevance to complex interventions in healthcare including hospital, primary care and rehabilitation contexts.
Throughout the course, physical activity will be used as a recurring example to illustrate theoretical concepts in practice. However, the course is not limited to research in physical activity and is relevant to a broad range of health behaviours and intervention contexts
Participants will be encouraged to apply theoretical frameworks to their own projects through structured workshops and peer discussions. One core component is designing or refining an intervention by working with key theoretical principles and mapping potential mechanisms of change.
Topics include:
• Health behaviour theories (e.g., Health Belief Model, COM-B, Theoretical Domains Framework, socio-ecological models)
• Intervention development and design
• Mechanisms of change in health behaviour interventions
• Relevance of qualitative research and theory development
• System mapping and contextual considerations in planning behaviour change efforts
Participants
Participants are PhD students and other postgraduate researchers conducting studies in relation to health behaviour change and/or health promotion in people with mental and/or chronic illness.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
All graduate programmes
Language
Danish or English (if required by non-Danish participants).
Form
Each day of the course we will alternate between lectures and workshops. Some lectures may involve exercises and/or group work.
Course director
Julie Midtgaard
Clinical professor
Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health Care (CARMEN)
Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital – Amager and Hvidovre
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Faculty teachers
Julie Midtgaard
Clinical professor
Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health Care (CARMEN)
Mental Health Centre Glostrup, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Mette Aadahl
Clinical professor
Centre for Clinical Research and Prevention, Section for Health Promotion and Prevention
Frederiksberg Hospital
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dates
February 1-2 & 8-9, 2027
Course location
Panum, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
See course program for the exact room location per day.
Registration
Please register before January 8, 2027
Expected frequency
The course is expected to be offered once annually.
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules. Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.