Dr John P. Mills

How I help / Behaviour change programmes

Programmes that change what people do.

Funders want evidence of impact. Too many programmes are designed on intuition and evaluated after the fact. I help charities, funders and mental health services design behaviour change programmes from the evidence, build a theory of change your team will use, and evaluate so you can show what changed.

Sound familiar?

If any of these sound like you, you’re in the right place.

  • Your theory of change was written to win the funding. Nobody has opened it since.
  • The evaluation was bolted on at the end, so it can’t tell you much.
  • You know the programme helps people. You just can’t prove it yet.

What I offer

Fixed fees wherever possible, agreed before we start.

Programme design from the evidence

Start from what is known to change behaviour, then fit it to your people, setting and budget.

Theory of change workshops

Half or full day with your team, built around your programme. You leave with a theory of change you’ll actually use.

Evaluation frameworks

Clear outcomes, sensible measures and preregistered evaluation plans, so results are trusted, good or bad.

Funding bid support

A stronger case for funders: the evidence, the theory of change and an evaluation plan that holds up.

How I help people change: the OPEN model

Individual change is the foundation of every programme I design. People change when their attitudes, their behaviour and the context around them all move together, so OPEN works on all three. It’s informed by social cognitive theory and the ADKAR® model.

  1. Open minds

    Stage: Awareness and attitude

    Help people see why the change matters to them, not just to the organisation. Champions and early adopters show it can be done.

  2. Provide training

    Stage: Knowledge

    Practical training built around what people need to do differently, in their setting, not a generic course.

  3. Embed knowledge

    Stage: Ability

    Practice, mentoring and peer learning until the new way of working becomes a skill people trust.

  4. Normalise and reinforce

    Stage: Reinforcement

    Recognise and reward the change, and build it into roles, policies and everyday routines so it lasts.

ADKAR® is a registered trademark of Prosci, Inc.

The impact I’ve made

Behaviour change programmes

From one idea to three countries.

Play Aid developed and implemented a bespoke psychological first aid training programme for gamers through its Gamers vs. Depression project, funded by Movember since 2021.

Read the case study
More than 2,100 people trained across the UK, Ireland and Australia.

How it works

1

Get in touch.

Tell me what you’re working on. If I’m not the right person, I’ll say so.

2

Get a plan.

We talk it through, then I send a short written plan and a fixed price. No surprises.

3

See what changes.

We design, deliver and evaluate it together.

Questions

What is a theory of change?

A clear picture of how your programme leads to the change you want: who needs to do what differently, what you’ll do to help, and what must be true for it to work. A good one guides decisions every week, not just the funding bid.

What change model do you use?

My own OPEN model for individual change: open minds, provide training, embed knowledge, and normalise and reinforce. It’s informed by social cognitive theory and the ADKAR® model, and sits inside a theory of change that also tackles culture, structures and infrastructure.

How do you show a programme changed behaviour?

We agree what success looks like before you start, then measure what people actually do, not just what they know or how they rated the session. Where it fits, I use validated measures and a comparison point, so you can show funders what changed.

Can you help with a funding bid?

Yes. I can help you build the evidence base, the theory of change and an evaluation plan, so your bid shows how and why the programme will work.

Planning a programme or an evaluation? Let’s talk.

No pitch. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll point you to someone who is.

Send me a message