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Six steps in quality intervention development (6SQuID)

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Improving the effectiveness of public health interventions relies as much on the attention paid to their design and feasibility as to their evaluation. Yet, compared to the vast literature on how to evaluate interventions, there is little to guide researchers or practitioners on how best to develop such interventions in practical, logical, evidence based ways to maximise likely effectiveness. Existing models for the development of public health interventions tend to have a strong social-psychological, individual behaviour change orientation and some take years to implement. This paper presents a pragmatic guide to six essential Steps for Quality Intervention Development (6SQuID). The focus is on public health interventions but the model should have wider applicability. Once a problem has been identified as needing intervention, the process of designing an intervention can be broken down into six crucial steps: (1) defining and understanding the problem and its causes; (2) identifying which causal or contextual factors are modifiable: which have the greatest scope for change and who would benefit most; (3) deciding on the mechanisms of change; (4) clarifying how these will be delivered; (5) testing and adapting the intervention; and (6) collecting sufficient evidence of effectiveness to proceed to a rigorous evaluation. If each of these steps is carefully addressed, better use will be made of scarce public resources by avoiding the costly evaluation, or implementation, of unpromising interventions.
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Six steps in quality intervention development
(6SQuID)
Daniel Wight,
1
Erica Wimbush,
2
Ruth Jepson,
3
Lawrence Doi
3
1
MRC/CSO Social and Public
Health Sciences Unit,
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow, UK
2
Evaluation Team, NHS Health
Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
3
MRC/CSO Scottish
Collaboration for Public Health
Research and Policy,
University of Edinburgh,
Edinburgh, UK
Correspondence to
Professor Daniel Wight,
MRC/CSO Social and Public
Health Sciences Unit,
University of Glasgow,
200 Reneld Street, Glasgow
G2 3QB, UK;
d.wight@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk
Received 22 April 2015
Revised 18 September 2015
Accepted 11 October 2015
To cite: Wight D,
Wimbush E, Jepson R, et al.
J Epidemiol Community
Health Published Online
First: [please include Day
Month Year] doi:10.1136/
jech-2015-205952
ABSTRACT
Improving the effectiveness of public health interventions
relies as much on the attention paid to their design and
feasibility as to their evaluation. Yet, compared to the
vast literature on how to evaluate interventions, there is
little to guide researchers or practitioners on how best to
develop such interventions in practical, logical, evidence
based ways to maximise likely effectiveness. Existing
models for the development of public health
interventions tend to have a strong social-psychological,
individual behaviour change orientation and some take
years to implement. This paper presents a pragmatic
guide to six essential Steps for Quality Intervention
Development (6SQuID). The focus is on public health
interventions but the model should have wider
applicability. Once a problem has been identied as
needing intervention, the process of designing an
intervention can be broken down into six crucial steps:
(1) dening and understanding the problem and its
causes; (2) identifying which causal or contextual factors
are modiable: which have the greatest scope for
change and who would benet most; (3) deciding on
the mechanisms of change; (4) clarifying how these will
be delivered; (5) testing and adapting the intervention;
and (6) collecting sufcient evidence of effectiveness to
proceed to a rigorous evaluation. If each of these steps
is carefully addressed, better use will be made of scarce
public resources by avoiding the costly evaluation, or
implementation, of unpromising interventions.
INTRODUCTION
Improving the effectiveness of public health inter-
ventions depends as much on improving their
design as their evaluation.
1
Yet, compared to the
vast literature on intervention evaluation,
25
there
is little to guide researchers or practitioners on
developing interventions in logical, evidence-based
ways to maximise effectiveness. Poor intervention
design can waste public resources through expen-
sive evaluation or, worse, the implementation of
ineffective interventions unevaluated.
Existing frameworks and guidance for the devel-
opment of interventions
34610
are summarised in
table 1. These tend to be orientated towards
social-psychological, individual behaviour change
and either provide little specic detail on interven-
tion development or require great technical skills
and resources. Drawing on the strengths of these
existing frameworks and our own experiences, this
article outlines a pragmatic six-step guide to the
essential stages of intervention development to
assist public health practitioners and researchers.
The focus is on public health interventions,
although the model should have wider applicability.
A public health intervention is dened as
planned actions to prevent or reduce a particular
health problem, or the determinants of the
problem, in a dened population. Most require
some level of social interaction. They are rarely
simple, singular actions that can be easily replicated
but more often complicated (multicomponent) or
complex programmes (with feedback loops and
emergent outcomes)
11
that are designed to affect
change at several levels of the socioecological
model
12
(table 2). By and large, upstreaminter-
ventions require less individual effort (from recipi-
ents) and have the greatest population impact,
13 14
whereas interventions requiring voluntary uptake
are more likely to exacerbate health inequalities.
15
Interventions are best developed through colla-
borations between interdisciplinary teams of prac-
titioners, researchers, the effected population and
policymakers. Such coproduction maximises the
likelihood of intervention effectiveness by improv-
ing: the t with the target groups perceived
needs and thus acceptability; practicality;
evaluability, including the theorising of causal
pathways; and uptake by practitioners and
policymakers.
This paper sets out six crucial steps in the devel-
opment of public health interventions (box 1). For
an illustrative case study we use the early preven-
tion of gender-based violence (GBV) in Uganda
through a parenting intervention that addresses
familial predictors of GBV. However, we also draw
on other relevant examples to illustrate key
points.
