Division of Health Psychology

Our DHP recruitment pack is available in editable Word version and PDF version and includes 14 editable examples of job descriptions and person specifications from trainee to senior levels.

• Physical Distancing

  This guidance offers recommendations for interventions that can be used to encourage and enable physical distancing

• Guidance following your first vaccination dose

  This document provides some simple guidance for how you can continue to protect yourself and those around you even after having your first vaccination dose. This is for use for anyone who has the first dose of the vaccine and those delivering the vaccine.

• Optimising vaccine uptake for COVID-19

  This has information on designing effective public health policies, campaigns, messages and practices.

• Behavioural science and disease prevention: psychological guidance for optimising policies and communication

  This guidance gives policy-makers and communicators the psychological insight they need to help drive behaviour change in order to minimise the spread of the virus.

• Behavioural science and the success of the proposed UK digital contact tracing app for Covid-19

  This document explores the practicalities and ramifications surrounding the use of an NHS contact tracing app to help lift the lockdown measures is a time-sensitive matter, and the ways in which ehavioural science must be integrated within both the app itself and associated communication to help ensure that it is fit for purpose.

• Encouraging hand hygiene in the community

  This document supplements other hand hygiene and behavioural science guidance, and focuses specifically on psychological considerations and the behavioural science to support effective action.

• Encouraging self-isolation to help prevent the spread of Covid-19

  The guidance provided by this document has been informed by our learning from other behaviours (e.g. non-adherence to medication), from relevant psychological theories and from research studies exploring the factors affecting self-isolation in other infectious disease pandemics.

• Delivering effective public health campaigns during Covid-19

  This guidance aims to optimise public health messaging and its outcomes. It is based on an evidence-based rapid review of the evidence of the factors that may influence people's responses to public health messages for managing risks and preventing infectious diseases.

• BPS Covid Research resources

  The BPS research board have produced a range of resources which you may find helpful

Public health roadmaps

• Covid-19 public health road map: Stopping smoking
• Covid-19 public health road map: Sleep hygiene
• Covid-19 public health road map: Sedentary behaviour
• Covid-19 public health road map: Physical activity
• Covid-19 public health road map: Eating behaviour
• Covid-19 public health road map: Alcohol consumption

The Society regularly undertakes both internal and external consulations designed to facilitate collaboration and to source expert contributions from our members.

• Read more about the details of all consultations (both those currently active and those which have been completed)

Who can contribute to Consultations?

Anyone! Provided you are a member of the Society, and have some knowledge or experience that is relevant to a Consultation Topic, then your views are valid. Even just a few brief comments can be useful.

• Read more about DHP Consultations: Getting your voice heard by policy makers 

How can I get involved?

If you would like to be involved in a current Consultation, please look out for consultation calls via DHP Announcement emails, the BPS website, DHP twitter page or LinkedIn group.

This leaflet outlines how Health Psychologists improve the public's health through expertise in public health and behaviour change, and explains where Directors can find a Health Psychologist.

• Download Why Directors of Public Health need to know a Health Psychologist

This leaflet outlines the role of a Health Psychologist and how they can help in primary care and community settings.

• Download Health psychology in primary care and community settings - A guide for GPs and Public Health Practitioners

This leaflet explains how Health Psychologists can help members of the public, what sort of work they can do, and how to find out more information about them.

• Download A guide for the public

This leaflet explains the role of a Health Psychologist for employees, the variety of work Health Psychologists do, and what training a Health Psychologists undertakes.

• Download A guide for employees 

This leaflet explains for employers what a Health Psychologist is and where they work, how Health Psychologists can help to meet targets and policy initiatives, and the essential qualifications of a Health Psychologist.

• Download A guide for employers 

This leaflet explains what a Health Psychologist is and does, and gives guidance for anyone considering a career as a Health Psychologist.

• Download A career in health psychology - A guide for students

One of our main aims is to support the continuing professional development of Members at various levels of career and experience.

We do this is a number of ways, including the provision of BPS accredited workshops and communicating with Members to assess CPD needs.

• Search for relevant BPS Professional Development

To contact the DHP Professional Development Lead please email [email protected]

Health Psychology is a rapidly growing, but still relatively young discipline.

Career paths are diverse and there is strong competition for funded stage 2 training places and NHS health psychologist posts.

