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Spices - information for researchers

In the additional section you will find out more about the research component of the SPICES project.

Throughout the project the Community Health Volunteers will be supporting the study participants to complete a variety of health and diet questionnaires and set their own individual goals to improve their health and wellbeing. The purpose of this is for us to understand the participants personal understanding and views of their own health and to be able to see any changes to their health and wellbeing that occur throughout the study and have been achieved by the completion of the one to one sessions.

Close up of 3 people sitting in a seminar. One person is gesturing and teaching the other 2 a concept.

Research questionnaires

The Interheart questionnaire

The Interheart questionnaire is an internationally validated tool for estimating modifiable coronary heart disease (CVD) risk across a diverse range of community-based populations. On completion of the 15 questions the participants will be provided with their relative risk score:

Low risk (green)
Medium risk (amber)
High risk (red)

To be a participant in this project the initial baseline questionnaire needs to place the participant in the medium or amber risk group. This just means that there are CVD risk factors that we can help to support them to reduce and hopefully move them into the CVD low risk group, whilst also giving them the skills to sustain this change. This questionnaire will be repeated at multiple stages within the intervention.

Take the SPICES participant QUESTIONNAIRE >

The UK Diabetes and Diet Questionnaire

Participants will be asked to complete a shortened version of the validated UK diabetes and diet questionnaire, which explores in detail what food the participant eats day to day/ week to week. On completion, they are provided with answers that are classed as As and Bs which mean healthier dietary habits are already in place. However, the questions where they score either an E or F can be used as a starting point to develop individual goals to make realistic manageable healthier choices.

International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)

This questionnaire looks at the participant's overall activity level over the course of a week. The results then place each participant into one of the three groups:

High activity levels
Moderate activity levels
Low activity levels

This questionnaire will be completed prior to the first coaching session and will be repeated just prior to the final (sixth) coaching sessions. The results will to help form the individual participants' goals which are revisited at every one to one session.

Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries in a heart shaped fruit bowl

Phases of the project

There are 3 phases of the SPICES research project:

Pre-intervention phase (Stage 1)
Intervention phase (Stage 2)
Post-intervention phase (Stage 3)

This stepwise approach represents an innovative strategy for developing tailored community health-based interventions, particularly in complex domains such as cardiovascular disease risk in low socio-economical areas.

1. Pre-intervention stage (Stage 1):

This is the first part of the project where the research team:

Gathers information on different CVD risk approaches
Research the background of each of the geographical area we are working
Form and maintain community organisation relationships
Undertake individual interviews and focus groups with community groups and key community individuals to ensure that we understand and tailor the intervention to the local area. Topics that were discussed in these interviews included, but are not limited to:
- Perceived health issues in sites
- Social context of sites
- Barriers and enablers to take part
- Formation of community partnerships
- How can the intervention be tailored to be most effective and suitable for the people in that community?

2. Intervention Phase (Stage 2):

This is the phase in the project where the actual intervention, in this case, behaviour modification/change one to one sessions will take place. This is where we currently are with the project. This phase includes:

Analysis of pre-intervention phase to form the structure of the intervention phase
Recruitment of community volunteers
Training of volunteers
Recruitment of participants
Intervention is conducted with participants – this involves the one to one sessions coordinated with the community volunteer to support the participants to identify and set individual and achievable goals that will reduce their overall risk of cardiovascular disease.

3. Post-intervention phase (Stage 3):

This is the phase of the project once the intervention has taken place were the research team analyses the results to see if the tailored intervention has made a significant difference to the individuals and communities which they live in.

Analyse the results of the intervention phase
Provide communities with the findings from the intervention phase
Support the partner community organisations to continue the intervention should they wish – this may include supporting funding grant applications
Publish results in academic journals

The end date for the project is 30 June 2022.

Our research partners

Meet the research partners on the SPICES study alongside the team at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS).

University of Antwerp

The SPICES project is led by Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary care in collaboration with Global Health Institute and Centre for Research and Innovation in Care at the University of Antwerp. The University of Antwerp has the following role in the project:

i.       Project Coordinator
ii.      Lead of Work Package 1 - Coordination and management
iii.     Lead of Work Package 6 - Follow-up and self-management
iv.    Lead of Work Package 9 – Ethics

Makerere University

The Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health at Makerere University lead the SPICES project. The Makerere University has the following role in the project:

i. Lead of Work Package 2 - Situational analysis and preparations
ii. Lead of Work Package 7 - Evaluation of implementation

University of Brest

General Medicine department at the University of Brest leads the SPICES project. The Centre Hospitalier Regional et Universitaire De Brest has the following role in the project:

i. Lead of work package 5 - Diagnosis and therapy

Nottingham Trent University

The School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University leads the SPICES project. The Nottingham Trent University has the following role in the project:

i. Lead of work package 3 - Health promotion and prevention
ii. Lead of work package 8 - Dissemination and exploitation

The University of Limpopo

The SPICES project is led by the Psychology Department at the University of Limpopo. The University of Limpopo has the following role in the project:

i. Contributor to all work packages