Professor Colin Greaves PhD, C Psychol

School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
Professor of Psychology Applied to Health

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 4133
Email: c.j.greaves@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Greaves conducts internationally recognised research on health behaviour change. He develops and evaluates practical behavioural interventions to prevent and treat chronic illnesses.

Biography

Having started life as a chemical engineer and following a brief fling with the construction industry (in industrial flooring), Professor Greaves rejected Mammon and retrained as a health psychologist. He completed a PhD in health psychology at the University of Exeter and since then has managed a NHS primary care research consortium and worked for 15 years in the University of Exeter Medical School. He has helped to helped to develop and evaluate over 20 interventions to prevent diabetes, improve self-care of heart failure, prevent mobility limitations in older people, reduce cardiovascular risk and manage multiple long-term conditions.

Professor Greaves joined the University of Birmingham in January 2018 as a Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation. He is a past President of the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine and a keen guitarist.

Teaching

Professor Greaves leads a masters module on Research Design and Service Evaluation, contributes to other modules and supervises UG, MSc dissertation projects as well as Postgraduate research students. He has delivered numerous CPD /training courses to health professionals in the UK and internationally, including training on Supporting Health Behaviour Change and on Intervention Development.

Postgraduate supervision

Professor Greaves has supervised to completion 11 PhDs, 23 MSc theses and two Stage 2 (Chartered Psychologist) Psychology trainees. He is currently supervising five PhDs.

Professor Greaves welcomes enquiries from potential new postgraduate students, including self-funded students and those seeking funding for their own project ideas.

Research

Professor Greaves has helped to develop and evaluate intervention programmes to support people in losing weight and reducing disease risk through changes in diet and physical activity (Waste the Waist, eCOACHER, WAKEUP, Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study, ImpulsePal, ComPoD), stopping smoking (EARS, TARS), improving self-care of heart failure (REACH-HF, REACH-HFpEF, D-REACH-HF), reducing the decline of physical functioning in ageing (REACT, ACE), managing depression (eMotion), reducing cardiovascular risk (CRISP) and multimorbidity rehabilitation (PERFORM). He has a strong interest in research to better understand the processes of behaviour change in behavioural interventions using both qualitative and quantitative methods. His systematic reviews of "what works for supporting changes in diet and physical activity" and “diabetes prevention in the real world” have informed a European evidence-based guideline (IMAGE) and NICE guidance on the prevention of diabetes, as well as the development of the English National Diabetes Prevention Programme.

He has ongoing interests in health behaviour change and in translating technical knowledge on physiology and nutrition into pragmatic interventions that can improve the wellbeing and health of people with long term illnesses.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Birch, JM, Mueller, J, Damery, S, Sharp, SJ, Jones, RA, Kelly, MP, Anderson, AS, Astbury, N, Aveyard, P, Beeken, RJ, Craigie, A, Greaves, C, Jebb, S, McConnachie, A, Nanchahal, K, Stuart, B, White, M, Griffin, SJ & Ahern, AL 2025, 'Are there inequalities in the attendance at and effectiveness of behavioural weight management interventions for adults in the UK? An individual participant data meta-analysis', BMJ Public Health, vol. 3, no. 2, e001382. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2024-001382

REACH-HFpEF Investigators 2025, 'Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the rehabilitation enablement in chronic heart failure facilitated self-care rehabilitation intervention for people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and their caregivers: rationale and protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial - REACH-HFpEF trial', BMJ open, vol. 15, no. 5, e094254. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-094254

PERFORM research team, Daw, P, Greaves, CJ, Gardiner, N, Doherty, P, Withers, TM, Barradell, AC, O'Halloran, P, Ahmed, Z, Barber, S, Barwell, G, Brown, SE, Dean, S, Echevarria, C, Evans, RA, Ibbotson, T, Jani, BD, Jolly, K, Manifield, JR, Mair, FS, McIntosh, E, Miller, D, Ormandy, P, Smith, SM, Simpson, SA, Waheed, G, Taylor, RS & Singh, SJ 2025, 'Co-design and development of a Personalised Exercise-based Rehabilitation and self-management programme FOR people with Multiple long-term conditions: The PERFORM intervention', Journal of multimorbidity and comorbidity, vol. 15, 26335565251367326. https://doi.org/10.1177/26335565251367326

Price, J, Rushton, A, Ives, N, Jolly, K, Parmar, P & Greaves, C 2025, 'Co-designed neck exercise (EPIC-Neck) vs usual exercise care for people with chronic non-specific neck pain: protocol for a randomised feasibility study with process evaluation', Pilot and Feasibility Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-025-01608-6

Price, J, Rushton, A, Ives, N, Jolly, K & Greaves, C 2025, 'Co-development of an evidence-informed, theoretically driven exercise programme for people with chronic non-specific neck pain (the EPIC-Neck programme - "Exercise Prescription Improved through Co-design")', BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 26, 689. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-025-08918-z