Consequently, many early career students and trainees find the transition from training to work challenging.

In response to requests from early career members for more information about possible career paths, two series of career case studies have been produced one from DHP (2021)  and one from DHP Scotland (2018). 

The results of these projects are compiled below which we hope you will find useful.

• DHP Careers Case Studies (2021)
• DHP Scotland - Careers Case Studies (2018)
• Guidance on direct workforce entry after a Health Psychology MSc

The Qualification in Health Psychology (Stage 2) is the independent route to completion of stage 2 training for those who are working in a heath-related setting.

Successful completion of the QHP (Stage 2) leads to eligibility for Chartered membership with the Society, Full membership of the Division of Health Psychology, and eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council, the statutory regulator for practitioner psychologists in the UK.

• Find out more about the Qualification in Health Psychology (Stage 2)

The chair of DHP, Prof Angel Chater's slides from the Behavioural Science and Public Health Network / Public Health England and Health Education England presentation on 10th September 2020.

• Access the slides

It is our pleasure to announce a new award in 2024 to recognise excellence in health psychology research for our trainees and students completing Level 8 and equivalent programs that include a substantial research project. This includes PhD and Professional Doctorate students and individuals completing Stage 2 health psychology training via the independent route.

The award winner will be invited to give an oral presentation at the DHP conference on 06-07 June 2024 at Stirling Court Hotel in Stirling.

We will support reasonable expenses for the winner to attend the conference in the form of a bursary, which includes a two-day conference attendance, two nights' accommodation and travel.

We also expect the winner to write a brief overview of their work and their experience of presenting for Health Psychology Update.

Deadline for submission of nominations: 11:30 PM on Friday 19 January 2024. Nominees will be informed of the outcome of the award by 08 March 2024.

Eligibility

We warmly invite supervisors of students and trainees who have recently completed their Doctoral or Stage 2 qualifications or are near completion. This includes:

• Doctoral students and Stage 2 trainees who have submitted their work, but are awaiting viva examinations or exam board outcomes 
• Doctoral students and Stage 2 trainees who have been awarded their doctoral or Stage 2 qualifications between January and December 2023.

To be eligible, nominees must:

• Be members of DHP, including student and trainee members 
• Be nominated by a supervisor on their training program (doctoral supervisor or Stage 2 independent route supervisor). Self-nominations will not be accepted for this award.

How to apply

Please note that we ask you to upload a copy of the full project report/thesis as part of the nomination form to facilitate an efficient review process.

Submit nominations

Criteria and judging process

Supervisors of doctoral-level health psychology students and Stage 2 trainees are invited to nominate students who have completed outstanding research as part of these programs for this award.

All abstracts of award nominees will be reviewed by a Sub-Committee of the DHP Committee, judged on the following criteria on a 0-5-point scale:

1. An original contribution to health psychology 
2. Evidence of completion of a substantial and rigorous piece of research 
3. Significance in terms of health psychology research methodology, advancement of theory, and/or changes in policy/practice 
4. Clear and relevant conclusions

A shortlist will be formed from this process. The full thesis/report of shortlisted nominees will be reviewed against the following criteria on a scale of 0-5:

1. Depth of knowledge of a specialist area within health psychology 
2. Mastery of specialist research method(s), including design, application, and analysis 
3. Evidence of a substantial and cohesive research project/programme of work as appropriate for the nominee's program of study/training 
4. Potential for impact

The shortlisted research project with the highest score will be the award winner. Where more than one project has the same score, the award winner will be selected through discussion by the judging panel.

Please note: Nominations must come from student and trainee supervisors. Self-nominations are not accepted. The DHP reserves the right not to make an award if no suitable nominations are received.

The 2024 DHP Engagement Award is now open to applications.

The purpose of this award is to advance, promote and disseminate health psychology research and practice.

Applicants are invited to propose a suitable activity or activities to achieve this such as holding workshops, engagement/networking events, or seminars.

We welcome applications for funding between £100-1200 to support your networking event or engagement activity.

Applications will close on Monday 22 January 2024 at 11:30 PM.

Prize winners will be notified by 08 March 2023. The event or activity must take place by 31 December 2024.

