News

Press Release

The NUI Galway Health Behaviour Change Research Group (HBCRG) is delighted to introduce Dr Lisa Hynes as the new HBCRG Training Officer. In this new role, Lisa will lead on developing the training portfolio of the HBCRG and delivery of a range of workshops on Health Behaviour Change.

The HBCRG is a nationally and internationally recognised leader in behavioural science and evidence-based behaviour change. Behaviour change is central to promoting better population health in Ireland, as it is internationally. The current priorities of the Health Services Executive and Department of Health, such as the Healthy Ireland Framework and the Making Every Contact Count initiative, have behaviour change at their core. The current national health focus is on preventing the development of long-term chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As a result, the HBCRG has experienced a sustained demand for introductory and intensive workshops in developing programmes or interventions to address complex health problems.

According to the HBCRG founder and Director, Professor Molly Byrne, ‘Dr Lisa Hynes is a qualified Health Psychologist with extensive experience as a Health Behaviour Change trainer and senior researcher. We are delighted that she has taken up this important leadership role within the HBCRG. There is enormous interest in health behaviour change, as it is recognised to be a core skill and task for many health promoting organisations and services. Lisa brings her rich experience to the HBCRG at this time, to develop existing training and expand our training capacity to increase the reach and impact of the HBCRG’.

The HBCRG, has delivered training to over 1,500 people in the last 5 years. Our training participants have been from diverse backgrounds, including a range of national organisations, health service providers, researchers, students, policy makers and staff from the charity sector. Our training has been well received by diverse audiences, as one participant said following training: “Very interesting and engaging workshop. It was a nice balance of listening and doing tasks. The tasks were comprehensive, clear and relevant. I really enjoyed the whole day."

By investing in the Group’s capacity with the introduction of a Training Officer, the HBCRG is now in a position to expand the portfolio of training and partner with organisations to develop bespoke training packages to meet their behaviour change needs. In addition, the HBCRG will seek to develop long-term relationships that support the implementation and evaluation of behaviour change initiatives

The HBCRG invites interested individuals to contact Lisa (Email: lisa.hynes@nuigalway.ie) to discuss training priorities and make suggestions for future workshops. Follow updates on Twitter: @LisaHynes19 @HBCRG and on the HBCRG website: https://www.nuigalway.ie/hbcrg/. To join the HBCRG mailing list, please email Valerie Parker, Valerie.parker@nuigalway.ie.