What was it really like to do behavioural science in public health during COVID-19?

What is it about?

The COVID-19 pandemic created sudden and intense demand for behavioural science expertise within public health settings, placing behavioural scientists in direct operational roles alongside public health practitioners under significant time pressure. This qualitative study explored what that experience was actually like from the inside, drawing on interviews and reflective accounts from members of the British Psychological Society COVID-19 Behavioural Science and Disease Prevention Taskforce and associated public health colleagues. The study examined how behavioural science frameworks were applied in practice, what enabled or hindered effective knowledge translation, the role of collaborative networks and multidisciplinary teams, the challenges of curating and applying an overwhelming volume of rapidly changing evidence, and the emotional toll of working in public health during a sustained emergency. The findings surface practical lessons about what supported effective application of behavioural science in real-world public health crisis response.

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Why is it important?

Substantial investment in behavioural science infrastructure during COVID-19 produced guidance and interventions at pace, but the experiential knowledge of the people doing that work in real time was largely undocumented. This study captures that knowledge systematically before it disperses, identifying what institutional conditions, team structures, frameworks and personal resources made the work possible and what got in the way. The findings have direct relevance for emergency preparedness planning, including how health systems should structure the interface between behavioural science and public health operations before the next major emergency. The paper also documents the previously underreported emotional and psychological costs borne by practitioners working at the intersection of science and policy under crisis conditions, making the case for better support structures for the public health workforce.