Types of application

We welcome applications from DHP members working in any area of health psychology. Applications may relate to a range of engagement activities, such as:

1. Establishing or expanding a special interest network to explore new ideas and/or include new sectors, disciplines or regions
2. Engaging members of the public, patients or communities with health psychology research through events
3. Production of tools or resources to support engagement and knowledge exchange

Entry criteria

The lead applicant must be a FULL member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP).

Assessment criteria

We will be assessing applications for this award against the following:   

1. Clearly outlined and feasible activity or activities that will promote and/or disseminate health psychology research and/or practice. 
2. Clearly defined goals that match the proposed activity or activities 
3. Clearly outlined short- and long-term outcomes 
4. Commitment to carry out proposed activities within 6 months of award and write up for publication for Health Psychology Update or the DHP Newsletter

How to apply

Please note that once you start you cannot leave and go back to your submission, please see the above section for help preparing your submission.

Submit application (link is external)

Judging process

Applications will be judged by a panel of three members of the national DHP committee. The committee may award a number of prizes, with the total award amount being divided between the successful applications up to the value of £1,200. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.

Presentation of the award

The award winner will be announced in the DHP newsletter, on the DHP website and through the DHP social media feeds.

Award information

• Awardees will be funded by the DHP to carry out their proposed activities/event
• The DHP committee public engagement and research leads will be available to provide support and guidance in shaping, developing and reporting on the activities/event, where required
• Awardees are required to hold their event by December 2024 
• Within six months of the event taking place, awardees should provide a written article for either the Health Psychology Update or the DHP Newsletter (outlining main themes, content and key outcomes/conclusions/recommendations)

The DHP MSc Research Award celebrates excellence in health psychology research for individuals completing BPS-accredited MSc Health Psychology courses.

MSc course leaders are warmly invited to nominate a student from their 2022/2023 cohorts. This would usually be the student with the highest grade for their research project, highlighting projects that are novel, impactful, and demonstrate mastery of specialist research methodology.

It is expected that award winners will have an outstanding MSc project and that it has the potential to be translated into a peer-reviewed publication. The research can be in any area of health psychology.

The award winner will be invited to give an oral presentation at the DHP conference on 06 and 07 June 2024 at Stirling Court Hotel in Stirling.

We will support reasonable expenses for the winner to attend the conference in the form of a bursary, which includes a two-day conference attendance, two nights' accommodation and travel.

We also expect the winner to write a brief overview of their work and their experience of presenting for the Health Psychology Update.

Please help us celebrate MSc health psychology research by submitting your nominations online by 11:30 PM on Monday 22 January 2024. You will be informed of the outcome of the nomination by 08 March 2024.

How to apply

Please note that we ask you to upload a copy of the full project report/dissertation as part of the nomination form to facilitate an efficient review process.

Submit your nominations

Criteria and judging process

BPS-accredited MSc Health Psychology course leaders can nominate the MSc student on their programme who achieved the highest grade for their research project for MSc degrees awarded to students completing in the 2022/23 programme cohort(s).

All abstracts of award nominees will be reviewed by a Sub-Committee of the DHP Committee, judged on:

1. Appropriate length and structure for an MSc project abstract  

     • Please note that this will vary according to individual course requirements, but we would typically expect abstracts to be a maximum of 250-350 words and to include information on background/rationale, design/methods, results, and conclusions for the project.

2.     Original contribution to health psychology

3.     Appropriateness of research methodology

4.     Clear conclusions

This will then be judged on the following criteria on a 0-5-point scale. A shortlist will be formed from this process. The full MSc thesis of shortlisted nominees will be reviewed against the following criteria on a scale of 0-5:

1. Depth of knowledge of a specialist area within health psychology 
2. Mastery of specialist research method(s), including design, application, and analysis 
3. Significance of findings to health psychology research and/or practice 
4. Potential for translation to peer-reviewed publication 

The shortlisted MSc research project with the highest score will be the award winner. Where more than one project has the same score, the award winner will be selected through discussion by the judging panel.

Please note: Nominations must be from MSc Health Psychology Course Leaders. Only one application per MSc programme will be considered. Self-nominations are not accepted. The DHP reserves the right not to make an award if no suitable nominations are received.

Overview

The Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award is a new award which celebrates the work of those who are in training (Stage 2 Trainees) or are qualified and within 10 years of completing Stage 1 training (MSc Health Psychology). We welcome nominations from or on behalf of trainees or recently qualified Health Psychologists who have demonstrated excellence in the discipline. 