16 17
1. DEFINE AND UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
AND ITS CAUSES
Our starting point is that a public health problem
has already been identied as requiring interven-
tion. Often this results from a needs assessment,
for which there are several practical guides,
818
or
from a political process such as a manifesto
commitment.
Clarifying the problem with stakeholders, using
the existing research evidence, is the rst step in
intervention development. Some health problems
are relatively easily dened and measured, such as
the prevalence of a readily diagnosed disease, but
others have several dimensions and may be per-
ceived differently by different groups. For instance,
unhealthy housingcould be attributed to poor
construction, antisocial behaviour, overcrowding or
lack of amenities. Denitions therefore need to be
sufciently clear and detailed to avoid ambiguity or
confusion. Is the problema risk factor for a
disease/condition (eg, smoking) or the disease/con-
dition itself (eg, lung cancer)? If the former, it is
Wight D, et al.J Epidemiol Community Health 2015;0:16. doi:10.1136/jech-2015-205952 1
Theory and methods
JECH Online First, published on November 16, 2015 as 10.1136/jech-2015-205952
Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2015. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd under licence.
important to be aware of the factors importance relative to
other risk factors. If this is modest even a successful intervention
to change it might be insufcient to change the ultimate
outcome.
Once dened one should try to establish how the problem is
socially and spatially distributed, including who is currently
most/least likely to benet from an intervention. It is also
important to consider what interventions or policies currently
exist and why they are not deemed adequate.
Having dened the problem, one needs to understand, as far
as possible, what are the immediate (proximal) and underlying
(distal) inuences that give rise to it. These are often suggested
by the distribution of the problem, its history and relationship
to the life course. It is only by understanding what shapes and
perpetuates the problem (the causal pathways) that one can
identify possible ways to intervene. Case study step 1 applies
Funnell and Rogersuseful questions for problem analysis to
GBV (ref. 19, p. 160). The main inuences on the problem can
also be classied according to the socioecological model.
12 20
It
can often be helpful to present the various causal pathways
affecting the problem diagrammatically: gure 1 attempts to do
this for GBV, distinguishing different levels of the socioeco-
logical model.
Case study step 1: Understanding the problem of GBV and its causes
2126
Questions Answers
Nature and extent of main problem
What is the nature and
extent of problem?
1 in 3 women likely to experience GBV
For whom and at what
levels does problem exist?
Predominantly affects girls and women. Problem
perpetuated at different socioecological levels
What is the history? Embedded in long-established patriarchal
institutions and norms but these are weakening
with improved education, employment and rights
for women
Continued
Table 1 Existing frameworks and guidance for public health intervention development
Guidance/framework Description Possible limitations
Intervention mapping
6
Extremely rigorous and elaborate approach to intervention
development through six steps
Individual, social-psychological orientation. Highly
technical, prescriptive, can require years to implement,
difficult to operationalise
Conceptual framework for planning
intervention-related research
7
Specifies nine steps in developing and evaluating public health
interventions
Insufficient detail in steps for operationalising
PRECEDEPROCEED model
8
Socioecological approach. Planning phase is PRECEDE; evaluation is
PROCEED. Extensively data driven and practical application
May require great technical skill, time and money. Little
detail on intervention development
Framework for design and evaluation of
complex interventions to improve health.
9
Useful guide to development of interventions within the context of
healthcare services
Focus on healthcare not public health. Little detail on
intervention development
MRC guidance for the development and
evaluation of Complex interventions
4
Identifies three broad stages of intervention development:
developing theory, modelling process and outcomes and assessing
feasibility
Does not break down three stages any further. Primarily
devoted to evaluation
Design for behaviour change framework
10
For community development workers in low income countries.
Focuses on determinants, facilitators and barriers to intended
behaviour to plan behaviour change projects strategically
Sequence of steps advocated in part illogical and some of
the terminology confusing
Table 2 Examples of interventions, mechanisms and outcomes at different levels
Level Interventions Change mechanisms Outcomes
Individual Information provision; advertising Resonance; perceived relevance; reading
and reflection
Improving knowledge, motivation/intentions
Interpersonal Counselling; peer education Modelling; influence of reference group;
mentorship
Improving motivation/intentions; developing skills/
self-efficacy
Community Walking group; food co-operation; neighbourhood watch Solidarity; diffusion of innovation;
changing community norms
Improving motivation/intentions, physical activity,
diet, sense of security
Organisational Institutional policies; quality standards; partnership
working
Authorisation; inspection; enforcement;
increasing staff awareness
Reducing discrimination; improving services
Environmental Clean air legislation; piped water; housing regulations;
safe cycling and walking infrastructure
Legislation; enforcement; redesign of
services; choice architecture
Environmental improvements; healthier housing;
more physical activity
Macro policy Poverty reduction; redistribution of resources; education;
controlling corporations
Legislation and enforcement; economic
security and choices
Healthy lifestyles more affordable and given
higher priority
Box 1 Main steps in public health intervention
development
1. Dene and understand the problem and its causes.
2. Clarify which causal or contextual factors are malleable and
have greatest scope for change.
3. Identify how to bring about change: the change mechanism.
4. Identify how to deliver the change mechanism.
5. Test and rene on small scale.
6. Collect sufcient evidence of effectiveness to justify rigorous
evaluation/implementation.
2 Wight D, et al.J Epidemiol Community Health 2015;0:16. doi:10.1136/jech-2015-205952
Theory and methods
Continued
Case study step 1: Understanding the problem of GBV and its causes
2126
Questions Answers
Causes and contributing factors
What are its causes? Individual: poor empathy and emotional
regulation, substance abuse. Interpersonal:as
childpoor attachment and parental bonding,
socialisation into gender roles and norms, harsh
parenting, witnessing parental conflict; as adult
marital conflict, male control of wealth and
decision-making. Community: womens isolation,
mens peer group acceptance of violence.
