Professor Valerie Gladwell

Director of the Institute of Health & Wellbeing

Phone
+44 (0)1473 338092
Email
v.gladwell@uos.ac.uk
School/Directorate
Research Directorate
Valerie Gladwell ORCID
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Valerie Gladwell staff profile photo

Professor Gladwell is extremely passionate about enhancing lifelong health, helping people to achieve, thrive and flourish by utilising the five ways to wellbeing: be active, take notice, give, connect and learn.

Her particular focus is the use of physical activity, whether by deliberate activity or by stealth.  Her research has investigated how the environment shapes physical activity, particularly the natural environment ("Green Exercise"). The natural environment also plays a key role in taking notice and her work with The Wildlife Trust explored the importance of volunteering.

The workspace is another important environment in which her research has focussed. Her work has explored the use of physical activity to break up sedentary time with a particular focus on balance and strength (the “forgotten” guidelines). As well as using nature within the working day to reduce stress and potentially improve sleep. One aspect of her work is to explore the balance of the autonomic nervous system using heart rate variability.

For healthy ageing and to reduce non-communicable disease she believes that a pragmatic whole system approach is needed. She works with a range of stakeholders and partners and her preference is to work as a team. She has undertaken research and evaluation with a range of businesses, trying to co-design where she can. One of the examples of this is her evaluation work with Essex County Council on Sport England's Local Delivery Pilot where she was one of the Project Managers of the Evaluation Consortium (2017-2021).

Her research utilises biochemical, physiological, and psychological skills.

Professor Gladwell is involved in the active training of post-graduate research students. Although she currently has no undergraduate teaching she has in the past taught on a range of topics including Health and Active Lifestyle, anatomy, physiology, sport injuries and cell biology.

Papers

Sterckx, A., Van den Broeck, K., Remmen, R., Dekeirel, K., Hermans, H., Hesters, C., Daeseleire, T., Broes, V., Barton, J., Gladwell, V., Dandy, S., Connors, M., Lammel, A. and Keune, H., (2021). Operationalization of One Health Burnout Prevention and Recovery: Participatory Action Research-Design of Nature-Based Health Promotion Interventions for Employees. Frontiers in Public Health. 9

Flowers, EP., Freeman, P. and Gladwell, VF., (2018). Enhancing the acute psychological benefits of green exercise: An investigation of expectancy effects. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 39, 213-221

Wooller, JJ., Rogerson, M., Barton, J., Micklewright, D. and Gladwell, V., (2018). Can Simulated Green Exercise Improve Recovery From Acute Mental Stress?. Frontiers in Psychology. 9 (NOV), 2167-

Carter, SE. and Gladwell, VF., (2017). Effect of breaking up sedentary time with callisthenics on endothelial function. Journal of Sports Sciences. 35 (15), 1508-1514

Micklewright, D., St Clair Gibson, A., Gladwell, V. and Al Salman, A., (2017). Development and Validity of the Rating-of-Fatigue Scale. Sports Medicine. 47 (11), 2375-2393

Flowers, EP., Freeman, P. and Gladwell, VF., (2017). The Development of Three Questionnaires to Assess Beliefs about Green Exercise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 14 (10), 1172-1172.

Flowers, EP., Freeman, P. and Gladwell, V., (2016). A cross-sectional study examining predictors of visit frequency to local green space and the impact this has on physical activity levels. BMC Public Health. 16 (1), 420-

Wooller, JJ., Barton, J., Gladwell, VF. and Micklewright, D., (2016). Occlusion of sight, sound and smell during Green Exercise influences mood, perceived exertion and heart rate. International Journal of Environmental Health Research. 26 (3), 267-280

Gladwell, V., Kuoppa, P., Tarvainen, M. and Rogerson, M., (2016). A Lunchtime Walk in Nature Enhances Restoration of Autonomic Control during Night-Time Sleep: Results from a Preliminary Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 13 (3), 280-280

Rogerson, M., Gladwell, VF., Gallagher, DJ. and Barton, JL., (2016). Influences of green outdoors versus indoors environmental settings on psychological and social outcomes of controlled exercise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 13 (4), 363-363

Gladwell, V., Kuoppa, P., Tarvainen, M. and Rogerson, M., (2016). A Lunchtime Walk in Nature Enhances Restoration of Autonomic Control during Night-Time Sleep: Results from a Preliminary Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 13 (3)

Carter, SE., Jones, M. and Gladwell, VF., (2015). Energy expenditure and heart rate response to breaking up sedentary time with three different physical activity interventions. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases. 25 (5), 503-509

Weinstein, N., Balmford, A., DeHaan, CR., Gladwell, V., Bradbury, RB. and Amano, T., (2015). Seeing Community for the Trees: The Links among Contact with Natural Environments, Community Cohesion, and Crime. Bioscience. 65 (12), 1141-1153

Brown, DK., Barton, JL., Pretty, J. and Gladwell, VF., (2014). Walks4Work: Assessing the role of the natural environment in a workplace physical activity intervention. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. 40 (4), 390-399

Wood, C., Gladwell, V. and Barton, J., (2014). A Repeated Measures Experiment of School Playing Environment to Increase Physical Activity and Enhance Self-Esteem in UK School Children. PLoS ONE. 9 (9), e108701-e108701

Wood, C., Gladwell, V. and Barton, JL., (2014). A repeated measures experiment of school playing environment to increase physical activity and enhance self-esteem in UK school children. PloS One. 9 (9), creators-Gladwell=3AValerie=3A=3A