Types of nominations

Nominations can be made either by yourself or on behalf of an individual who works in the area of health psychology. 

Entry criteria

The Nominee:

• May be an individual or a small collaborative team (e.g. for a group-based project)
• Must be member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP)
• Must be enrolled on a BPS accredited Qualification in Health Psychology and/or working in the area of Health Psychology
• Must be within ten active years of their Master's degree in Health Psychology (Stage 1)     

Please note the term "active" is intended to exclude any period of career break and is full-time equivalent.

Assessment criteria

We will be assessing the extent to which a nominee/ lead of a small collaborative team has demonstrated excellence in Health Psychology against the areas below. As an early career award, it will be evaluated in this context, and it is expected that this work will normally have been completed under supervision or following a period of recent supervision.

Execution: How well they met the aims of a project in relation to consultancy, research, teaching and training or psychological intervention, with clear evidence of professional competence (e.g. ethical considerations and good practice). 

Evidence base: Quality of gathered information (in terms of theoretical grounding, methodology, data gathered from stakeholders/practitioners/clients/students, data gathered from an organisation, community and/or population)

Impact: To what extent did this work have an impact on individuals, communities, organisations and stakeholders (for example contribution to learning, facilitating practice, enhancing health outcomes, or impact on policy)

Visibility: To what extent does this work illustrate the value of Health Psychology

Each member of the review panel will score each criteria between 1 and 7 (1 = weak; 7 = exceptional). A minimum of 16 points must be achieved in order to be eligible to be considered to receive the award.

All nominations must be supported by two independent references (not including the nominator).

The committee may award one DHP Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award per year.  If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.

Guidance for nominations

Preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested. 

Judging process

Awards will be judged by the Division of Health Psychology committee, including early career Health Psychologists. 

The Award

The winner will:

• Receive a certificate
• Receive an award
• Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter

Overview

This award is aimed at Division of Health Psychology members whose work has made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the discipline of health psychology and for the benefit of individuals, communities, stakeholders or organisations. This award will likely be made to a psychologist in mid to late career, PhD, Stage 2/ Grandparenting and nominees should not be within 10 years of the start of their training in health psychology (e.g. Stage 1/ Grand-parenting).7 Please see criteria for the Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award for awards to individuals who are early career.

Types of nominations

Nominations can be made either by or on behalf of a psychologist who works in the area of health psychology.

Nominator can be anyone; Nominations are not limited to UK residents and need not be from Society/DHP members.

Self-nominations will be accepted; however, an two references will be required.

Entry criteria

Nominees for the Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology award should be: 

• Current or retired Health Psychologists or psychologists working in health psychology. 
• Members of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP)
• Must be ten active years post the beginning of training/work in health psychology 

Please note the term "active" is intended to exclude any period of career break and is full-time equivalent.

Assessment criteria 

We will be assessing the extent to which a nominee has demonstrated a distinguished contribution to health psychology against the areas below.

• Demonstrated outstanding contribution in health psychology.
• Invested in Psychology by improving psychological knowledge and understanding in this area of health psychology.
• Impacted on people, organisations, communities and/or other stakeholders in this area of health psychology.
• Supported equality, diversity and inclusion.

Demonstrated Outstanding Contribution

• demonstrated a sustained contribution to a particular area of health psychology
• demonstrated best practices including methodological rigour/ ethical standards
• a pioneer/ showing innovation in health psychology
• impact in health psychology outside primary job role
• showed personal commitment

Invested in Psychology

• improved psychological understanding/ knowledge in health psychology
• positive leader of a service, organisation or field of research in health psychology
• collaborated with other professionals
• contributed to the work of the society in the area of health psychology

Impacted on people/groups / communities/organisations / stakeholders

• improved public understanding of a health psychology topic
• positive impact on individuals/ groups, communities, organisations and/or stakeholders
• national and/or international impact
• collaboration with the public/clients/experts by experience

Supported Equality Diversity and Inclusion

• challenged social inequalities (in relation to gender, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age)
• work has directly had a significant and continued impact for people from marginalised and oppressed social groups
• impact in the support of EDI in psychology both within own organisation and in the wider psychology community
• has embedded EDI into their own work
• evidence of contribution to governance and/ or taking leadership in EDI

Each member of the review panel will score each criteria between 1 and 7 (1 = weak; 7 = exceptional).