Sociocultural: rigid gender roles and norms,
masculinity linked with toughness and honour,
mens power enshrined in law
Which causes are most
important? (see case
study step 2)
Poor attachment and parental bonding; harsh
parenting; witnessing parental conflict
What has been effective in
addressing problem?
Early years parenting programmes; relationship
counselling; mediation; empowering women
educationally and economically; changed norms;
legislation
Consequences
What are the
consequences for those
directly affected?
Immediate: fear, injuries, sexually transmitted
infections, unintended pregnancies and death.
Long term: low self-esteem, depression and drug
abuse
What are the
consequences for those
indirectly affected?
Those witnessing more likely to become victims or
perpetrators; family break-up; burden on health
services; women unable to fulfil potential
2. CLARIFY WHICH CAUSAL OR CONTEXTUAL FACTORS ARE
MALLEABLE AND HAVE GREATEST SCOPE FOR CHANGE
The next step is to identify which of the immediate or under-
lying factors that shape a problem have the greatest scope to
be changed. These might be at any point along the causal
chain. For example, is it more promising to act on the factors
that encourage children to start smoking (primary preven-
tion), or to target existing smokers through smoking cessation
interventions (secondary prevention)? In general, upstream
structural factors take longer and are more challenging, to
modify than downstreamproximal factors, but if achieved
structural changes have greatest population impact, as noted
above.
13
With complex problems the causal pathways can be very
diverse and interwoven. If they have been described diagram-
matically in step 1, it will be easier to identify where one might
intervene and, critically, whether it is necessary to intervene at
more than one point, or on more than one level, to interrupt
the most important causal pathways. One must also assess
which changes would have most effect. Most interventions take
place within systems (eg, healthcare, education, criminal justice)
and exert their inuence by changing relationships, displacing
existing activities and redistributing and transforming
resources.
27
It is necessary, therefore, to consider which system
an intervention would operate in, how the system is likely to
interact with the intervention and whether that system needs to
be/can be modied as well. For example, a school-based inter-
vention to improve pupilssocial and emotional well-being is
likely to be affected by existing school structures, relationships
and timetables and might require their modication.
Interventions that address complex problems through multilevel
actions are more likely to maximise synergy and long-term
success.
13
The potential different levels of intervention are
shown in table 2.
In the case study of GBV, it was decided to focus on early pre-
vention in families since: this has the potential for widespread,
long-term change; it may improve other outcomes; and more
proximal factors were already being addressed.
Figure 1 Causal pathways perpetuating gender-based violence.
2126
Wight D, et al.J Epidemiol Community Health 2015;0:16. doi:10.1136/jech-2015-205952 3
Theory and methods
Case study step 2: Modifiable familial factors shaping GBV
Factor Evidence modifiable
1. Poor attachment and parental bonding Effective early years parenting
programmes; historical change
2. Harsh parenting ditto
3. Socialisation into inequitable gender
roles and norms
Historical change
4. Parental conflict Effective relationship counselling and
mediation; historical change
3. IDENTIFY HOW TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE: THE CHANGE
MECHANISM
Having identied the most promising modiable causal factors
to address, the next step is to think through how to achieve that
change. All interventions have an implicit or explicit programme
theory
19
about how they are intended to bring about the
desired outcomes. Central to this is the change mechanismor
active ingredient,
2
the critical process that triggers change for
individuals, groups or communities (see table 2).
It is usually helpful to depict the programme theory diagram-
matically (see http://www.theoryofchange.org/). Many interven-
tions are not intended to achieve the nal goal directly, but have
short-term and intermediate outcomes that are expected to lead
to the long-term outcomes. Ideally a range of stakeholders are
involved in formulating the programme theory A common
pitfall is that it is wildly optimistic, with little empirical evidence
to support each link in the causal chain. For instance, a short-
term change in health-related knowledge may be necessary, but
it is rarely sufcient to achieve behaviour change let alone
prevent the disease in question.
The best developed programme theories are based on forma-
lised theories of behaviour change (eg, Social Cognition
Theory
28
or the Theory of Reasoned Action
29
). This is not
essential, but can be very helpful if the theory has strong pre-
dictive and explanatory power. However, not many do,
30 31
perhaps because they often only address one causal strand (cog-
nitions or motivation) and not socioenvironmental determi-
nants. Furthermore, few interventions said to be based on such
formalised theories clarify how the theory has been operationa-
lised. What is crucial in intervention development is that the
change mechanisms in the programme theory are clearly
articulated.
The interpersonal change mechanisms for the GBV case
study are shown below (there is not space to show those at
the community level). Critical to their effectiveness is who
delivers the intervention and their relationship with the target
group.
Case study step 3: Change mechanisms for early prevention of GBV
(interpersonal level only)
Modifiable factors Change mechanisms
Is this sufficient to
reduce the problem?
1. Poor attachment
and parental
bonding
Explaining infant development
and parentchild interactions
Probably
2. Harsh parenting Praising and reinforcing
parentstechniques of positive
parenting
Not if poor attachment
Continued
Continued
Case study step 3: Change mechanisms for early prevention of GBV
(interpersonal level only)
Modifiable factors Change mechanisms
Is this sufficient to
reduce the problem?
