Challenges to evaluating complex interventions
A Content Analysis of Published Papers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5778747 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jessica Datta (0000-0003-4300-0724, University of London), Mark Petticrew (0000-0002-6378-5517, University of London) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 568 |
| Publication date | 2013-06-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | BMC Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1471-2458 • E-ISSN: 1471-2458 |
| Publisher | BioMed Central (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1186/1471-2458-13-568 |
| PMID | 23758638 |
| PMCID | PMC3699389 |
| OpenAlex | W2144913786 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 39 |
| References cited | 59 |
There is continuing interest among practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the evaluation of complex interventions stemming from the need to further develop the evidence base on the effectiveness of healthcare and public health interventions, and an awareness that evaluation becomes more challenging if interventions are complex. We undertook an analysis of published journal articles in order to identify aspects of complexity described by writers, the fields in which complex interventions are being evaluated and the challenges experienced in design, implementation and evaluation. This paper outlines the findings of this documentary analysis. The PubMed electronic database was searched for the ten year period, January 2002 to December 2011, using the term "complex intervention*" in the title and/or abstract of a paper. We extracted text from papers to a table and carried out a thematic analysis to identify authors' descriptions of challenges faced in developing, implementing and evaluating complex interventions. The search resulted in a sample of 221 papers of which full text of 216 was obtained and 207 were included in the analysis. The 207 papers broadly cover clinical, public health and methodological topics. Challenges described included the content and standardisation of interventions, the impact of the people involved (staff and patients), the organisational context of implementation, the development of outcome measures, and evaluation. Our analysis of these papers suggests that more detailed reporting of information on outcomes, context and intervention is required for complex interventions. Future revisions to reporting guidelines for both primary and secondary research may need to take aspects of complexity into account to enhance their value to both researchers and users of research
Biostatistics · Thematic analysis · Health Policy Implementation Science · Interprofessional Education and Collaboration · Primary Care and Health Outcomes
Lessons from Complex Interventions to Improve Health
Unpacking complexity in public health interventions with the Actor–Network Theory
Rethinking the evaluation and measurement of health in all policies
How practitioner, organisational and system-level factors act to influence health promotion evaluation capacity
Implementing a social innovation for community-based peer support for immigrant mothers in Sweden
Increasing the use of medical rehabilitation by children and adolescents with migrant background through a multimodal information campaign
Creating School–University Partnerships in Urban Schools to Address Teacher Shortages
Cost-effectiveness of community health systems strengthening
Supporting Inclusive Learning Environments and Professional Development in Medical Education Through an Identity and Inclusion Initiative
The Role of Patient Experience in the Value Assessment of Complex Technologies – Do HTA Bodies Need to Reconsider How Value is Assessed
Models of care for Indigenous children in rural and remote settings
“It’s not just about walking.....it’s the practice nurse that makes it work”
Improving nutrition for migrant children in Europe through policy
Impact Model-Based Physical-Activity Promotion at the Workplace
Parental Self-Efficacy to Promote Children’s Healthy Lifestyles
Adapting a South African social innovation for maternal peer support to migrant communities in Sweden
Practitioner research readiness in public health
The role of curriculum dose for the promotion of fruit and vegetable intake among adolescents
Execution of a participatory supportive return to work program within the Dutch social security sector
Mixed method evaluation of a community-based physical activity program using the RE-AIM framework
Born in Bradford’s Better Start
Evaluation of Get Healthy at Work, a state-wide workplace health promotion program in Australia
Advance integrated group intervention to address both substance use and intimate partner abuse perpetration by men in substance use treatment
A qualitative investigation of the role of sport coaches in designing and delivering a complex community sport intervention for increasing physical activity and improving health
Approaches to economic evaluations of complex interventions in thailand
Development of a peer support intervention to encourage dietary behaviour change towards a Mediterranean diet in adults at high cardiovascular risk
Relieved Working’ study
Promoting physical activity and health literacy
Putting context centre stage
An inter-disciplinary perspective on evaluation of innovation to support care leavers’ transition
Let’s Try Social Prescribing in Sweden (SPiS) – an Interventional Project Targeting Loneliness among Older Adults Using a Model for Integrated Care
Effectiveness of Peri-Discharge Complex Interventions for Reducing 30-Day Readmissions among COPD Patients
Beyond adherence to social prescriptions
Applying a complex adaptive systems approach to the evaluation of a school-based intervention for intimate partner violence prevention in Mexico
Two-level multi-methodological evaluation of a new complex primary support programme for stroke care-givers in Germany
Coproduction with Service Users in Adult Social Work
Challenges and Adjustments in a Multisite School-Based Randomized Field Trial
Toward an institutional perspective on social capital health interventions
Linking process and effects of intersectoral action on local neighbourhoods
Effects of creative and social activity on the health and well-being of socially isolated older people
Complex interventions or complex systems? Implications for health economic evaluation
Designing and evaluating complex interventions to improve health care
Process evaluation in randomised controlled trials of complex interventions
Normalisation process theory
Complex interventions
Qualitative Research
Framework for design and evaluation of complex interventions to improve health
Developing and evaluating complex interventions
Experiences of outreach workers in promoting smoking cessation to Bangladeshi and Pakistani men
Evaluation design for a complex intervention program targeting loneliness in non-institutionalized elderly Dutch people
An intervention to stop smoking among patients suspected of TB - evaluation of an integrated approach
Exploring implementation and sustainability of models of care
Intervention to reduce environmental tobacco smoke exposure in Latino children
An Applied Ecological Framework for Evaluating Infrastructure to Promote Walking and Cycling
The Southampton Initiative for Health
Doctor-patient interaction in a randomised controlled trial of decision-support tools
A systematic grounded approach to the development of complex interventions
Why do interventions work in some places and not others
Guiding the design and selection of interventions to influence the implementation of evidence-based practice
| Unique citing works | 39 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,25 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 39 |