Brown, DK., Barton, JL. and Gladwell, VF., (2013). Viewing Nature Scenes Positively Affects Recovery of Autonomic Function Following Acute-Mental Stress. Environmental Science & Technology. 47 (11), 5562-5569

Gladwell, VF., Brown, DK., Wood, C., Sandercock, GR. and Barton, JL., (2013). The great outdoors: how a green exercise environment can benefit all. Extreme Physiology & Medicine. 2 (1), 3-

Brown, D., Grimwade, D., Martinez-Bussion, D., Taylor, MJ. and Gladwell, V., (2013). The Validity of the ActiPed for Physical Activity Monitoring. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 34 (05), 431-437

Lipponen, JA., Gladwell, VF., Kinnunen, H., Karjalainen, PA. and Tarvainen, MP., (2013). The correlation of vectorcardiographic changes to blood lactate concentration during an exercise test. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control. 8 (6), 491-499

Gladwell, V., Brown, DK., Wood, C., Sandercock, G. and Barton, JL., (2013). The Great Outdoors: how a green exercise environment can benefit all. Extreme Physiology & Medicine. 2 (3)

Przybylski, AK., Murayama, K., DeHaan, CR. and Gladwell, V., (2013). Motivational, emotional, and behavioural correlates of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behaviour. 29 (4), 1841-1848

Brown, DK., Grimwade, D., Martinez-Bussion, D., Taylor, MJD. and Gladwell, V., (2013). The Validity of the ActiPed for Physical Activity Monitoring. International Journal Of Sports Medicine. 34 (05), 431-437

Hime, A., (2013). Master's degrees in science. The Biochemist. 35 (1), 33-34

Gladwell, VF., Brown, DK., Barton, JL., Tarvainen, MP., Kuoppa, P., Pretty, J., Suddaby, JM. and Sandercock, GRH., (2012). The effects of views of nature on autonomic control. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 112 (9), 3379-3386

Brown, DK., Barton, JL., Pretty, J. and Gladwell, VF., (2012). Walks4work: Rationale and study design to investigate walking at lunchtime in the workplace setting. BMC Public Health. 12 (1), 550-

Brown, DK., Barton, JL., Pretty, JN. and Gladwell, V., (2012). Walks4work: Rationale and study design to investigate walking at lunchtime in the workplace setting. BMC Public Health. 12 (1), creators-Gladwell=3AValerie=3A=3A

Gladwell, VF., Sandercock, GRH. and Birch, SL., (2010). Cardiac vagal activity following three intensities of exercise in humans. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging. 30 (1), 17-22

Sandercock, G., Gladwell, V., Dawson, S., Nunan, D., Brodie, D. and Beneke, R., (2008). Association between RR interval and high-frequency heart rate variability acquired during short-term, resting recordings with free and paced breathing. Physiological Measurement. 29 (7), 795-802

Denna, I., Sandercock, G. and Gladwell, V., (2008). Evaluation of human autonomic response to mental stress 24 hours post-exercise. Acta Cardiologica. 63 (4), creators-Sandercock=3AGavin=3A=3A

Sandercock, G., Voss, C. and Gladwell, V., (2008). Twenty-metre shuttle run test performance of English children aged 11 – 15 years in 2007: Comparisons with international standards. Journal of Sports Sciences. 26 (9), 953-957

Micklewright, D., Sellens, M., Gladwell, V. and Beneke, R., (2006). Blood lactate removal using combined massage and active recovery. Biology of Sport. 23 (4), 315-325

Gladwell, V., Head, S., Haggar, M. and Beneke, R., (2006). Does a Program of Pilates Improve Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain?. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 15 (4), 338-350

Gladwell, VF., Fletcher, J., Patel, N., Elvidge, LJ., Lloyd, D., Chowdhary, S. and Coote, JH., (2005). The influence of small fibre muscle mechanoreceptors on the cardiac vagus in humans. The Journal of Physiology. 567 (2), 713-721

Micklewright, D., Griffin, M., Gladwell, V. and Beneke, R., (2005). Mood State Response to Massage and Subsequent Exercise Performance. The Sport Psychologist. 19 (3), 234-250

Gladwell, VF. and Coote, JH., (2002). Heart rate at the onset of muscle contraction and during passive muscle stretch in humans: a role for mechanoreceptors. The Journal of Physiology. 540 (3), 1095-1102

Gladwell, VF. and Coote, JH., (2002). Heart rate at the onset of muscle contraction and during passive muscle stretch in humans: a role for mechanoreceptors. Journal of Physiology. 540 (3), 1095-1102

Book chapters

Rogerson, M., Barton, J., Gladwell, V. and Pretty, J., The Green Exercise Concept: Two intertwining pathways to health and wellbeing. In: Physical Activity in Natural Settings: Green Exercise & Blue Mind. Editors: MacIntyre, T. and Aoife, D., . Routledge (2019). The Routledge Companion to Rural Planning. In: The Routledge Companion to Rural Planning. Routledge. 495- 507. 9781138104051

Gladwell, V. and Brown, DK., (2016). Green Exercise in the Workplace. In: Green Exercise Linking Nature, Health and Well-being. Editors: Barton, JL., Bragg, R., Wood, C. and Pretty, JN., . Routledge. 139- 149. 9781138807648

She has been a Council member of The Physiological Society and in BASES was deputy divisional chair for Physical Activity and Health. She currently reviews for BASES.