3. Socialisation into
inequitable gender
roles and norms
Raising awareness of gender
issues and discussing between
couples
Not if poor attachment
and harsh parenting
impair emotional control
4. Parental conflict Understanding impact of
parental conflict on child
development and well-being
Developing parentsskills to
sustain and improve
relationships with partner
Strengthening motivation to
reduce parental conflict
Mediating mothersand
fathersviews on parenting
Probably
4. IDENTIFY HOW TO DELIVER THE CHANGE MECHANISMS
Having identied the change mechanisms, step 4 requires
working out how best to deliver them. As with other steps, it is
helpful to involve stakeholders with the relevant practical
expertise to develop the implementation plan. Sometimes
change mechanisms can only be brought about through a very
limited range of activities, for instance legal change is achieved
through legislation. However, other change mechanisms might
have several delivery options; for instance modelling new beha-
viours could be performed by teachers, peers or actors in TV/
radio soap operas. The choice is likely to be target group-
specic and context-specic.
The implementation plan requires clarifying the conditions
and resources necessary for successful implementation and the
related risks and assumptions. For example, if an intervention is
to be delivered by health visitors, are they available everywhere
and will their senior managers allow time for training and deliv-
ery? In low income countries resource constraints can seriously
restrict options for delivery, for instance the existence of suitably
skilled facilitators, or an ethos of voluntarism. In step 4 one
should also anticipate possible unintended effects of the inter-
vention and minimise any that might be harmful. These have
been categorised by Lorenc and Oliver
32
as vefold: direct, psy-
chological, equity, group/social and opportunity. Equity harms
Case study step 4: Delivering change mechanisms for early prevention of
GBV
1. Identify suitable villages or urban wards
2. Explain programme and offer it to community leadership: awareness raising
critical
3. Recruit existing groups or opinion leadersand form parent groups
initially single sex
groups select facilitator
4. Deliver 2 weeks training to facilitators
5. Facilitators lead 10 weekly single sex sessions of about 2 h
6. Following five sessions facilitators recruit novice facilitator to mentor
7. After 10 sessions groups split in half and pair up with group of opposite sex
8. Facilitators lead 11 mixed sex sessions
groups explore different understandings of parenting and GBV
9. Groups present recommendations for village/ward level to village/ward leaders
10. Trained facilitators start new groups and recruit others to be trained as
facilitators
4 Wight D, et al.J Epidemiol Community Health 2015;0:16. doi:10.1136/jech-2015-205952
Theory and methods
are currently of particular policy concern, the greatest bene-
ciaries of many behaviour change interventions being the higher
educated or more afuent, thereby exacerbating inequalities in
health outcomes.
15
The delivery of the change mechanisms for our case study of
GBV is set out below.
5. TEST AND REFINE ON SMALL SCALE
Once the initial intervention design has been resolved, in most
cases its feasibility needs to be tested and adaptations made.
This varies considerably according to the type of intervention.
For instance, national legislation or large-scale health protection
measures, such as water uoridation, are difcult to pilot before
full implementation. Phased region by region implementation
might allow incremental adjustments, but the scope for adapta-
tion is primarily around implementation rather than the mech-
anism of change. With individual or community level
interventions a long process of repeated testing and adaptation
is often required, often called formative evaluation, especially
if the intervention is novel or highly innovative.
Testing the intervention can clarify fundamental issues such
as: acceptability to the target group, practitioners and delivery
organisations; optimum content (eg, how participatory), struc-
ture and duration; who should deliver it and where; what train-
ing is required; and how to maximise population reach.
Frequently this is the most hurried stage of intervention
development, due to lack of resources and time, but this often
compromises subsequent effectiveness. Ideally incremental adap-
tations would each be tested separately, but in practice adapta-
tions can be made simultaneously if sufciently rich data are
collected to enable judgements about which are helpful and
which not. Practical constraints eventually force the decision
that the intervention is good enoughto go to the next step.
The testing and adapting of the GBV programme is set out
below.
Case study step 5: Testing and adapting programme for early prevention
of GBV
Negotiate access to village and recruit one mothers and one fathers group
Recruit and train two facilitators from each group
Pilot draft manual with groups with observational research
Revise problematic sessions as necessary and test again (if necessary several
times)
Conduct group discussions with each group and in-depth interviews with
facilitators to explore views on intervention
Finalise first draft of manual
Repeat process in second village with two mothers and two fathers groups to
produce second draft of manual
6. COLLECT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS TO
JUSTIFY RIGOROUS EVALUATION/IMPLEMENTATION
Before committing resources to a large scale rigorous evaluation
(typically a phase IIIRCT), the nal step is to establish suf-
cient evidence of effectiveness to warrant such investment.
Beyond the research world, especially in third sector organisa-
tions, inadequate resources often mean practitioners move to
wide scale implementation without such rigorous evaluation.
This makes step 6 all the more critical.
What is being sought at this stage is some evidence that the
intervention is working as intended, it is achieving at least some
short-term outcomes, and it is not having any serious unin-
tended effects, for instance exacerbating social inequalities. It is
unlikely that the evaluation design will seek to prove causality
so theory-based evaluation approaches are likely to be most
appropriate. There are numerous guides on evaluation that
adequately cover step 6,
433
but it is worth re-stating that often
the most practical way to collect evidence of effectiveness with
limited resources is through a before and after survey, or by
using routinely collected data. If possible, a control group
greatly increases the strength of evidence. If a phase III RCT is
planned, an exploratory trialcan provide valuable information
about the acceptability of evaluation designs, appropriate mea-
sures and likely effect sizes to inform subsequent trials. Plans for
this nal step with our case study are set out below.
