Obesity Institute | Spotlight on: Tamla Evans PhD student

What led you to join the university?

I joined the university in February 2021 when I started my PhD. My project is embedded within the NIHR evaluation of the pilot NHS England Low Calorie Diet programme – a weight loss and maintenance intervention for people recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes with excess weight.

I finished my master’s in health psychology in September 2020 and went full-time in my job supporting families with complex mental health needs. During this time, I kept my eye on Twitter and various job/PhD sites for potential career opportunities. The work of health psychologists spans across many domains such as public health, research, and practice - I was unsure whether I wanted to pursue research or practice; but knew I had an interest in both. I was also unsure of what area of health I wanted to work within; my interests stemmed initially from my fascination with obesity and the psychology of eating. However, my passion had grown for how health psychology can be applied across the whole illness and wellness spectrum.

It was late December 2020 when I saw the PhD project that I now work on, advertised on Twitter. When I read the advert, I felt the most indescribable feeling inside of me – as though I was born to work on this project. The project description ticked all boxes for every research and professional skill that I wanted to develop, would provide the opportunity to work on a high-profile NIHR evaluation, conducting applied health research with stakeholders to achieve real-word impact, and was in the field (obesity) that had catalysed my passion for psychological approaches to health. I believed I was the right person for the project - it was a special moment. When I looked up my brilliant supervisor (Prof Louisa Ells) this confirmed to me even more to just go for it!

Why is health psychology important for addressing obesity?

Essentially health psychology is rooted within the biopsychosocial model of health and wellness – this is the idea that our behaviours and our health result from an interaction between biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.

Obesity is a multifaceted biopsychosocial disease; health psychology therefore provides the framework needed to encourage interdisciplinary working to address its many facets. Too often, specialists are overly concerned with their individual area of expertise, however I think that focusing on these in isolation is counterproductive to us fighting obesity. The aim of health psychology is to weave the many facets together to not just understand a health issue, but to identify and map out solutions. This is exactly what obesity management needs in both its prevention and treatment.

What research are you working on currently?

One of the key areas of health psychology is how to effectively design, implement, and evaluate health promotion interventions. I have recently finished two pieces of work evaluating how the pilot NHS Low Calorie Diet Programme has been designed, with a particular focus on the behaviour change support provided to programme participants. I am also near completion of a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention components in low calorie diet interventions – this is exciting as we have been able to identify behaviour change techniques (e.g., action planning) associated with greater weight loss in low calorie diet interventions.

Alongside my PhD, I have been involved in two other systematic reviews and an exciting international cohort study collaborating with colleagues in Australia to understand how eating behaviours, mental health, and weight change over time in young adults. I have also undertaken a consultancy project for NHS England to support the translation of my research findings into programme developments.

How will this help people living with obesity?

We know from clinical trials that a low-calorie diet can safely achieve weight loss and remission of Type 2 Diabetes for some people. However, to optimise an intervention we need to ask questions such as:

• What behaviour change techniques support someone to “stick” to the diet?
• What techniques support formation of healthy eating and physical activity habits long term?
• How can support be tailored to those with greater psychological needs around mental health or their eating behaviours?
• How can we ensure national programmes are implemented as intended (i.e., with fidelity)?
• How can health professionals be trained to deliver programmes effectively?

The answers to these questions can improve how low-calorie diet programmes are designed and implemented, so that more people can achieve weight loss and maintenance, and health inequalities are addressed.

What are your key outputs and achievements so far?

My key outputs so far have been the publication of two lead-author papers and the invitation to deliver an oral presentation at the Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference and a poster at the UK Congress on Obesity. Other key achievements were delivering my first lecture to MSc Dietetic students in October 2021, becoming a Trainee Health Psychologist in June 2021, and scoring in the top-3 abstracts at the UKASO ECR day in September 2022. My favourite and most important achievement, however, was NHS England’s decision to implement my research recommendations for national procurement of the NHS Low Calorie Diet programme.

What are you excited about in terms of your research?

Impact. The ability to improve obesity and diabetes care and enhance people’s quality of life is why I love research. My first publication has informed NHS England’s approach to commissioning national programme roll-out to improve the design of behavioural support. I am hopeful that my other studies will inform further programme developments.

Outside of my PhD I am excited for the rise in interdisciplinary collaborations and the attention that psychology is slowly but surely receiving as a key factor in obesity development and management. I am also excited to apply all our exciting research within the obesity institute to teaching/training through the development of novel courses such as an MSc in Obesity.

Tamla Sharae Evans is a PhD Student and Trainee Health Psychologist who works with Leeds Beckett University's Obesity Institute. You can follow Tamla on Twitter @TamlaHealthPsyc and view Tamla's profile on ResearchGate.