PhD Studentship: Reimagining Behaviour Change at Scale: Agricultural Extension-inspired Health Intermediaries as a Strategy for Uptake

University of East Anglia - School of Health Sciences

Primary supervisor - Dr Zarnie Khadjesari

Project Overview

Effective behaviour change interventions for smoking cessation, alcohol reduction and weight management are widely available, yet uptake and sustained use in primary care remain limited, particularly among disadvantaged populations. The challenge is no longer identifying evidence-based interventions but understanding how to implement and scale what already works. This PhD will investigate how agricultural extension-inspired health intermediaries can improve uptake of smoking cessation, alcohol brief interventions and weight management within primary care.

Agricultural Extension and Innovation

Agricultural extension refers to systems that support large-scale adoption of innovations by embedding trained intermediaries within local delivery settings. Extension agents translate research into practice, support adaptation, build trust with practitioners and communities and are accountable for implementation outcomes. While health systems include roles such as health coaches, community health workers and peer supporters, these are rarely conceptualised as a coordinated, system-level implementation strategy. This project reframes the intermediary role itself as a strategy for scaling evidence-based practice rather than an ad hoc support function.

PhD project

The PhD will focus on primary care as the implementation setting, using comparative case studies of smoking cessation, alcohol brief interventions and weight management to examine how intermediary activities operate across behaviour change contexts. The student will explore how extension-inspired roles could strengthen implementation processes, reduce barriers to adoption and support sustained delivery in routine care.

Objectives

• Identify extension agent roles and activities that enable equitable, large-scale adoption of innovations from the agricultural literature.
• Examine how similar intermediary practices exist within primary care behaviour change delivery, including clinicians, health coaches and community health workers.
• Co-design a transferable model of extension-inspired health intermediaries to support implementation, engagement and adaptation of behaviour change interventions.

Person Specification

Applicants should have a background in health sciences or a related field. Interest in implementation science, behaviour change or primary care research is desirable. The successful candidate will demonstrate strong analytical skills, the ability to work independently and collaboratively, and excellent written and spoken English.

Entry requirements

The minimum entry requirement is 2:1. Degree in psychology, public health, epidemiology or other health-related discipline.

Mode of study:Full-time

Start date:1 October 2026

Additional Funding Information

This project is fully funded for 3 years. Funding includes tuition fees, an annual tax-free maintenance allowance and a research training support budget.