Justification, rationale and methodological approaches to realist reviews

Pearsons, Alice; Neubeck, Lis; Hendricks, Jeroen; Hanson, Coral

Abstract

Realist reviews offer a method to understand why an intervention is successful or not. Many factors influence how complex healthcare interventions are delivered and this makes understanding what works difficult. Effectiveness depends on delivery context, and success in one setting does not guarantee the same result in alternate settings. How an intervention works (the underlying mechanisms) in a particular setting for one population group, may not work in the same way for a different group. A realist review provides an iterative theory-driven approach to help understand how and for whom and under what conditions an intervention works.

Citation

Pearsons, A., Neubeck, L., Hendricks, J., & Hanson, C. (2023). Justification, rationale and methodological approaches to realist reviews. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 22(1), 107-112. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvac068

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 21, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jul 26, 2022
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Deposit Date: Aug 10, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 27, 2023
• Journal: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing
• Print ISSN: 1474-5151
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-1953
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 107-112
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvac068
• Keywords: Research methods, Realist review, Interventions
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2892776