The LGA Podcast

Miar Crutchley and Jason Andrews of Merton Council join Rhian Gladman to share the work they have been doing to improve air quality for Merton residents. They discuss how they managed to reduce vehicle idling at level crossings and how using the correct message can make all the difference.Access the full transcript of this episode at https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/behavioural-insights/nudges-social-good-our-behavioural-insights-podcast/podcast-1

Katie Brunger of Newham Council joins Rhian Gladman to discuss how targeted support was used to encourage Newham residents to make payments to tackle their debt arrears and how behavioural insights trials can have sometimes have unintended consequences.Access the full transcript of this episode at https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/behavioural-insights/nudges-social-good-our-behavioural-insights-podcast/podcast-0

Nicola Jones and Rory McGill from Wirral Council join Rhian to talk about how their 'Community Champions' programme was used to encourage adherence to restrictions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss how they organised the programme and how they engaged hard-to-reach groups – and give an overview of their findings and where the programme is headed next.Access the full transcript of this episode at https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/behavioural-insights/nudges-social-good-our-behavioural-insights-podcast/podcast

Content warning: this episode contains content that some people may find upsetting; in particular, references to mental health and suicide.  In this episode, Rhian Gladman is joined by Katy Ellison and Carys Ward from Cheshire East Council to discuss their behavioural insights trial addressing men’s mental health during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Katy and Carys speak about how they decided to tackle this issue and what effects the trial has had on men’s mental health in their local area, sharing advice for other councils who may be interested in starting a behavioural insights trial.Access Cheshire East Council's visual assets discussed in this episode at https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/financial-resilience-and-economic-recovery/behavioural-insights/projectsAccess the full transcript for this episode at https://www.local.gov.uk/podcast-transcript-nudges-social-good-cheshire-east-council-using-behavioural-insights-improve-mens

Rhian Gladman is joined by Vickie Rowland, former public health practitioner at the London Borough of Havering, and Stéphanie Renucci, managing director and founder of insight and innovation agency UNPITCHD, to discuss how a group of councils in north east London used behavioural insights to help address local health inequalities by increasing the uptake of health checks offered by the NHS.The councils involved in the work were the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, and the City of London.

Rhian Gladman is joined by the Public Health Lead at Doncaster Council, Caroline Temperton, and Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, Maddy Arden. In this episode Rhian, Caroline and Maddy discuss how they pulled together a consortium of different councils in the Yorkshire and Humber area and how this consortium worked to increase active travel in the region.

Systems and lives meet often but what more can councils and public sector bodies do to provide a holistic support to help people through these moments? Ken Masser discusses the work carried out by Rossendale Leisure Trust to apply behavioural insights to systems, drawing on examples of supporting long term unemployed, embedding physical activity across the school curriculum and supporting wellbeing for new parents. He shares how bringing different voices into the room, and facilitating time for public sector officers to carry out reviews can create change in systems and improve wellbeing at key life stages and in moments of change. 

Shanara Abdin, Behavioural Science Specialist in the Public Health department at Wolverhampton Council and Michael Salmon, Head of Insight Health and Wellbeing at Active Black Country, join Rhian Gladman to discuss their behavioural insights trial, WV Gets Active. This trial was delivered in partnership to increase physical activity levels amongst low socioeconomic and inactive residents in Wolverhampton. They discuss the impact of delivering this trial during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the insights from this trial will be expanded upon to continue to deliver targeted interventions to increase physical activity levels in the area. 

Chitra Roberts, Behavioural Insight and Marketing Project Manager at Sandwell Council joins Rhian Gladman for this Nudges for Social Good episode to discuss her work in the public health team to increase the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination in the working age population in Sandwell, using behavioural science techniques. Chitra shares insights into how they have used an online survey platform to share behaviourally framed messages to allay some of the main concerns around vaccine hesitancy and encourage those who have taken the vaccine to become vaccine advocates.