A minimum of 45 points must be achieved in order to be eligible to be considered to receive the award.

All nominations must be supported by two independent references (not including the nominator).

The committee may award one Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology Award per year. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.

Guidance for nominations

Preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested. 

Judging process

Awards will be judged by a panel from the DHP committee. 

The Award

The winner will:

• Receive a certificate
• Receive an award
• Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter

The DHP Chair's Mentoring Award is a new award which celebrates excellence in mentoring in health psychology. 
 
Of all the activities in academia, mentoring may be one of the most valuable, with the least recognition. Health Psychology is a unique discipline with a great history of academic mentoring, and we want to celebrate this with an annual DHP Mentoring Award. 

This award has been developed to recognise and celebrate outstanding mentors for their contributions to students, trainees and early career researchers in Health Psychology. This award will acknowledge those who have served as exemplary role models, and offer recognition of the time, dedication, inspiration, enthusiasm, and support that they bring to successful mentor/mentee relationships.

We welcome nominations on behalf of members of the Division of Health Psychology who have demonstrated excellence in mentoring. 

Types of nominations

All nominations must be supported by four nominators: a principal nominator, who should be a member of the DHP (in any capacity) and three supporting nominators. The four nominators must be former mentees and must not all represent a single time period for the mentor, though they may overlap.  

Entry criteria

Nominee Must be member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP)

Assessment criteria 

We will be assessing the extent to which a nominee has demonstrated excellence in mentoring in health psychology against the areas below. 

• A demonstrated commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly, and professional growth of her/his mentees so that they may function effectively in the field of health psychology and with measurable success at the national/international level.
• Evidence of sustained commitment to a professional mentoring relationship that results in career growth or personal development of mentees.
• An overall track record of mentoring and academic citizenship. 

If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.

Guidance for nominations

Preview the online submission form which will help you to prepare your submission. We advise that you save your submission onto a Word Document so that you can copy and paste and upload to questions as requested. 

Judging process

Awards will be judged by a panel from the DHP committee. The committee may award one DHP Chair's Mentoring award per year.  If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.

This award is bestowed as a once in a lifetime achievement. Past winners are not eligible to receive a second award.

The winner will:

• Receive a certificate
• Receive an award
• Be named on the DHP website and in the newsletter.
• All those nominated will have their name, and that of their nominators included in an online 'Hall of Thanks' 

2022 DHP Chairs Mentoring Award Winner

Professor Sarah Peters (University of Manchester)

2022 Msc Health Psychology Research Project Prize Winner

Christina Davis, Bournemouth University

The winner for 2022 is Christina Davis from Bournemouth University, who completed the project "The Perceived Stress SCale for Kids (PeSSKi) aged 7-11 years: Initial development and evaluation for a brief measure of self reported stress".

Christina completed her study under the supervision of Professor Julie Turner-Cobb, and says: "Winning the award is such a great honour. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to research something that I feel passionate about. It has been wonderful to be able to conduct this research with the support of the Health Psychology team at Bournemouth and I am proud to be part of such an inclusive community." 

2021 MSc Health Psychology Research Project Prize Winner

Sarah Hansen, Northumbria University

The winning abstract decided by the panel was "An online written benefit finding intervention: investigating the effects on physical and psychological health and the moderating role of perseverative thinking in a non-clinical sample during the covid-19 pandemic" by Sarah Hansen and supervised by Dr Michael Smith. 

The chair of the MSc Project Prize panel, Dr Gillian Shorter, Division of Health Psychology Research Lead said "What a fantastic year for our MSc Health Psychology graduates. Although COVID-19 has raised enormous challenges for the next generation of health psychologists and their dedicated lecturers across the UK, the panel were impressed by the quality and contribution of the all prize applicants to the field. Sarah's work on written benefit finding for wellbeing demonstrates the potential for Health Psychologists to innovate and overcome challenges to promote health using online interventions. We look forward to her talk at the Annual Conference".

