Hi Lærke, Quique and realist friends ...

 

This is a good and important question.  I have a couple of suggested papers at the end that should help.

 

But first, it's worth noting that the stage of intervention Development within the (2008) MRC Guidance on Developing and Evaluating Complex Interventions is the stage of research in which the guidance most explicitly says that "Identifying/developing appropriate theory" is needed (viz. "... a vitally important and early task is to develop a theoretical understanding of the likely process of change, ...").  Secondly, one of the enduring insights from Ray Pawson's articulation of doing realist research and evaluation is that (causal) programme theory has to map onto and impinge upon the (causal) paths and theory of the underlying problem(s) that at programme aims to ameliorate.  Or put another way, programme theory which is only about how the components of an intervention together foster particular mechanisms of action, but does not extend and closely map onto the supposed causal pathways, problems, capacities/resources and capabilities of those systems/people being targeted by the intervention, is unlikely to lead to the design of an effective intervention.

 

I wonder if the following two articles might be useful:

 

Pawson R, Wong G, Owens L. Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, Unknown Unknowns: The Predicament of Evidence-Based Policy.

American Journal of Evaluation 2011; 32(4): 518-546

https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214011403831

They assess whether there is sufficient evidence to justify banning smoking in cars carrying children. And, in the absence of an existing intervention/policy, they and seek evidence to test steps and key assumptions in the implied programme theory.  They empirically and theoretically explore – “what would need to be the case for this policy to work?”

 

 

M. Pearson, S. L Brand, C. Quinn, J. Shaw, M. Maguire, S. Michie, S. Briscoe, C. Lennox, A. Stirzaker, T. Kirkpatrick, Byng R.  Using realist review to inform intervention development: methodological illustration and conceptual platform for collaborative care in offender mental health. Implementation Science 2015, 10:134

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-015-0321-2

Conflict of interest: I am part of this project and am privileged to work with quite a few of the authors; in my opinion, it’s still the most thoroughly impressive use of realist approaches to build and design an intervention directly from knowledge about the nature and underlying theory of the problem/setting to be tackled.

 

Best wishes

Rob

 

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Subject: Re: Realist evaluation and the development of complex interventions

 

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Hi Lærke Mai

 

I am no expert at all on the topic (a newcomer!), but at least you may find very interesting stuff in:

 

Pawson, Ray, Trisha Greenhalgh, Gill Harvey, and Kieran Walshe. 2005.

‘Realist Review--a New Method of Systematic Review Designed for Complex Policy Interventions’. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy 10 Suppl 1 (July): 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1258/1355819054308530.

 

Dalkin, Sonia, Monique Lhussier, Lynne Williams, Christopher R. Burton, and Jo Rycroft-Malone. 2018. ‘Exploring the Use of Soft Systems Methodology with Realist Approaches: A Novel Way to Map Programme Complexity and Develop and Refine Programme Theory’. Evaluation 24 (1):

84–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389017749036.

 

Farr, Michelle, and Peter Cressey. 2018. ‘The Social Impact of Advice during Disability Welfare Reform: From Social Return on Investment to Evidencing Public Value through Realism and Complexity’. Public Management Review 0 (0): 1–26.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2018.1473474.

 

Nurjono, Milawaty, Pami Shrestha, Alice Lee, Xin Ya Lim, Farah Shiraz, Shermin Tan, Shing Hei Wong, et al. 2018. ‘Realist Evaluation of a Complex Integrated Care Programme: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study’.

BMJ Open 8 (3): e017111. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017111.

 

Salter, Katherine L., and Anita Kothari. 2014. ‘Using Realist Evaluation to Open the Black Box of Knowledge Translation: A State-of-the-Art Review’. Implementation Science: IS 9 (September): 115.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-014-0115-y.

 

Hope this helps

Cheers

Quique Eguren

 

 

El 09/08/2018 a las 12:17, L ærke Mai Bonde Andersen escribió:

> PLEASE NOTE:

> When you click 'Reply' to any message it will be sent to all RAMESES List members.

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> Hi everybody,

>

> I'm doing a realist evaluation of a digital platform offering people to join and connect with others in their community as a way to enhance sense of belonging, and most importantly, mental health.

> In the last part op my study I would like to use the knowlegde I've gained from the realistic evaluation to make suggestions to policy makers to either make adjustments to the initiative or suggestions for future programs - or actually what I would like is to develop some kind of prestages for a future program, possibly targeting a specific subgroup of interest.

> I'm interested in the development of complex interventions - and was wondering about the posibility to link the realist evaluation to the development of complex interventions. Does any of you have any suggestions, or ideas for articles on this matter?

>

> Regards,

>

> Lærke Mai Bonde Andersen

>

> Cand. scient. Soc.

> PhD-student

> Department of Health Science and Technology. Public Health and Epidemiology Group.

> Aalborg University | Niels Jernes Vej 14, A3-207a | 9220 Aalborg East. Denmark.

> Email: [log in to unmask] | Tlf.: (+45) 41440103

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