Case study step 6: Collecting evidence of effectiveness of programme for
early prevention of GBV.
Baseline survey of parent and 1014-year-old child dyads in two communities
to measure: attitudes to GBV, parentchild relationships, parentparent
relationships, etc
Implement intervention with 10 different groups
Observe 10% of sessions to assess fidelity
Group discussions and semistructured interviews with participants to assess
their characteristics, recruitment processes, group functioning and requirements
for facilitators
Follow-up survey, ideally with the same respondents
CONCLUSION
In order to improve the effectiveness of public health interven-
tions, a systematic approach to intervention development is
required, as well as rigorous evaluation. However, little practical
guidance exists for public health practitioners and researchers
that explains the essential stages of intervention development.
We argue that this process can be broken down into six key
steps: dening and understanding the problem; identifying
modiable determinants; deciding on the mechanisms of
change; clarifying how these will be delivered; testing and
adapting the intervention; and collecting initial evidence of
effectiveness. This model imposes somewhat arbitrary cut-offs
in the process of intervention development and suggests a linear
progression. In practice developers often return to an earlier
step in the sequence before reaching step 6, and subsequently
denitive trialscan lead to further revisions of the
What this study adds?
This paper provides a pragmatic six-step guide to develop
interventions in a logical, evidence-based way to maximise likely
effectiveness. If each step is carefully addressed, better use will
be made of scarce public resources by avoiding the costly
evaluation, or implementation, of unpromising interventions.
What is already known on this subject?
There is little practical guidance for researchers or practitioners
on how best to develop public health interventions. Existing
models are generally orientated towards individual behaviour
change and some are highly technical and take years to
implement.
Wight D, et al.J Epidemiol Community Health 2015;0:16. doi:10.1136/jech-2015-205952 5
Theory and methods
intervention. However, we hope that if each of these six steps is
carefully addressed in the design of interventions better use will
be made of scarce public resources by avoiding the costly evalu-
ation, or implementation, of unpromising interventions.
Acknowledgements The authors are very grateful for seminal input from Sally
Wyke (Institute of Health and Wellbeing) in developing this model and for comments
on an earlier draft from Peter Craig (MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences
Unit), both in the University of Glasgow. The authorssalaries came through MRC
core funding (MR_UU_12017/9; 171332-01) and NHS Health Scotland. The
parenting intervention to address familial predictors of GBV in Uganda is led by
Godfrey Siu, Child Health and Development Centre, Makerere University and funded
by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, South Africa, and Bernard van Leer
Foundation.
Contributors DW, RJ and EW shared the original idea to develop a model of
intervention development. All contributed to discussions to identify the six steps. DW
wrote the rst draft of this paper and all revised successive drafts.
Funding Medical Research Council (grant no. MR UU 12017/9; 171332-01); NHS
Health Scotland.
Competing interests The authors declare that: the submitted work has been
supported, through funding of salaries, by the UK Medical Research Council (DW,
RJ, LD) and NHS Health Scotland (EW).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Open Access This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits
others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use,
provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/
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Theory and methods
... Therefore, for countries to achieve epidemic control, eradicate the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and improve treatment outcomes, interventions need to be designed and implemented to ensure that YPLHIV on ART achieve viral suppression [10][11][12]. Understanding factors associated with viral suppression in YPLHIV on ART is critical to provide evidence for designing effective interventions and policies to improve viral suppression in this demographic [13,14]. ...
... Third, our results have shown that ever switching an ART regimen was positively associated with the odds of viral suppression. Therefore, even though data was not available on the reasons for switching and the regimens involved; our findings could be a signal that expanding regimen switching to more potent and adherence forgiving regimens like dolutegravir based regimens, which were being rolled out at the time [41,42], complemented by increasing the coverage of HIV drug resistance testing, adherence monitoring, and support could improve viral suppression in this demographic [12][13][14]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Young People Living with HIV (YPLHIV, 15–24 years) are an important demographic of Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) globally and in Southern Africa. However, YPLHIV experience poor outcomes across the HIV diagnostic and treatment cascade due to multiple factors. We estimated the prevalence and determinants of HIV viral suppression in YPLHIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in selected Southern African countries. We used publicly available data from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Eswatini collected during the Population-based HIV Impact Assessments (PHIAs) of 2020 to 2021. Weighted proportions, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed to estimate the prevalence of viral suppression (< 1000c/ml) and bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify determinants of viral suppression. A total of 855 records of YPLHIV on ART were included in the analysis. The prevalence of viral suppression in YPLHIV on ART was 82.4% (95% CI: 76.7, 86.9). Residing in Mozambique and duration on ART were inversely associated with viral suppression; adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of 0.37 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.95), and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.80, 0.94), respectively. A negative result in the depression screen, being married/cohabitating, and ever switching an ART regimen were positively associated with viral suppression: AORs of 5.78 (95% CI: 2.21, 15.11), 3.72 (95% CI: 1.44, 9.63), and 3.44 (95% CI: 1.69, 7), respectively. YPLHIV had suboptimal viral suppression lower than the UNAIDS 95% targets and may benefit from further research and tailored interventions addressing modifiable factors associated with viral suppression such as depression.
... The opinions of school HPS coordinators can be perceived as essential guidelines for building pragmatic instructions for co-creating and prototyping public health interventions. The presented research complements other intervention development guidelines by providing more detail on the early-stage intervention development and co-production process, which has received little attention to date (Bartholomew et al., 2011;Wight et al., 2016;Michie et al., 2011;Hawkins et al., 2017). ...
