"Abstract
Purpose: To describe and discuss a systematic method for producing a very rapid response (3 days) to a UK government policy question in the context of reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Methods: A group of behavioural and social scientists advising the UK government on COVID-19 contributed to the analysis and writing of advice through the Government Office for Science. The question was as follows: What are the options for increasing adherence to social distancing (staying at home except for essential journeys and work) and shielding vulnerable people (keeping them at home and away from others)? ...
Background
... This policy document was submitted to the UK government and has been made available online Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours...
Results
... There are nine broad ways of achieving behaviour change drawn from the Behaviour Change Wheel: Education, Persuasion, Incentivization, Coercion, Training, Restriction, Environmental restructuring, Modelling and Enablement (Michie et al., 2014, 2011)...
General social distancing by everyone
Options
Persuasion
... 2. Perceived threat: A substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened; it could be that they are reassured by the low death rate in their demographic group, although levels of concern may be rising (Atchison et al., 2020)... The perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging based on accurate information about risk...
3. Responsibility to others: This is important where there is insufficient understanding of, or feelings of responsibility about, people's role in transmitting the infection to others. This may result in part from messaging around the low level of risk to most people and talk of the desirability of building ‘herd immunity.' Messaging needs to emphasize and explain the duty to protect others...
Coercion
7. Compulsion: Experience with UK enforcement legislation such as compulsory seat belt use suggests that, with adequate preparation, rapid change can be achieved where some parts of the population do not initially accept this (Bauld, 2011; Vasudevan, Nambisan, Singh, & Pearl, 2009). Some other countries have introduced mandatory self-isolation on a wide scale without evidence of major public unrest and the large majority of the UK's population appear to be supportive of more coercive measures. For example, 64% adults in Great Britain said they would support putting London under a ‘lock down’... Consideration should be given to enacting legislation, with community involvement, to compel key social distancing measures.
8. Social disapproval: Social disapproval from one's community can play an important role in preventing anti-social behaviour or discouraging failure to enact pro-social behaviour (Lunn et al., 2020)... It needs to be accompanied by clear messaging and promotion of strong collective identity...
Discussion
... The proposed adaptations to messaging were welcomed by policymakers as especially useful in guidance being developed at speed...
The translation of scientific advice into policy and practice can lead to unintended consequences with the potential to undermine the rationale informing the advice (e.g., policing sun-bathers who are following the 2 metres apart rules of social distancing in parks)...
In response to a call for policymakers for guidance for applying the Behaviour Change Wheel framework to policy work, two ‘user-friendly’ guides have been produced, one for local government and one for national government, to be launched in late 2020."
© 2020 The Authors. British Journal of Health Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society
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