Barrett, S, Begg, S, Dunford, AR, O’Halloran, P, Breckon, J, Denniss, E, Rodda, K, Hardcastle, S, Marshall, PW, Anstiss, T, Kwasnicka, D, Bohman, B, Atkinson, C, Taylor, NF, Randall, C, Greaves, C, Hall, K, Kunstler, B, Lakerveld, J, Goodwin, D, Harrison, C, Devlieger, R, Halliwell, D, Faustino-Silva, D & Kingsley, M 2025, 'Effective components of integrated motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy for lifestyle behaviour change: a modified Delphi study', International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, vol. 22, no. 1, 135. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-025-01816-6

Skamagki, G, Savadi, A, Greaves, C, Fenton, S & Stathi, A 2025, 'From information to action: a co-created evaluation of digital resources for musculoskeletal disorders', BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 26, no. 1, 971. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-025-09222-6

Watkins, R, Jones, L, Clare, K, Coulman, K, Greaves, C, Jolly, K, Shuttlewood, E & Parretti, H 2025, 'Making do in the absence of specialist support: Exploring healthcare professionals’ views, experiences, and behaviours around long-term post-bariatric surgery follow-up care in the UK', Clinical Obesity, vol. 15, no. 4, e70016. https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.70016

PERFORM research team, Steele, L, Krauth, SJ, Ahmed, S, Dibben, GO, McIntosh, E, Hanlon, P, Lewsey, J, Nicholl, BI, McAllister, DA, Smith, SM, Evans, R, Ahmed, Z, Dean, S, Greaves, C, Barber, S, Doherty, P, Gardiner, N, Ibbotson, T, Jolly, K, Ormandy, P, Simpson, SA, Taylor, RS, Singh, SJ, Mair, FS & Jani, BD 2025, 'Multimorbidity clusters and their associations with health-related quality of life in two UK cohorts', BMC Medicine, vol. 23, no. 1, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03811-3

Evans, RA, Simpson, SA, Manifield, JR, Ahmed, Z, Barber, S, Barwell, G, Brown, SE, Daw, P, Dean, SG, Doherty, PJ, Fraser, H, Gardiner, N, Greaves, C, Ibbotson, T, Jani, B, Jolly, K, Mair, F, McIntosh, E, Megaritis, D, Miller, D, Ormandy, P, Smith, S, Vogiatzis, I, Waheed, G, Withers, TM, Taylor, RS & Singh, SJ 2025, 'Personalised exercise-rehabilitation for people with multiple long-term conditions (PERFORM): A randomised feasibility study', BMJ open, vol. 15, no. 9, e100195. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100195

PERFORM research team, Brown, SE, Simpson, SAA, Greaves, C, Daw, P, Dean, SG, Evans, RA, Withers, TM, Ahmed, Z, Barber, S, Barwell, G, Doherty, PJ, Gardiner, N, Ibbotson, T, Jani, B, Jolly, K, Mair, F, Manifield, JR, McIntosh, E, Miller, D, Ormandy, P, Smith, S, Vogiatzis, I, Waheed, G, Taylor, R & Singh, SJ 2025, 'Personalised Exercise Rehabilitation FOR people with Multiple long-term conditions (PERFORM): findings from a process evaluation of a randomised feasibility study', BMJ open, vol. 15, e100199. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100199

Frost, J, van Beurden, SB, Bollen, JC, Wells, V, Greaves, C, Lang, C & Taylor, R 2025, 'Self-management experiences of people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, their caregivers and healthcare professionals: a systematic review and qualitative meta-study ', British journal of cardiac nursing, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 1-30. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2024.0084

Daley, AJ, Griffin, RA, Sanders, JP, Gokal, K, Ives, N, Skrybant, M, Parretti, H, Edwardson, CL, Biddle, SJH, Jolly, K, Greaves, C, Greenfield, SM, Maddison, R, Esliger, DW, Sherar, LB, Frew, E, Mutrie, N, Maylor, B, Yates, T, Tearne, S & Moakes, CA 2025, 'Snacktivity™ to promote physical activity in primary care, community health and public health settings: A feasibility randomised controlled trial ', International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-025-10352-3

Comment/debate

Jarallah, M, Withers, TM, Rosewilliam, S, Stathi, A & Greaves, CJ 2025, 'Correction: Methods for assessing exercise fidelity in unsupervised home-based cardiovascular rehabilitation: a scoping review', BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, vol. 17, no. 1, 152. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-025-01235-x

Review article

Jarallah, M, Withers, TM, Rosewilliam, S, Stathi, A & Greaves, CJ 2025, 'Methods for assessing exercise fidelity in unsupervised home-based cardiovascular rehabilitation: a scoping review', BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, vol. 17, no. 1, 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-025-01069-7

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