Dr Angela Rodrigues

Associate Professor

School: Psychology

Angela joined Northumbria University in 2018 as a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology within the Department of Psychology.

Angela completed her PhD at Newcastle University on the systematic development of an intervention to promote sun protection behaviours amongst holidaymakers. Before that, Angela completed a MSc in Public health research at the University of Aberdeen, and a combined BSc/MA in Health Psychology at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.

After finishing the PhD, she continued working at Newcastle University as a postdoc, where her primary research role involved the process evaluation of the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) and the NHS Diabetes Prevention Program.

The primarily focus of her research is on systematically applying frameworks, theories, and methods from behavioural science to address public health challenges. Angela has worked with multiple public health agencies, such as Public Health England (now Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) on research projects involving behavioural analyses and qualitative work of barriers and facilitators associated with delivering and implementing public health interventions.

Since 2017, Angela has conducted several studies on brief, opportunistic behavioural interventions, also known as Making Every Contact Count (MECC). Actively engaging with local providers and community groups, this research is highly applied and responsive to local needs, grounded in rigorous methodology, and leading to practical implications and societal impact. This MECC research has gained attention from both national (NHS England) and international agencies (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies). Additionally, Angela chairs an interdisciplinary MECC research group at Northumbria University: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/social-work-education-community-wellbeing/research-and-knowledge-exchange/mecc-research-group/

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Angela is broadly interested in the development and evaluation of interventions to change health-related behaviours. Specific interests include opportunistic, brief interventions (e.g. MECC), diabetes prevention, smoking cessation, weight management, physical activity, digital health, and skin cancer prevention and sun protection interventions.

Angela uses a range of quantitative and qualitative methods within her research, including systematic reviews, qualitative methods, feasibility studies, pilot and definitive trials, process evaluations and surveys.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences of the National Health Service diabetes prevention programme in England: qualitative study with service users, intervention providers and deliverers, commissioners and referrers, Rodrigues, A., Haste, A., Penn, L., Bell, R., Summerbell, C., White, M., Adamson, A., Sniehotta, F. 1 Dec 2020, In: BMC Health Services Research
Qualitative evaluation of a weight loss intervention using total diet replacement (TDR) for diabetes reversal in the Diabetes REmission Clinical Trial (DiRECT), Rehackova, L., M Rodrigues , A., Brosnahan, N., Barnes, A., Zhyzhneuskaya, S., Peters, ., Lean, M., Adamson, A., Taylor, R., Sniehotta, F. 1 Mar 2018, In: Diabetic Medicine
Developing Behavior Change Interventions for Self-Management in Chronic Illness, Araújo-Soares, V., Hankonen, N., Presseau, J., M Rodrigues , A., Sniehotta, F. 1 Jan 2019
Acceptability and Feasibility of a Trial Testing Allocation to Sunscreen and a Smartphone App for Sun Protection: Discontinued Randomized Controlled Trial, M Rodrigues , A., Sniehotta, F., Birch-Machin, M., Olivier, P., Araújo-Soares, V. 27 Feb 2018, In: JMIR Dermatology
Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial, Lean, M., Leslie, W., Barnes, A., Brosnahan, N., Thom, G., McCombie, L., Peters, ., Zhyzhneuskaya, S., Al-Mrabeh, ., Hollingsworth, K., M Rodrigues , A., Rehackova, L., Adamson, A., Sniehotta, F., Mathers, J., Ross, H., McIlvenna, Y., Stefanetti, R., Trenell, M., Welsh, P., Kean, ., Ford, ., McConnachie, A., Sattar, N., Taylor, R. 10 Feb 2018
NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme in England: formative evaluation of the programme in early phase implementation, Penn, L., M Rodrigues, A., Haste, A., Marques, M., Budig, K., Sainsbury, K., Bell, R., Araújo-Soares, V., White, M., Summerbell, C., Goyder, E., Brennan, A., Adamson, A., Sniehotta, F. 1 Feb 2018, In: BMJ Open

PGR Supervision

Rebecca Gibson Understanding persuasive effects of message framing for vaccination uptake in university students Start Date: 01/10/2022
Caroline Charlton Increasing timely cervical screening participation in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation Start Date: 01/10/2022
Rebecca Gibson Understanding persuasive effects of message framing for vaccination uptake in university students Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 20/06/2025
Drusilla Asante Development of a Tailored Intervention to Improve Participation in Physical Activity in Pregnant Women. Start Date: 10/07/2025