2021 DHP Chairs Mentoring Award Nominees and Winner

Nominees:

• Dr Sarah Peters (University of Manchester)
• Professor Marie Johnston (University of Aberdeen
• Dr Caroline Limbert (Cardiff Metropolitan University)

 
Winner: Professor Marie Johnston (University of Aberdeen)
Nominated by Professor Diane Dixon, Professor Jo Hart Professor Molly Byrne and Dr Barbara Farquharson

"Whilst working with her, I was able to see how she navigated through differences of opinion whilst sticking to her principles, and as a result I still sometimes have a 'little Marie on my shoulder' who helps me see how best to approach a sticky situation, and how to work out what I and others need. When the little Marie on my shoulder can't see the way forward, the real Marie can I am always impressed that 1. she never answers the question I have but reformulates the problem much more clearly and we answer that together…" (Professor Jo Hart)

"Finally, as a woman, Marie is an inspiration she is a role model herself of course but also a fierce advocate for other women and not afraid to be 'difficult', to advocate for women and to call out the unconscious bias facing women in science. She has certainly helped me reframe my view of situations, how I define 'success' and how I advocate for others (and myself). Everyone should have a Marie!" (Dr Barbara Farquharson)

"Marie is not a mentor to just passively lean on. Her support is demanding it is offered in a way that challenges you. As her mentee, you are always developing always becoming better at whatever is in your best interest to be better at. Uniquely, Marie's mentoring is selfless and without ego". (Professor Diane Dixon)

"A key way in which Marie influenced my personal growth was in giving me confidence in myself." (Dr Rachael Powell)

"From this first time I met Marie, I was struck by how Marie took an interest in everyone she spoke to, encouraging us all to value Health Psychology and consider how we might contribute to this important discipline in the future…. I consider her to be my 'guardian angel' and I know I am one of many who think of her like this." (Professor Molly Byrne)

2021 DHP Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology Award Winner

• Winner: Professor Christine Bundy(Cardiff University)

• Nominated by Rachael Pattinson and Rachael Hewitt

"One of her greatest contributions to the field and professional achievements is the successful integration of health psychology in medical education and clinical settings. She continues to transform medical curricula, particularly in the speciality of dermatology." (Professor Robert West).

"Professor Bundy is committed to the development of Health Psychology as profession, teaching and providing mentorship for Health Psychologists and for a range of health professionals for whom an understanding of psychological theory and interventions in crucial to their roles ." (Dr Rhiannon Phillips)

"…elevating the voices of people living with long term conditions and providing front line healthcare professionals with the knowledge, skills and resources required to deliver psychologically informed patient centred care". (Professor Kate Hamilton West)

"She has taught me and many others to stand up for psychology and be proud to be a health psychologist working within medicine ." (Dr Jacqueline Lavallée)

2021 DHP Excellence in Health Psychology Early Career Award Nominees and Winner

Nominees:

• Dr Shanara Abdin (University of West England/ City of Wolverhampton Council)

• Dr Emily McBride (University College London)

• Lesley Lewis (Public Health Wales/Staffordshire University)

• Winner: Dr Emily McBride (University College London)

"Emily's research projects have informed national changes to cervical screening policy and practice…she has held external roles showcasing the value of Health Psychology in health policy and public health... she worked as a Senior Advisor in Behavioural Science for the Department of Health and Social Care. Emily has also published over 20 peer reviewed papers and been granted additional funding to continue her NIHR fellowship through 2021… She is on an incredible trajectory and is undoubtedly a future leader in our field."

(Nominated by Dr Joseph Chilcot, Kings College London)

Award for Distinguished Contribution to Health Psychology

2013: Professor Susan Michie (University College London)

Award for Early Career Researcher

2014: Dr Stephan Dombrowski (University of Starling)

2013: Dr Joe Chilcot (Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London)

Award for Outstanding Contribution Health Psychology Practice

2013: Dr Nicky Thomas (Guys & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust)

Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research

2016: Professor Ronan O'Carroll (University of Stirling)

2014: Professor Jane Wardle (University College London)

Award for Oustanding MSc Thesis 

2017 Winner: Holly Bear (King's College London)

2017 Runners Up: 

• Hannah Long (The University of Manchester)
• Malcolm Bray (City University)

2016 Winners

• Olga Peski (University College London)
• Sarah Higgins (Staffordshire University)

2014 Winners

• Hollie Young (University of Bath)
• Lai Siew Tim (University of Starling)

2013 Winner: Miroslava Koseva (Bath University)

2013 Runners Up

• Vanessa Lee (King's College London)
• Lua Olgahere (University of Ulster)

Early Career Health Psychology Practitioner Award

2017: Dr Daniel Masterson (Health Psychologist at HAPPIA)

Bursary applications are welcome for the 2024 Division of Health Psychology (DHP) Annual Conference.

