Graduate School of health and Medical Sciences

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Applying Health Behaviour Theory to understand health in clinical populations
Provider: Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Activity no.: 3191-26-00-00	There are 19 available seats
	Enrollment deadline: 13/02/2026

Date and time	09.03.2026, at: 09:00 - 20.03.2026, at: 15:30
Regular seats	20
Course fee	3,840.00 kr.
Lecturers	Julie Midtgaard
ECTS credits	2.60

Contact person	Ida Lundager Kraaer E-mail address: ida.lundager.kraaer@regionh.dk

Enrolment Handling/Course Organiser	PhD Administration E-mail address: phdcourses@adm.ku.dk

Enrolment guidelines 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. Aim and content Health behaviour is a key determinant of treatment outcomes, recovery, and quality of life. Supporting patients in adopting and maintaining health-promoting behaviours can enhance the effectiveness of medical treatment, improve self-management, and reduce complications. At the same time, behaviour is shaped by individual, social, and structural factors and understanding these multiple levels of influence is essential for designing effective, theory-informed interventions. This course introduces classical cognitive-behavioural theories as well as more recent sociological and system-oriented approaches to behaviour change. A central aim is to support PhD students in critically applying these frameworks to their own research questions and intervention designs in clinical and patient-care contexts. Through lectures, group discussions, and interactive workshops, participants will explore how theories of behaviour change can be translated into concrete strategies in healthcare practice, how contextual factors shape mechanisms of change, and how relevant outcomes can be identified and evaluated. The course also encourages interdisciplinary dialogue across clinical practice, behavioural science, and applied health research. 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. Analyse the relevance and applicability of selected theories in relation to their own research questions and hypotheses. 3. Identify meaningful outcomes and evaluate the coherence between theoretical assumptions, intervention components, and study design. 4. 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 and theory-informed outcome selection • 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 - Mental Health Services CPH 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 - Mental Health Services CPH 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 March 9-10 & 19-20, 2026 Course location Panum, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen See course program for the exact room location per day. 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.

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