Article
The concept of Health Promoting Schools (HPS) aims to cause the desired changes in the health of the whole school community. Simultaneously, pupils are among the most important actors in the school setting. The successful implementation of the HPS idea depends on pupils’ active participation and contribution – which can be considered in the context of co-production services. It is based on the assumption that the effectiveness of services depends on broad involvement and appropriate contribution to their implementation not only by the organisers, but also by the direct recipients. Co-production can also develop in other phases: shaping the value chain, service planning, design, launch, management, delivery, monitoring and evaluation. Therefore, co-production builds support for planned interventions and creates a sense of co-responsibility among people involved in its development. Interventions that encourage stakeholder co-production are increasing, particularly in schools. The article discusses quantitative research results conducted among 500 school coordinators of HPS Programs implemented in Polish primary and secondary schools belonging to the HPS Network. So far, no research has been done in Poland on students’ co-productive behaviour as part of HPS programmes. Therefore, this article shows the potential of co-production approaches to promote health in Polish schools more effectively.
... However, performing preliminary studies is an important prerequisite when developing complex interventions. [10][11] Therefore, the purpose of this current study was to describe and categorize needs of informal caregivers of people with dementia in Arkansas in order to optimize the focus of the planned caregiver intervention. ...
... Within the review, we identified a lack of alignment between what studies reported to be barriers and/or enablers and what interventions actually addressed, suggesting that studies need to improve reporting of known barriers and enablers or better leverage evidence in intervention design. It is widely acknowledged that understanding the factors (e.g., the barriers and enablers) that influence health behaviors is essential for designing interventions that can bring about change [36,37,[52][53][54]. But it is not clear that studies optimally leveraged factors that influenced behavior. ...
Preprint
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This systematic review identified and examined the theories, barriers and enablers, behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and design features of interventions that have been leveraged effectively to improve and sustain hand hygiene in community settings. It was conducted to support the development of the WHO Guidelines for Hand Hygiene in Community Settings. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, Global Health, Cochrane Library, Global Index Medicus, Scopus, PAIS Index, WHO IRIS, UN Digital Library and World Bank eLibrary for studies published between January 1, 1980, and March 29, 2023, and consulted experts. Eligible studies had an intervention that targeted hand hygiene behaviour, quantitatively measured hand hygiene practice, were published in English after January 1, 1980, and were set in non-healthcare community settings. Studies in healthcare settings, nursing homes, or long-term care facilities were excluded. Two reviewers independently extracted data from each study and assessed risk of bias (Mixed Method Appraisal Tool). 223 eligible studies (including 247,398 participants) met inclusion criteria, 82% of which were effective at improving hand hygiene. A minority (28%) used theory to inform intervention design. Interventions did not always address identified barriers or enablers. Most interventions addressed ‘action knowledge’ (e.g. hand washing instruction), which was not a widely reported barrier or enabler. Interventions did not extensively address the physical environment (e.g., resource availability) despite its importance for hand hygiene. Interventions leveraged a variety of BCT combinations, limiting comparability. We did not conduct a meta-analysis on effectiveness due to heterogeneity across studies. Ten studies reported hand hygiene station design adaptation effectiveness, six examined variations in frequency or intensity of intervention delivery, and four focused on people with disabilities, revealing gaps in evidence. Findings are limited by inconsistent intervention reporting but more consistent identification and leveraging of barriers and enablers would likely improve effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions. Funding This work was supported by the World Health Organization (PO number: 203046633) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). PROSPERO registration number CRD42023429145. What is already known on this topic Hand hygiene can prevent infectious diseases, yet little is known about what interventions have been delivered in community settings and if and how they are effective at influencing hygiene behaviours. What this study adds This systematic review examined hand hygiene interventions across community settings to assess if theory informed design and effectiveness, how and if barriers and enablers were leveraged, and to understand what intervention functions, behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and hand hygiene station design features have been tested. Most hand hygiene interventions in community settings were found to have been effective, though are not comparable because of variability in setting, focal population, outcome tested, and interventions strategy. Despite their effectiveness, interventions did not always address identified barriers or enablers, potentially limiting impact. How this study might affect research practice or policy Evidence from this review demonstrates the need for greater alignment between identified behavioural barriers / enablers and intervention activities. Researchers need to improve how they describe and report on interventions to facilitate understanding of what interventions were trying to do, how, and among whom, which can facilitate future learning. Further research is needed that includes people with disabilities and to understand how hand hygiene station design adaptions and intervention frequency or intensity influence effectiveness.
... It is acknowledged that there is a need for rigorously developed and evaluated clinical interventions, and several intervention development frameworks (IDFs) have been developed (Walker et al., 2017). These frameworks include the MRC guidance for developing and evaluating complex interventions (Skivington et al., 2021), intervention mapping (Bartholomew et al., 2016), the Criteria for Reporting the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions (Möhler, Köpke and Meyer, 2015) and the 6 Steps for Quality Intervention Development (Wight et al., 1979). All IDFs include various stages of development, starting at the conceptual stage through to the evaluation of implementation, so the decision to use the MRC framework was pragmatic. ...