The DHP are delighted to offer up to 10 bursaries to DHP members to cover the registration cost of the DHP Annual Conference on 06-07 June 2024 at the Stirling Court Hotel, Stirling.

Five of these will be in-person attendance bursaries, which include reasonable UK travel and accommodation. Five will be online bursaries which cover virtual attendance only.

Please indicate in your application whether you are applying for an in-person or virtual attendance bursary.

If you are unsuccessful in achieving an in-person bursary and there are limited virtual applications, we may consider you for a virtual bursary. 

NB: The DHP committee reserves the right not to award all the bursaries should applications not meet the required criteria.

Submit application

Applications must be received by 11:30 PM on Monday 22 January 2024. You will be informed of the outcome of your application by Friday 08 March 2024.

If awarded a bursary you will be expected to write a short article for Health Psychology Update (HPU). You will be given support from one of the HPU sub-editors and your work will go through the usual peer review procedures.

Eligibility criteria

• You must be a current DHP member (including students, post-graduates and trainees).
• Not have received a conference bursary from the DHP in the last five years
• We welcome candidates of any background and community, including those from traditionally under-represented and marginalised backgrounds in our profession, to apply.
• You do not have to have a presentation accepted at the conference to be eligible for the bursary - there is space in the application form to explain what you hope to gain from attending, and this may well include people for whom this will be their first national conference experience.

We are delighted to announce that the 2023 DHP Research Networking and Public Engagement Award is now open to applications.

The purpose of this award is to provide support to DHP members who have an excellent idea for a networking event or engagement activity that will stimulate discussion between researchers in health psychology and other disciplines, members of the public and other stakeholders.

We welcome applications for funding between £100-1200 to support your networking event or engagement activity. Award winners will also be offered support from the DHP public engagement and research leads in getting the most from their event of activity.

Applications will close on Friday 02 June 2023 at 11:30 PM and prize winners will be notified by the end of June 2023.

The event or activity must take place by 31 December 2023.

Types of application

We welcome applications from DHP members who are carrying out research in any area of health psychology. Applications may relate to a range of networking events or engagement activities, such as:

1. Establishing a special interest network to explore new ideas
2. Expanding existing stakeholder networks to include new sectors, disciplines, regions
3. Engaging members of the public, patients or communities with health psychology research

Entry criteria

The lead applicant must be a FULL member of the BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP).

Assessment criteria

Applications for this award will be judged against these criteria:

1. Importance of the research area for health psychology
2. Clearly defined goals for the event
3. Approach/activities undertaking that promote the development and maintenance of networks and partnerships
4. Clearly proposed outcomes that show the potential impact of the event for facilitating research in health psychology to improve psychological knowledge and understanding.

It is expected that the grant holder would write an article for Health Psychology Update or the DHP Newsletter, reporting on the event (for example, describing its main themes, content and any salient outcomes or conclusions). Submission of the draft article should be no more than 6 months after the seminar has been held.

About the application

As part of the application process, you will be required to provide the following information:

Lead Applicant Details

1. Name
2. Confirmation of Full Membership of the Division of Health Psychology
3. BPS number
4. Affiliation
5. E-mail address
6. Telephone number

Co-Applicant Details

1. Co-Applicant (1) Name & Affiliation
2. Co-Applicant (2) Name & Affiliation

Event details

1. Title of event
2. Brief summary of the event and proposed activities (max 100 words - NB: this will be added to the DHP website if you are awarded the prize)

You will also be required to answer the following questions in no more than 200 words each:

• Please outline the importance of this research area for health psychology and the key goals for the proposed activities.
• Who is the target audience for your proposed activities and how will it foster interaction and inclusion?
• What are the proposed outcomes from your event? (Such as raising awareness, knowledge exchange, publications, & a research proposal)
• Please provide an outline of the budget below up to a maximum of £1200
• Please confirm that you understand that as a condition of this award (if I am successful) is to provide a short report on the event and its outcomes for either the DHP newsletter or Health Psychology Update and I agree to provide this within SIX months of the end of the event.

How to apply

Please note that once you start you cannot leave and go back to your submission.