Thesis
Radiotherapy involves ionising radiation targeted at malignant tissue over a course of 3 to 35 days; it is an effective treatment for cancer resulting in 40% of patients being cured. Patients are positioned to restrict motion and therapeutic radiographers aim to replicate this position during treatment ensuring reproducibility, accuracy and minimising the acute and long-term side effects of radiotherapy treatment. Positioning and immobilisation for radiotherapy can be uncomfortable for patients, especially with extended treatment times, and may be a crucial factor influencing accurate positioning. There was a need to develop comfort interventions to ensure that cancer patients can comply with potentially lifesaving radiotherapy. The PhD programme started with a systematic literature review (SLR) which identified comfort interventions which may be suitable for radiotherapy. The SLR identified some clinically significant candidate comfort intervention categories in healthcare that may be adapted to improve patient comfort during radiotherapy. Many comfort interventions were also statistically significant with large effect sizes worthy of further investigation. The experience of patient comfort is relatively unexplored in radiotherapy being limited to a few studies. Therefore, the next study was conducted to explore the phenomenon of comfort from the perspective of patients and therapeutic radiographers. Interviews with 25 patients’ and 25 therapeutic radiographers explored patient comfort during radiotherapy and how it could be best managed, analysed using thematic analysis. Through commonality assessment of themes, four common comfort experience themes and three common comfort solution themes were established. The comfort categories of the SLR and the comfort solutions arising from interviews were synthesised to form a draft comfort intervention component list. Finally, an online nominal group technique consensus study with 7 patients and 3 therapeutic radiographers prioritised comfort intervention components and discussed feasibility in radiotherapy. Overall, eleven comfort intervention components were recommended. Directed content analysis of narratives justified the practical rationale for the intervention recommendation. The next step is (beyond the PhD) will be to develop the comfort intervention package and investigate effectiveness in radiotherapy.
... All participants were provided contact resources in the event of personal psychological distress. The study employed a sequential exploratory mixed research design: Phase I included identification of training needs and programme development based on the Steps for Quality Intervention Development (6SQuID) 26 -defining and understanding training needs, clarifying how training will be delivered, testing the programme, and rigorous evaluation. Phase II comprised programme delivery and evaluation of participation, satisfaction, learning and competence 27 . ...
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Background & objectives In India, mental health treatment gaps are significant, and related to shortage of trained personnel. Published literature has identified gaps in existing training programmes including - delivering psychological interventions for complex concerns such as intensified post-COVID grief, trauma, suicidality; ongoing mentoring; and culture-sensitive interventions. Despite government initiatives, gaps in treatment and training have been compounded by a surge in psychological distress following COVID-19. This study aimed to develop, implement and evaluate a training programme for psychologists to identify, assess, and treat complex post-COVID psychological concerns. Methods The study employed a sequential mixed exploratory research design with tailored programme development (Phase I) and programme delivery with pre-post evaluations of participation, satisfaction, learning and competence using Moore’s framework (Phase II). Psychologists with postgraduate qualifications, engaged in direct client contact were invited through flyers to participate in the free online training programme. Results The final programme included ten modules; with knowledge, skills, and application components; comprising synchronous and asynchronous elements. Fifty-three participants enrolled in the programme and 70 per cent completed the course. Pre-post evaluations indicated high satisfaction (93.54% rated as met/exceeded expectations); improvements in competence (pre training mode = 3; post-training mode = 4); and average to above average learning scores (mean scores ≥3 on 7 out of 9 module quizzes). Participant feedback revealed that the focus on complex concerns, practical learning through interactive sessions and role play recordings, and case-based supervision were helpful. Interpretation & conclusions The programme focused on training gaps identified through a needs assessment survey. It was received well in terms of participation, satisfaction, content, accessibility and learning. The indigenous and skill-focused training has implications to contribute to future mental health preparedness and scope for large-scale deployment.
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Playground injuries are a leading cause of injury for children. Those who are 4 to 6 years of age are particularly vulnerable given their transitioning toward increased autonomy and less direct supervision. Most previous interventions have targeted environmental modifications or increased supervision to reduce playground injuries, though there is evidence of one child-focused intervention that targets behavior change. Specifically, for children 7+ years, the Cool 2 Be Safe Program has been shown to effectively reduce fall-risk behaviors on playgrounds. However, there are no behaviorally focused interventions for younger children. Addressing this gap, a stakeholder-engaged qualitative approach was used to identify the best ways to adapt and create the Cool 2 Be Safe Junior Program for children who are 4 to 6 years old. Two phases of interviews were conducted with parents, with feedback from the first phase of interviews used to modify lesson materials prior to the second phase of interviews. Parents provided perspectives about program content, as well as strengths and limitations of the program. Responses were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Parents’ feedback assisted in program modification that ultimately strengthened the intervention, as evidenced by parents’ overall positive ratings of the program. Implications for preventing playground injuries and program development for preschool children are discussed.
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Childhood nutrition is a critical issue that need to be addressed and as it impacts overall health, especially in developing countries. Some areas have implemented positive deviance (PD) programs to identify positive behaviors and practices from low- income families that successfully maintain normal nutrition, despite conditions similar to those of other low-income families. The aim of this study was to develop and test the validity of a positive deviance-based nutritional status improvement module with the aim of achieving optimal child health. PD principles in the design of this module was to encourage community and family participation in understanding and practicing healthy nutrition behaviors. The research process consisted of several steps. The first steps involved nutritionist, public health expert, community nurse practitioner, pediatrician, and child psychologist collaborated to develop the module. Afterwards the module was tested for content and construct validity. The results of CVI and FVI showed that the module was valid and effective in improving family knowledge, skills, and healthy habits making it suitable to improve children's nutritional and health status in resource-limited and low-income families. Keywords: Positive deviance, module, optimal child
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Purpose Malnutrition continues to be a widespread and critical public health issue, yet there is a lack of comprehensive evidence synthesizing empirical findings and assessing the practicality of nutrition interventions in diverse contexts. This paper analyzes contextual data to establish a benchmark for selecting effective nutrition strategies, thereby maximizing their impact and ensuring targeted, sustainable outcomes. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional design to examine the key drivers of nutrition in mining communities, focusing on children under five and their caregivers. A sample of 711 participants was selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Data collection involved structured questionnaires, direct measurements of children, and interviews with caregivers. Anthropometric measurements were conducted according to WHO standards to assess underweight status. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of context-specific nutrition interventions. Results Chi-square analysis highlights a complex interplay of factors influencing underweight in children under 5 years of age, including expenditure priorities (p = 0.002), access to resources such as primary grocery stores (p = 0.001) and farmers’ markets (p < 0.001), food preparation practices (p = 0.006), agricultural empowerment (p < 0.001), and feeding styles/strategies (p = 0.004). Multivariate logistic regression further reveals that key determinants of child underweight include age (aOR = 15.24, p < 0.001), caregiver disability or chronic illness status (aOR = 0.14, p < 0.001), inadequate food production (aOR = 1.94, p = 0.009), and expenditure priorities (aOR = 2.46, p = 0.007). These factors collectively highlight the multifaceted nature of child undernutrition. Conclusion The findings highlight the critical importance of considering contextual factors when developing nutrition interventions. Key elements such as expenditure priorities, access to food resources, food preparation practices, agricultural empowerment, and feeding strategies play a significant role in shaping child nutrition outcomes. Understanding these factors is essential for designing interventions that are not only effective but also sustainable and culturally appropriate.
Book
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Between good intentions and great results lies a program theory—not just a list of tasks but a vision of what needs to happen, and how. Now widely used in government and not-for-profit organizations, program theory provides a coherent picture of how change occurs and how to improve performance. Purposeful Program Theory shows how to develop, represent, and use program theory thoughtfully and strategically to suit your particular situation, drawing on the fifty-year history of program theory and the authors' experiences over more than twenty-five years. "From needs assessment to intervention design, from implementation to outcomes evaluation, from policy formulation to policy execution and evaluation, program theory is paramount. But until now no book has examined these multiple uses of program theory in a comprehensive, understandable, and integrated way. This promises to be a breakthrough book, valuable to practitioners, program designers, evaluators, policy analysts, funders, and scholars who care about understanding why an intervention works or doesn't work." —Michael Quinn Patton, author, Utilization-Focused Evaluation "Finally, the definitive guide to evaluation using program theory! Far from the narrow 'one true way' approaches to program theory, this book provides numerous practical options for applying program theory to fulfill different purposes and constraints, and guides the reader through the sound critical thinking required to select from among the options. The tour de force of the history and use of program theory is a truly global view, with examples from around the world and across the full range of content domains. A must-have for any serious evaluator." —E. Jane Davidson, PhD, Real Evaluation Ltd. Preview of 61 pages available here https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Purposeful_Program_Theory.html?id=zBoGbWnVsFsC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
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A review of the policy implementation literature finds the field split into two major schools, top-down and bottom-up. Pre- vious attempts to reconcile these models are described, followed by an alternative model. This model reconciles these approaches by concentrating on the theoretical significance of ambiguity and conflict for policy implementation. A number of factors crucial to the implementation process are identified as varyingty dependent on a policy's ambiguity and conflict level. Four policy implemen- tation paradigms are identified and the relevance of the existing literature to these conditions is discussed. The four paradigms are low conflict-low ambiguity (administrative implementation), high conflict-low ambiguity (political implementation), high con- flict-high ambiguity (symbolic implementation), and low conflict- high ambiguity (experimental implementation).
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This article examines health promotion and disease prevention from the perspective of social cognitive theory. The areas of overlap with some of the most widely applied psychosocial models of health are identified. The models of health promotion and disease prevention have undergone several generational changes. We have shifted from trying to scare people into health, to rewarding them into health, to equipping them with self-regulatory skills to manage their health habits, to shoring up their habit changes with dependable social supports. These transformations have evolved a multifaceted approach that addresses the reciprocal interplay between self-regulatory and environmental determinants of health behavior. Social cognitive theory addresses the socio structural determinants of health as well as the personal determinants. A comprehensive approach to health promotion requires changing the practices of social systems that have widespread detrimental effects on health rather than solely changing the habits of individuals. Further progress in this field requires building new structures for health promotion, new systems for risk reduction and greater emphasis on health policy initiatives. People's beliefs in their collective efficacy to accomplish social change, therefore, play a key role in the policy and public health approach to health promotion and disease prevention.
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This paper reviews studies explicitly applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to behaviour change interventions. A systematic and multiple search strategy identified 30 papers, describing 24 distinct interventions. Studies were rarely explicit about use of the TPB. The TPB was mainly used to measure process and outcome variables and to predict intention and behaviour, and less commonly to develop the intervention. Behaviour change methods were mostly persuasion and information, with increasing skills, goal setting, and rehearsal of skills used less often. When reported, half of the interventions were effective in changing intention, and two-thirds in changing behaviour, with generally small effect sizes, where calculable. Effectiveness was unrelated to use of the theory to develop interventions. Evidence about mediation of effects by TPB components was sparse. The TPB may have potential for developing behaviour change interventions, but more comprehensive studies are needed that compare the utility of the TPB with other social cognition models and behavioural techniques.