Start the submission process

Judging process

Applications will be judged by a panel from the DHP committee.  The committee may award a number of prizes, with the total award amount being divided between the successful applications up to the value of £1,200. If no submissions of sufficient merit are received, no award will be made.

Presentation of the award

The award winner will be announced in the DHP newsletter, on the DHP website, and through the DHP social media feeds.  

Award Information

• Awardees will be funded by the DHP to carry out their proposed activities/event
• The DHP committee public engagement and research leads will be available to provide support and guidance in shaping, developing and reporting on the activities/event, where required.
• Awardees are required to hold their event by December 2023
• Within six months of the event taking place, awardees should provide a written article for either the Health Psychology Update or the DHP Newsletter (outlining main themes, content and key outcomes/conclusions/recommendations)

Public Engagement Grant

2017: Dr Katherine Finlay, University of Buckingham

Creating a multi-purpose pop-up lab: Exploring role of health psychology in the context of pain management

2016: Dr Debbie Smith & Dr Melissa Noke, University of Manchester 

Health psychology and Manchester: What is happening in Manchester and how can it help you?

2015: Raluca Matei (Royal Northern College of Music) & Dr Benjamin Gardner Sood (King's College London)

"Performing Health Psychology: raising awareness of health psychology among orchestral players"

Professor Karen Rodham & Dr Rachel Povey (Staffordshire University)

"Capturing the essence of Health Psychology": An image competition open to health psychology practitioners, academics and trainees

2012: Professor Anna van Wersch & Kate Greenwell, Teeside University & North Tyneside General Hospital

Health Psychology work experience programme for MSc Health Psychology and A-Level psychology students

Reema Sirriyeh, University of York

Educational workshop for A Level Psychology students: Applying a model of occupational stress to the experiences of health professionals

Research Seminar Grant  

2017: Dr Suzanne McDonald (Newcastle University) and Professor  Derek Johnston (University of Aberdeen)

'Making it personal': Developing and advancing methods for personalised behavioural medicine

2015: Raluca Matei (Royal Northern College of Music), Dr Benjamin Gardner Sood (King's College London), Professor Jane Ginsborg (Royal Northern College of Music) & Professor Aaron Williamon (Royal College of Music)

"The role of health psychology in the promotion of health among music students"

2014: Kristina Curtis (The University of Warwic) & David Crane (University College London)

Development and evaluation of mHealth interventions

Dr Angeliki Bogosian (King's College London) & Dr Liesbeth van Vliet (Kings College London)

Long-term conditions in children: diagnosis, management and palliative care

2013: Dr Eleni Vangeli, Dr Sinead NiMhurchadha & Fabiana Lorencatto, Atlantis Healthcare & NHS Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, UCL

Optimising chronic illness self-management: identification, development and synthesis of behaviour change techniques

Dr Debbie Smith, University of Manchester

Health inequalities in maternity care: exploring the role of health psychology to improve women's health

• Association with the only national, learned society solely representing Health Psychology in the UK 
• Free subscription to the Health Psychology Update
• Opportunities to apply for DHP conference bursaries
• Opportunities to apply for the DHP research internship scheme Networking opportunities
• Opportunities to contribute specialist knowledge and expertise in response to requests for consultation
• Opportunities to keep up-to-date with Health Psychology news via the regular DHP newsletter
• Opportunities for personal and professional development through DHP committee involvement
• Reduced fees for the annual scientific DHP conference
• Reduced rates for high quality CPD events  

The Division of Health Psychology (DHP) uses its membership announcement email list to inform its members of activities and initiatives that are relevant to their interests and to make requests for engagement on topical issues. 

By becoming a member of the DHP you are automatically added to the announcement list.

To receive these emails you will need to:

1. become a member of the Division of Health Psychology
2. opt into receiving email communications and provide a working email address

These preferences can be updated by logging into your member portal.

If you have any queries, please contact Member Network Services.

To assist us in responding to your query please make sure to include your membership number and quote 'DHP announcement email' in the subject line.

The Division of Health Psychology relies on a wide range of people getting involved, and the work of the Division is largely achieved through the dedication of unpaid volunteers.

Our volunteers come from a wide range of different backgrounds, whether they be practitioners or academics, or full members or in-training members, and together form an open and inclusive community. 

Keep an eye on our "News" tab for announcements about how to apply for a committee role.